The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1900-03-03
BEHIND THE WINDFALL.
BY E. w. Frentz.


Joe followed the trail almost on run,
he gathered a new sense OF the
strength of the game he was pursuing.
When the bear had found he could
NOT free himself. he had started on the
Jump, and in several places the clog
had been lifted entirely free of. the
ground and ;erked bodily through the
air. In little while, however,: the
pace and the weight had begun to tell,
and the bear had settled down to
walk. The clog had caught once or
twice, but each time he had thrashed
around till he had freed it.
With his eyes fixed on the trail, Joe
pushed rapidly ahead till he found his
pathway blocked by fallen tree. A
branch or two had been broken out in
the centre, as if some one had forced
q passage, and instead of stopping to
90 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 harsh rasping of
steel, vicious snap, and something
seized his leg with such crushing
grip that he screamed with the pain
of it. The shock was SO sudden that
he fell fat on his face, while his rifle
went flying through the air and stuck,
muzzle down, in clump of bushes.
In his eagerness to come up 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 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
r self, and the sharp teeth of the trap,
1 working deeper into the flesh with
l every effort he made to extricate him
Q self, had goaded him to fury.
a The growl and the rattle of the
e chain so near at hand galvanized Joe
into action. With a movement half
8 involuntary in its suddenness, he
l. threw himself backward as far from
q the bear as possible. The bear
1t leaped toward him, but the SHARP
" teeth of the trap gave him such
.. twinge when ne strained against them
d that he stopped to turn and bite saw
agely at the steel.
IS Joe stood up and tried to pull him
9. self farther away, but the clog tt
t. which he was chained would not NOV
/ an inch, and he knew that the double
bit springs of the trap were SO strong
ut that even a man who had the use
og both hands and feet would need ex
is perience and strong lever In orde
he to free himself. The clog lay in
q little hollow. The water had settle
around it, had frozen, and now he'll
ny it immovable.
Joe kicked it with his free foot, bu
an without effect. Every time he mad
re n motion the bear jumped toward hin
but the trap on the brute's leg brougf
'be him up sharply each time, and thel
it'll he stood, snarling like an angry dos
= his wicked little eyes bloodshot an
IRIS shining like beads.
nm When the boy recovered lit
Md from his first fright he began to thinl
as. So long as the clog which held tt
md bear remained wedged IN the branch'
iae of the hemlock the creature could n
unite reach him. On the other han
Not so long as the clog which hold Joe r
The NAMED bedded in the ice, he COZ
and not get away from the bear.
cd. The pain from the trap was grown
- more severe, SO that he could hard
,.ss keep from crying out Nothing b
to the heavy larrigans and the pro
iss- Dental four pairs of stockings b
nb;t saved him from broken leg. T
sad rife. which would have settled
I;ca matter very quickly, lay hopeless
had ont of reach, and there wes,of cour
Ike the possibility that the clog viii
,nca held the bear might be ierked loose
J up any moment.
ssed Joe drew ms Anne run iSo onoA
the and with MS eye on INC Yea,
hack at the ice around the clog.
Iarc | was SLOW WOIks A0 cOuaeS -
4 be motion of Joe's arm. seemed to il
ton tate the beast still further. and ev
afsll few minutes he would hurl hims
nd forward, and of course Joe would
,uob hacking and spring up, half invoi
tba tarily. with his weapon raised to NJ
18th the rush. Then. when the dan
w.ra seemed over for the moment.
now steady "chuck, chuck" OF the n
rmn in the ice would begin again.
sc.ts At the end of an hour. Joe
wsy worked as near to tho bear as
~. dared to. and third of the clog
remained fast To cut out
more. he would have to work
o,oc tween the beasts paws.
. and The boy drew away as far as
.o M : chain would permit and sat down
,,,,,ad the clog to think. As he did so, SC
ii r a. thing fell out Of his pocket ard rs'