The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-05-29
RODE AsTRIDE A BIG BEAR.
NONE EVER KNEW WHETHER
sTEED OR RIDER WAS WORST
SCARED.

,,;u Had old BiII, Ellis safely freed
-. the ReSinning-Red Ants Drove
III. Hunter From His Place OF
Refuge-There Was Lively Travel
.ng Through the Brush for Time.
From the Los Angeles Times.
..Djd YOU ever ride a bear?" asked Bill
1,,,is one night as we sat down at the
\ o.rnn-fire after hunting all day.
Il ..No I suppose not" he continued with
+ waiting for me TO reply. Lots of
s,r, haven't In fact, I'm the only Teller
II over heard of that ever did. All the rid
+, is generally the other way. Bear sell
aom carry outside passengers. But Old
i Cubfoot packed me one day in great
j sbane That old sarpent used to range
4 hose hills and if there was anything he
,f,ed il was lead. He was so dangerous
7 never hankered after his pelt, but one
a saw nearly ran over him and he came
81 for me so that there was nothin' to do
81 b,r shoot / fed him some lead right in
4 rho eizzard and all he done was to gulp
NTH his mouth wide open for some
more accommodated him right in the
a month too, but one of his big white teeth
q few into splinters that whizzed up into
d the air l had Sharp's rifle and just
ae 7 went to load it again the cartridge
suck in the chamber and l couldn't shut
Ia. disappointment seemed to make the
"a cuss only the madder and on he came
bent for a full breakfast.
81 suppose you'd have perspired, as they
Fl cav in polite talk. l didn't have time TO
get a pore open, for luck was on my
side and | was only few yards from a
hive oak I was young and pretty quick
Eand swung myself in a jiffy onto a big
In NIB [ felt a rip in my pants as L
Ewhirled over and after gettin well out
Of reach 1 felt there and there was
three or four Sits six inches long where
Ehs claws had just missed by casin'. You
laugh all you please about folks
n that work with the seat of their pants,
&tut if it hadn't been for the dry goods
#boxes down at the country store you
&wouldn't be entertainin' me with your ear
Fl tonight
Begin the Attack.
81 81 crawled along to the trunk of the
Etree and began to wonder how l was to
81 eat the rifle up. Old Clubfoot was there
with his big paws clawin' down bark
81 en- V two feet from my toes and tryin' to
q get up His breath felt like the steam out
81 Of a locomotive and his eyes would al
Y most have done for headlight, he was
So mad. I had seen mad bear before,
s. when they had foot caught in a trap,
II bu. never saw such ragin' fury as this
81 oil scamp had when he found | was just
n beyond his reach and the trunk of that
81 t~ec too straight and smooth for him to
81 Climb.
Just as 1 began to think of Sunday
81 School hymn suitable for saved sinner,
Il
a another and somethin' crawlin' up my
81 sieve and on my neck and up my ankles
ia ard more bites by the second, with the
81 smell of ants gettin mighty powerful.
~ Tim You bet I did perspire in no time.
a lid you ever try an ant bite? How many
81 bites from one of the big red or black
81 ans 90 you suppos it would take to kill
IA man? And how long do you suppose it
# would take? A horse stung by enough
"a bees is dead before any pisen can posi-
# bly, reach his vitals A man dropped in
hi'n' water would be dead before any
n heat could ever reach his innards. It's
"a the shock to the nerves what does the
business, and before the fifth bite was
n well in my narves was gettin' horrible
d shook up. Then 1 saw the tree was full
Fl Of EN- and lines of hundreds of big red
ans runnn' up the trunk. No uses to
mash EN-, for a hundredll come to the
81 funeral of every one you mash. 1t wasn't
n halt a minute before some still small
h voice inside whispered that 1 would have
III to got out of that tree, for it was GER
FL tain the ants would kill me and with more
81 sufferin' probably than L was likely to
3. get at the hands of the bear.
Thought He'd Have "a Ride.
81 You'd been mighty smart and slip
5 ped down the tree on the opposite side
"a from the bear, wouldn't you? That
shows what you know about bear. You
81 can have fifty feet start and he'll climb
IN your back stairs in just one and three
"A quarters seconds. 1, wasn't that variety
81 Of squash. 1t was over 200 yards to the
81 next tree and that was a low one, where
ne might claw me down even If l was
|8 lucky enough to reach it, A grizzly stand
81 In on. his hind legs is mighty high and
81 MS burned claws add another foot onto
FL his long arms, and when he stretches
|& them out you've no idea how they reach
All he's got to do is 10 get one hook into
Ell your meat and you're his'n. There was
|< only one thing to do and that was to
8 scare the stuffin out of him. They're
II Just like wild cattle on a plain. If you
III run from EN- they'll make bulge on you
ii snre. hut if you run at 'em and wave
RI your coat, you stand a show of scarin'
IA EN- of. There was only one thing to
n do, ard that was TO ride him, for swearin
az him didn't have no more effect on him
4
rank miss on a first-rate shot at deer.
n There was no time TO lay out any
nne plans. for the ants bit worse and
worse and came thicker and thicker. So
ran out on big limb and. the bear fol-
lowed me out there and looked up and
showed his big white teeth and seemed
10 say, 'Aaln't you got some more lead
70 feed me? I'm tired of waitin' SO long
gave him my hat for a change, and as
II lell to the ground he dropped his head
ana began to chaw on II. Before he had
chance to show any disappointment,
because a bears favorite teethin's ring
mans skull-wasn't inside of It, just
dropped square a-straddle of his back.
Made Fast Time.
What are you loolxin' so queer about?
gu don't believe ii, Ell? Well, now, amt
S-Uyin to make out that was particu-
larry brave. 1t was only stroke Of genius.
mere wasn't any courage about it. 1t
1UoA more courage to stay with the ants
mere were millions of 'em and just had
% ride out of there. 1t was the only way
" peat the grave. OF course, a man must