The Opelousas courier., 1900-02-24

Dfa0cQ or W naQ DeoQ DfOk6l out Ill
the centre, as if some one had forced
a passage, and instead of stopping to
go around, Joe threw his leg over the
trunk, squeezed his body through the
opening and dropped on the other
side.
The instant his foot touched the
ground there was a harsh rasping OF
steel, a vicious snap, and something
seized his leg with such a crushing
grip that he screamed with the pain
of it. The shock was SO sudden that
he fell fat on his face, while his rife
went flying through the air and stuck,
muzzle down, in a clump of bushes.
In his eagerness to ONE mp with
the bear, Joe had forgotten about the
second trap, set behind the fallen
hemlock, and had stepped squarely
into it.
AS he fell, the quick rattle of a chain
and an angry growl sounded in his
ear, and the bear he had been pur-
suing rose, huge and hairy and black,
from the tangled mass of the tree top,
hardly six feet away
The trap which had caught the bear
was fast to one Of his hind legs. He
had succeeded in forcing his way
under the fallen hemlock, but the clog
had caught. The harder he had
pulled, the tighter it had wedged it.
self, and the sharp teeth of the trap,
working deeper into the flesh with
0ynrv nnrorf he nnado IL oxkac4n b,n,
self, had goaded him to fury.
The growl and the rattle of the
chain SO e "a at hand galvanized Joe
into action. With a movement half
involuntary in its suddenness, he
threw himself backward as far from
the bear as possible. The bear
leaped toward him, but the sharp
teeth of the trap gave him such a
twinge when ne strained against them
that he stopped to turn and bite saw
agely at the steel.
Joe stood up and tried to pull him
self farther away, but the clog to
which he was chained would not move
an inch, and he knew that the double
springs of the trap were SO strong
that even a man who had the use of
both hands and feet would need ex-
perience and q strong lever in order
to free himself. The clog lay in a
little hollow. The water had settled
around it, had frozen, and now held
it immovable.
Joe kicked it with his free foot. but
without effect. Every time he made
a motion the bear jumped toward him,
but the trap on the brute's leg brought
him mp sharply each time, and there
he stood, snarling like an angry dog.
his wicked little eyes bloodshot and
shining like beads.
When the boy recovered a little
from his first fright he began to think.
SO long as the clog which held the
bear remained wedged In the branches
OF the hemloek the creature could not
quite reach him. On the other hand,
SO long as the clog which hold Joe re-
NAMED bedded in the ice, he could
not get away from the bear.
The pain from the trap was growing
more severe, so that he could hardly
keep from crying out. Nothing but
the heavy larrigans and the provi-
dental four pairs OF stockings had
saved him from a broken leg. His
rife, which would have settled the
matter very quickly, lay hopelessly
out OF reach, and there was, of course,
the possibility that the clog which
held the bear might be jerked loose at
any moment.
Joe drew his knife from it's sheath.
and with his eye on the bear began to
hack at the ice around the clog. It
was slow work. The sound, or the
motion of Joe's arm, seemed to irri-
tate the beast still further, and every
few minutes he would hurI himself
faslsgHard, and of course Joe would stop
hackfag and spring up, half involun-
tarilyAawith his weapon raised to meet
the ruAa. Then, when the danger
seemed over for the moment, the
steady Nchuck, chuck" of the knife
IN the begin again.
AfIthe end OF an hour Joe had
worIe as near to the bear as he
dared to. and a third Of the clog still
remained fast. To cut out any
more, he would have to work be-
tween the beasts paws.
The boy drew away as far as the |
chain would permit and sat down on
the clog to think. As he did SO, some
thing fell ont Of his pocket and ratified
down with a metallic ring on the ice.
1t was n of those little match boxes
which Woodsmen make by stopping
the end OF an empty 45-calibre cartridge
shell with n Of A calibrs. Joe
grabbed it. why didn't I think of
that al hour agop' he cried.
In o few minutes he had broken and
ent q pile Of branches from the hem
lock windfall and gathered all the dry
wood he could reach. AT the touch
of a match it leaped into fame. and he
added larger and larger sticks until
the fire burned with confidence and
strength.
As soon as the blaze shot up the
bear drew back. With d stick Joe
pushed the burning brush nearer 10
hin, forcing him to shrink back still
farther. Then he piled on more fuel
and watched the flames deyour it. in
the certainty that tile bear would not
charge upon him while the fire burned
between them. and that the heat was
thawing out the clog. For
half an hour he fed the flames with
esefy combustible thing he could
reach. Then he crawled to the other
4 of the clog and lifted with ali his