The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-13
A GIRL BESTS TWO BEARS.
BORN OF THEM sRIzzLTEs, TOO, AND
SHE OWL 10.

KEY HANDLE RANCH. Yellowstone County,
Mont, Feb. 4.-Bcars Of all sizes, ages, and
varieties are coming down into the Mussol.
shell Valley this winter. The mildness of tho
weather 10 the cause Of their leaving their
places Of Information In tho Snowy and Bull
mountains. Thoy are fat and saucy, and as the
mercury has seldom been as low as zero in this
locality, they are not sluggish. 1t is possible,
and sometimes painful. to learn a little more
about bears, even aftor ono is certain ono
knows all about them. This story illustrates
that fact:
Having been to tho Post Office" said the
man who told It, II stopped at the Flying "
ranch TO give them their letters. There the
daughter Of tho family proudly exhibited q
young cub Weighing about twenty pounds.
which she herself had caught and carried homo
tho day before. She was proud Of her con-
quest, and naHvely suggested that tho cubs
mamma might no somewhere close. II was al
most q ~forcgone conclusion that she was. Hav-
Ing had some experience in trampling on the
feelings of an angry mother of a missing cub,
L directed the conversation to an entirely differ
ent subject Shortly after luncheon / caught my
cayuse and set out for home.
II had Just reached the top Of the hill when
my horse started to bolt. but throwing the bride
rein over his head, which Is the signal to o
cayuse to stop, I swung out Of the saddle and
"tbclA UobWeon II tTlknbeueu nOIbc u
q little ball.faced grizzly, whose hostile inten-
tions could have been interpreted by the most
casual observer. Suspense is worse than battle.
80 / picked up a stono and threw It at the bear.
The action precipitatod a riot, Tho boar and
the horse danced around me in bewildering
confusion. Having kept hold of tho bride reins
1 soon got back in the saddle, and was soon q
hundred yards away. This action seemed to
puzzle the bear, who had probably seen horses
and men apart, but had never seen a man on a
horse. When ono has killed the real grizzly one
hates to be imposed upon by a bad-tempered
liliputian edition, so I turned my cayuse and
charged the bear. Bruin lost his former pres
ence Of mind and ran. In n minute he was up
a tree and was peering through the branches In
such n manner as to satisfy his curiosity with
out exposing himself to danger.
II felt my former respect for him changed to
contempt. He must have known I had no gun,
yet he had bolted like a scared coyote. The
more thought Of his cowardly flight the
Drawer 1 became, 30 l rode up close to the tree
and began to call him names. 1 told him what
I would do to him If I had a gun and was pro
cceding to make other threats when there came
a crash, and 1 felt as though l had been hurled
from a catapult- Flying through the air. but
still firmly holding to the horn of the saddle, /
comforted myself with the reflection that 1 had
always heard that the ball-faced grizzly was a
great coward, although there was a dim belief
limb on which the bear was resting had broken.
s NY sSS{I ne o9a Sii tx as s,a 3 hc ciacb had had {b%%psd
These facts 1 learned some time afterward.
Meanwhile, the bear and had fallen withi1, a
f seHre fee and d s se Vent Gth eS tb we frs wer nsa both badly
when my cayuse stampeded he had run
past pas. the cal rs at the Flying v, ranch ,Rnedhn; NY NY
Of tho family; g girl Of 10, came close enough
ran back to the house. and when she reappearedi
came the girl with a Marlin 44-40 repeater.
1 TRsn SnTs hsr b %Ssne Z SSoyF q y p IN her t Hr% su a
willing IN h captive SdSIs cUbh bear With 18th 2 pug dog bark
Ing a" There Rs hf Is oE SfG%o ons sa 1f E saeT'f in the gum
said the girl, as she handed il to me-
The remark was made in a matterof.fact
erltzzly whose, temper had tested. ! would
There was only six square inches of bear yisi;
P ptsi is' Of b s"ew up sn thst T trse. Se TSe fa ndn1r re.
fused to accept my advice to retire while l mas
Shoot. The last time had seen that baii.faced
grizzly's countenance 1t had the expression Of a
f fSs an that f Waf pe rnS dgs G and BIZ of devouring
her to go to the house and fill the magazine with
~ 'Ino sLi'SN SohtShiptuou1y hnu
and fired. The bear fell with a thqd and was
directly toward us with open jaws and red
tongue, I saw another bear, that even in that
ing as the mother of the captive cub. There
is nothing quite SO desperate as an animal, fierce
eous anger was depicted in her eyes. At the
tremendous, pace she was coming noticed
s sioh. her e M SnsIi ssdiin was shs g'RSdis &c In two With b. P sse
passed gave me a gentle hint of her powers
"Tho family ran. that is. all except the girl.
the pug, and the cub. l thought the girl was
too scared to run. wanted to, but could not
not h"Ss sense enough q to tor" run, and The cub had
no reason to. Opening a big claspknife. ! wait
and 1t behooves an antagonist to guard well
the solar plexus and other vulnerable points.
Intellectually trying to sink Iit0t the * knife in her
body 81 f tatr mX arms arms, P \ i o to n, my side with ih a
4 quick death was the only boon 1 could con:
sistently crave. Time Is merely n measure of
events. and I now know that the criminal who
is hanged from the time tho rope falls until he
eternity in the arms Of that bear il, was long
fornio, Arizona. Kansas, and have plenty Of
time to spare 70 Contemplate 1.-THE the am anguish Of
Of my 1iy04b% BODY ~ m "a sded and torn Fn'' t vas also
sufficient time to review various episodes hap
pening in the last twenty years, and then the
bear let go.
voluntarily old Bruin let mo go. I fancied
Ihad almost scented the noisome Zephyrs OF the
Styx and had caught n glipse of Old Charop's
face. and / am yet considered bly, Inundated be-
cause | can recolleCt nothing resembling a
chinook breeze from Paradise. / am yet sur.
prised the bear let go. but a girl of sixteen had
had sufficient presence OF mind to speculate on
the chances OF establishing the identity or The
true hcirat-law of my tormentor. So she had
gathered up tho little cub bear. despite his
sQucals,. scratches. and other protesta:ions, and
taken him to his mamma.
Here. you mean old thing, is your little
cub. Amt you glad to see himi' or words to
grizzly. 1t was o%ffectual. Mamma Grizzly
complacently accepted her young, and the two
trOttcd off into the foothills while | lay on cactus
needles trying to convince my vital organs
their work was not yet done. 1t all happened
In about forty-fiye seconds of so.callcd time, /
thankfully accepted tho arm OF tho young lady,
and while my. coat was being sewed and a few
scratches being washed. my metaphysical
reverie WAS interrupted by a voice saying:
Wasn't YOU scaredr without waiting for