Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-01

straight for the reporter. She was growiin'
like thunder storm an her hair stood on
end all over her body, so that she looked
as big as an OK.
Mr. Reporter threw his rifle wildly to
his shoulder an fired. As luck would have
1t, 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 hustered an scarf that he couldn't make
the blamed old pump work The bear rear
ed up on her hind legs right in front of him.
could see his face grow white as milk, and
then, with mad yeiI of terror, he flung the
rifle at her head an bolted for tree. The
condemned 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 gnashin' her long white teeth
awful to hear. She went up the tree so
quick that the reporter didn't dare to climb
up nigh, but craWled out on a great limb,
thlnkln that the bear would fear to fol-
low. When the bear came to the limb she
paused an began to growi more terrible
than ever. Mr.. Reporter sat straddle 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. The bear
began cautiously to creep out on the limb.
Shoot her! Shoot her, For Gods sake
shoot her quick" yelled the reporter, hitch
in back further an further on the limb.
m not to do any shootin', you know,
says back You're to XIII the bear. You
was a-goin to pump her full of holes
The reporter did some more sWeariu'
Inc bear kept crawin' nearer an nearer,
an the reporter kept hitchin' back further
an further an swearin' harder an harder.
me limb began to bend an to shake an
all of a sudden the reporter lost his balance
an went down, but held on to the limb
with both hands. The jar tumbled the bear
on, nut she, too, caught the limb with her
fIs-rg -,
each other an kickin', not more n six feet
apart. Neither could get back on the limb,
because when the bear would try to swing
her pody up the man would kick her in the
stomach an knock her back an when the
reporter tried to do the same trick the bear.
with one vigorous kick of her hind legs, rip
Ped the pantaloons clean off mis- legs an
took lot of skin along with them. The
| limb Of the tree had bent considerable with
the weight of the man an the bear an the
reporters feet wasn't more'n six feet above
the ground, but he was too scarf to know IL
an dldn dare 10 let go, thinkin' that every
bone IN MS 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 swearl-an'
the bear kickin' an groWln' an enashin'
her teeth lit to make ones blood run cod:
then all of a 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.
Il don't know who was most scarf. the
man or the bear; but l guess it was six of
one an half dozen of the other The
reporter jumped to his feet an ran yeIIip'
| through the woods. the thick underbrush
| scratchin his bare legs at every jump; an
| the bear, with yeip of fright, bounded
away up the mountain side.
! Il picked up the reporters rife an
| started out to track him UP. / found him
a roostin' in the top branches of a tall
hick'ry tree, an shiverin' so 1 could feel
the ground tremble near the trunk
Come down quick! 1 yelled, or the
bear will get away from your
Dash-it-td dash. DASH Blank -it-ta-
| blank. Blank! Blank the bearr he re-
| marked Then seem the monster wasn't
| in sight he began slowly an painfully to
| crawl down the tree.
When he reached the ground 1 offered
| him his rifle.
.D-n the gun" he said, shortly. You
| can have 1t. Take me to your home He
| was that glum all the long way back that
not another word could | get out of him,
though tried TO put him in good humor
| by tellfn him how funny il all really was
| an what good story it would make for
| his paper.
When we came to my cabin he grabbed
| ms Rag, took out new pair of trousers an
! put them
! I'm gon' home. Goodbye an he
| started down the path leaGin to Cats Eve
| Mills, nine miles down the valley
| BE you in such hurry to tell your
readers how TO kill bear that you can't wait
| no longer? l called out after him.
| No he answered ssvaeslv. An IL I
| ever hear of your teilin any one about this
| bear hunt I'll send prize fighter up from
| New York to knock yoCr teeth through the
pack or your head. an ne was gone.
! That was the most fun l ever had
| huntin bear, finished the old hunter, as he
| Knocked the ashes out of his pipe and re-
| filed it with tobacco.