Griggs courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., Dak. [N.D.]) 1885-1902, 1900-05-10
fighting limit for ANYTHING ne;

why l am wearing the top of my
head decorated with bandaScs and
carrying my right arm in sling. The
dogs and | killed the wildcat. but
when we got through it was a hospi-
tai and tender nursing, not a big
blacR bear, that we We're looking for.
.s When | got home Except a-thnk-
ing TO myself about the way that old
bear had played it ON me. 1t was by
using his brains when | was bungling
ahead with a. dog and gun that en-
abled him to beat me. If | brought
my own top piece into action | ought
to get ahead of a bear, even if he
was the slyest old codger that ever
meandered around the hills of Pike
county. SO l kept thinking over the
weaknesses of bears and men, and all
OF a sudden it occurred to me how
fond a bear is of honey, just like some
men with liquor. and that gave me an
idea. supposing | could get that
bear good and drunk. I thought to
myself, there. wouldn't be any diff
Guilty in catching him and avenging
my numerous injuries. So l took o
big lump of honey and soaked it in APP
plejack. When l got the job finished
! there was enough liquor in that lump
of honey to get q family of bears
drunk. And the delicious taste of it
was such that ! certainly hated to
feed it to the bear.
"'Just about daybreak / heard a
noise like something tumbling about
in the shed where I kept my honey.
''Alr. Bear has found that applejaclS
and is making merry over it," | says
to my wife"but there's no hurry.
know the power of that applejack.
I'll just wait couple of hours until
it gets in it's paralyzing effects. That
bear will be dead to the world then.
And little while later, after his in
tervicw with Uncle Jabez, he'll be
dead for good.
IS so waited a couple of hours, and
then, having loaded my gun, went
down to the hives, confidently expect
ing to see one big bear stretched out
there dead drunk. But instead OF
this it was a pathetic sight that met
my eyes. My hives We're overturned
the floor was Uttered with bees. \
lot more were sticking to the apple
jack honey, while here and there was
a bee trying to walk or fly, and fall
ing to the floor in a staggering way.
1t was plain enough what had hap
pened My bees had been attracted
| by Che fragrant smell of that apple
jack honey. They had flown over to
it during the night and filled them
selves with it until not one disreputa-
bic bee was able to move. Then when
| the bees were helpless that unscrupu-
lous old bear wandered i'm. and. with
out paying any attention to the apple
jack honey, marched straight to the
hives. overturned them and gorgcd
himself. What made me maddest was
to think he had gotten away without
{; sting, while my bees We're lying
there drunk.
"-'If 4 had been content to let it
go at that my face wouldn't look SO
much like war map to-day. But !
was as indignant at the vagrunt shift
lessness of the bees as | was at the
bear. If they had been content to
stay in their hives. perhaps my plan
would have worked all right and the
bear have eaten the appleiack honey.
So instead of letting my bees sleep
their jag off, | started to rouse them
by throwing cold water on them. 'No
intoxicated bees that fill themselves
up on honey meant for black bears,
l said, ARE going to be allowed to
sleep all day, not while they belong
to Uncle Jabez. Those bees have got
to get right up and start in repairing
the damage due to their carelessness.
NOW | had known those bees all
their lives, and it never occurred to
me ahat they would sting me. But in
the first place that appleiacll had
aroused the same bad temper in them
that it does in some men. Then the
lf}rown on them bit more than a
!: s6aa who is sleeping Off a drunk likes;
to be thrown into pond.
"'As I kept throwing the water on
those bees they got more and more
awake. and the livelier they got the
madden they We're. Finally most of
those who had been lying on the floor
were fully awake and began to buzz
around the shed. All of sudden one
bee that was evidently feeling espe-
cially ugly flew at me. Then all the
bees seemed to think | was the author
of their, misery. and the whole swarm
settled down to the job Of making me
unhappy. They succeeded right up to
the, limit, too. for by the time I es-
capped from that shed l was stung in
so places. The bees. although they
had been reused up by the water !
had thrown on them. were feeling too
lanSuid to chase me. l hunted for
the water bucket. When l finally
lifted my face out of it and had
opened my 'bunged-up eyes with con-
siderable difficulty, l saw a sight
which added pang to my misery
There on the edge of the clearing was
that old bear. lie was sitting on his
launches, fairly hugging himself with
his front paws and chuckling to him
self at the fix I was in. My gun was
over by the shed. BY the time L could