The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1898-02-03
BENTON LOUISIANA THURSDAY, FEBRUARY g. 1898.

cry arose from a dozen different direc-
tons, they stopped running, tucked
their tails between their legs and
crowded close around the sled Menaced
by fearful danger, Beargrease arose
from the sled, revolver in hand. Cam
| eron Lay senseless on the sled, hearing
nothing of the sharp snarls which arose
from the approaching brutes.
Nearer and nearer came the pack of
wolves--huge, ugly fellows, with small,
fiery eyes, and their red tongues hang
ing from their foam-covered uths.
Quick as flash Beargrease fired at the
leader of the pack, who was torn to
pieces by his companions almost before
he fell. With one stroke of his knife
Beargrease cut the traces holding the
dogs and like the wind the cowardly
hrutes were off, closely pursued by
some of the wolves. The main body Of
the enemy, however, now gathered
! closer around the beleaguered man,
who had turned his sled on it's side, so
| as to form a sort of barricade between
the bloodthirsty animals and himelf.
He had forgotten the rifle until now.
Laying his empty revolver on the
| blanket beside him, Beargrease reached
| tor the weapon and then again turned
| his attention to the wolves, who were
| crowding him closely. The brutes were
dancing around him like fiends around
a prisoner being tortured at the stake,
and the mail carriers chance of escape
! from horrible death seemed small in
! deed. Wolf after wolf went down be-
meath the fire of the besieged man, who
| was fighting for his life and for the life
Of the unconscious Cameron, and he
made every shot tell.
When the hammer of the rifle fell
with a sharp click and no answering ex-
plosion followed, indicating that every
| cartridge in the weapon had been fred,
Beargrease threw aside the rifle, drew
his knife and made his last stand. Half
| a dozen Of the ferocious brutes had been
| killed and the snow near the sled was
dyed red with their blood. Their half
starved companions had promptly torn
them TO bits as they fell and eagerly de-
voured the warm, quivering flesh.
/ During the battle Cameron was in
some way rolled outside the barricade
formed by the sled. Part of the time he
had been under the feet of the strug-
ling, swapping pack, and the snow upon
which he lay was stained deep Grim
son. Beargrease was wounded in many,
places by the sharp fangs of the ami
! mails and the blood streaming down his
| face nearly blinded him. His strength
was fast going and he felt that the end
| was near. The wolves, now numbering
| not more than six. seemed to also real
ize this, and with rush were upon the
mail carrier, who struck out right and
left with his keen knife, driving the
sharp blade almost through one of his
foes at each stroke. Snarls of
rage were mingled with prayers for
help from on high as animals and man
swayed to and fro over the snowy waste.
AT last the largest of the brutes, a
great, shaggy fellow, whose glistening
teeth were red with the blood of his
enemy, and whose eyes shone with a
greenish light, sprang full against
Beargrease, catching him by the right
shoulder and setting his fangs against
the bone. 1t seemed as if the other
wolves had agreed to let this animal
| and the man finish the battle, for they
drew off short distance and, sitting
| on their launches, watched the battle
Again and again Beargrease plunged
Z! his knife into the side of his an ia gonist.
while the latter struggled to get hold
| upon the mans throat.
just as Beargrease felt himself faint
ing he gave a last desperate lung with
the knife, and warm, thick stream
| struck him full in the face as he lost
his senses. How long he lay upon the
snow he does not know, but when he re-
| wolf lying across him, with the rapidly
congealing blood oozing from terrible
| wound in it's neck. The other wolves
! had disappeared, and not living thing
was in sight. The spot where Cameron
had lain was marked by bits of torn
clothing and bone or two. Beargrease
guessed what the fate of the half
frozen prospector had been, and then,
half dead from the loss of blood and
suffering intensely from the biting
cold, started Off
Suddenly everything became blank
| before him, and when the mail carrier
| regained his senses he found himself
i'll the cabin Of a settler, where he had
been taken by some prospectors who
had found him lying in the snow. The
fight against death was long, hard
, one. but the Indians wonderful consti-
tuition pulled him through. When he
| was nursed back to life his first move
was to take his package of mail-many
of the letters torn and stained with
human blood-to Grand Marais, where
it was safely delivered. - Chicago
Chronicle.