Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1899-08-09

49, he said, you needn't be afraid
could pump bear as full of holes as
a sieve with this here gun of mine be,
fore he could touch you. The magazine
holds 16 Shots an he smiled.
"'Goldarn your old pump I says
back. When 1 shoots bear shoots
them with balls. don't pump holes
into them I was considerable riled;
but didn't say more, because had in
mind that old she bear, an knowed
enough about bear nature and man ma
ture to know there'd be trouble when
them two collided.
1T was beautiful mornin'. The all
smelled sweet an fresh, with just 8
touch of pine in it, an the air was as
clear as a whistle. I felt sure I could
walk right on to the old bear, nestlin
down under the roots of a great tree
which the wind had blown down, an
where she had been keepin' house fol
the last month. AS we went deeper into
the woods, an the rocks an the trees
an all began to look more wild like
L could see Mr.. Reporter was beginnln
to get nervous, an the way he kept
fingerin' the trigger of his gun made
me mighty careful how l walked in
front of him.
well, after about an hours hard
tramp we came to the spot where the
bear ought to be. 1t was wildlookin
place, down in a deep gully, all over
grown with great trees and thick with
| nnHorhrr1ch +o1 Nr ho%
reckoned we were near bear. He
cooked his rifle an began to look scarf
but, with a desperate show of courage
he again cautioned me not to do any
shootin'. When we were within about
two rods of the fallen tree, an where ]
could look into the hole under the roots,
l stopped an picked up great stone. .
"'Get ready says l.
"'Where! Where!' an he looked
wildly around.
"'There,' an l hurled the great stone
| with all my strength right into the
hole.
"Jiminey! You oughter see that bear
come flynn out of that hole an make
straight for the reporter. She was
SAo"AlA Inc q StOI dA AC1
hair stood on end all over her body, so
that she looked as big as an OK.
MIR. Reporter threw his rifle wildly
to his shoulder and fired. AS luck
would have it, the ball struck the bear
somewhere in the side an made her
madden than ever. For one desperate
moment Mr.. Reporter tried to pump
her full of holes, but he was so fustered
an scarf that he couldn't make the
blamed old pump work. The bear
reared up on her hind legs right in
front of him. I could see his face grow
white as milk, an then, with mad yell
of terror, he flung the rifle at her head
idiot didn't know enough to climb a
small tree, but scrambled up the trunk
of a great oak what the bear could
climb as quick as he could. The bear
wasn't more'n ten feet behind him, an
growlin' an grashin' her long, white
teeth awful to hear. She went up the
tree so quick that the reporter didn't
care to climb up high, but crawled out
on great limb, thinkin' that the bear
would fear to follow. When the bear
came to the limb she paused an began
to growl more terrible than ever. Mr..
Reporter sat straddie of the limb,
a-holdin' on with both hands, an swore
at the bear. He was that scarf he had
plum forgot all about the big horse
pistol an knife he had in his belt. Tie
bear began cautiously to creep out on
the limb.
"'Shoot her! Shoot her! For Gods
sake, shoot her quick!' yelled the re-
porter, hitchin' back further an further
on the limb.
"'I'm not to do any shootin', you
know says back. You're to kill the
bear. You was a-goin' to pump her full
of holes
''The reporter did some more swear
in.
1.-THE bear kept crawlin' nearer an
nearer, an the reporter kept hitchin'
back further an further, an swearin'
harder an harder. The limb began to
bend an to shake, an all of a sudden
the reporter lost his balance an went
down, but he held on to the limb with
both hands. The jar jumbled the bear
off, but she, too, caught the limb with
her fore paws, an there they hung, il
facin' each other an kickin' not more
six feet apart. Neither could get back
on the limb, because when the bear
would try to swing her body up the
man would kick her in the stomach
and knock her back, an when the re-
porter tried to do the same trick, the
bear, with one vigorous kick of her
hind legs, ripped the pantaloons and
drawers clean off his legs an took lot
of skin along with them. The limb of
the tree had bent considerable with
the weight of the man an bear, an
the reporters feet wasn't more'n six
feet above the ground, but he was too
scarf to know it an didn't dare to let
go, thinkin' that every bone in his
body would be broke by the fall.
For moment they hung there this
way, the reporter yellin' for me to shoot
an swearin'-gosh, how he could
swear!-an' the bear kick:n' an growl-
in an gnashing her teeth fit to make
ones blood run cold; then, all of
sudden, the limb broke, an bear an
man went to the ground together, the
limb fallin' on top of both, with a
crash like thunder.
II don't know who was most scarf,
the man or the bear, but guess it
was six of one and half dozen of the
other. The reporter jumped to his feet
an ran. yellin' through the woods, the