Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1897-09-04
A[1SS--liISs SPARED.
HE CAPTURED THE GRIZZLY JUST IN
THE NICK OF TIME

How the Hudson hay T.i!:cs Dispose of
tho Old and In,li:::nt i9.'nbers-This
Old Warrior Sought l..o:i:or Death and
Got New Lease - Life.
There is but one beast that the Indi-
aus are really afraid Of, :" said Egerton
Young, the Baptist minister who re-
Gently returned from long sojourn
among the Hudson bay tribes, where
he was the pioneer missionary "That
is the grizzly bear, the tiger of North
America Only onco have l heard of a
srixzly being captured alive, and i'll
that case the feat saved the life Of a fa-
NOUS old warrior.
Among many of the Hudson bay
tribes it is the custom for tho ablebod-
led to put to death tho old men and wo-
men who are no longer ablo to do their
share of the work The old women arc
simply knocked on tho head without
ceremony. The process of getting rid Of
an old man is more elaborate. The In
dams do not think it we'll to stain their
hands with the blood of one who was
once q warrior So they delegate the
task TO their hereditary enemies, the
wolves. to which they render all assist
ancc in their power.
when it has been decided at q SOL
emn powwow that any particular old
man is to die, instructions are given to
a number of young men to take. meas
ures to get rid of him immediately
Among the executioners are always tho
sons of the condemned man. Tho day
after sentence has been passed these eX-
ecutioners call on tho veteran, attack
him with stones and spears and drive
him into the wilderness. There they
leave him to his fate. a few days later
they return and collect q few we'll
snawed bones, which they bring back
with fitting ceremonies.
Among all the warriors belonging
to a tribe with which made Il long So
iourn, none had ii more glorious record
than Miss.Al Miss But Miss Miss was get
ting old. His eyes were dim, his hands
were slow, and rarely did he bring
home fat buck. Furthermore. food
was scarce, and Miss Miss retained an
excellent appetite. One morning Miss
Miss got orders TO be prepared to
receive the next day II delegation of
young braves led by his two stalwart
sons.
But Miss Miss, though ho had as
sisted III many such ceremonials III his
day, had not yet come to consider HIM
self old and useless He was very angry.
Just ms Miss Miss had done reviling tho
ingratitudo of the young a boy rushed
in to say that Il hage grizzly was feed
ing short distance from the camp.
Here was the veterans chance All the
braves were away ut the hunt. Children
and squaws and Miss Miss were the sole
occupants of the camp. He knew that
to face erizzly single handed was
certain death, but it was the death of a
man. So Miss. Miss armed himself with
his spear and tomahawk and went forth
to seek tho bear.
He had not far to go Within few
hundred yards of the camp he espied
the largest and lcanest bear he had seen
for years. making scanty meal Off
dried roots. Crawling up as close as he
could, he hurled his spear. The weapon
struck the bear III the flank. As he had
calculated, the wound had no further
effect than TO infuriate the brute and
turn its attention upon him Miss-Miss
took his stand with his back to u tree,
grasped his little tomahuwk firmly and
awaited death.
Nov, had it been an ordinary little
black bear the peril of Miss Miss would
have been small. 4 black bear would
have risen Oh its hind legs when it
came TO close quarters, aud leaving its
chest quite unprotected, tried to insert
its raWs between the man and the tree
i'll order to hug him to death. All Miss
Miss would have had to do would have
been TO wait until it came within arm s
length and plunge his hunting knife in
to It's chest Ono thrust would have
been sufficient But grizzly is differ
ent 1t strikes with its mighty claws
Miss Miss awaited the onset When the
bear came 10 close quarters, it rose on
its hind legs and iuadea mighty, sweep
ing blow at his body. Setting his teeth
Miss Miss struck at its head with his
tomahawk The weapon was dashed
from his grasp ard he was hurled to
the ground, Int, much to his surprise,
uninjured Instead of the sharp claws
in his side he had felt mighty buffet
as if from a huge boxing glove. Miss
Miss scrambled to his feet The next
glance explained matters Like himself,
the bear WAS Il veteran 1t had lost its
claws long since. Miss Miss lodged
round aud round his tree and from one
tree to another The bear, whose sight
was dim with age, aimed blow after
blow, with 10 other effect than that of
bruising its paws against the trunks.
The fight went on, and MissMiss
strength was giving way. when through
an opening in the forest he espied the
blaze of the can!pfires close at hand.
The bear saw it. too, and with grunt
of disgust and disappointment turned
round and trotted back into the depths
of the forest 10 resume its meal.
"Miss-M Miss hastcned back to the
camp and called the Oldest of the boys
together Take your lassoes, he cried,
and we Will capture grizzly alive
So out they went When the party ar
rived within range, Miss Miss whistled.
The bear raised its head and the boys
cast their lassocs One moose fell over
the brute's neck
"When the braves returned i'll the
evening, prepared to chase Miss
into the wilderness. they found a huge,
roaring grizzly tutiiered in the middle
of the camp no one of the tribe ever
had done such deed They concluded
the Great Spirit had willed that Miss
Miss should live, and Mis.-Miss is alive
today and i'll high honor with the
tribe New York Sun.