The Marble times and Crystal silver lance., 1900-11-02
TUCKER & ROSE.
The Story of a Government Land Claim and How
1t Was Taken Up.

didn't prop the door this time. but I
wished l Had afterward. My hands hurt
me bad that l Couldn't sleep and I
turned and twisted for an hour.
"All at once | heard something My
blood all turned to ice and my hair
bristled like shoe brush. 1t was q soft
but heavy tread, and a loud. hoarse
breathin' jest outside the cabin close to
| my head. And then l smelt something
like pig-sty. l knew well enough what
1t was. There was only the thickness of a
| split clapboard between me and a big
grizzly bear!
| 'I began to think like chain lightning.
| The shotgun--'twa'n't loaded and IL It
had been charged to the muzzle 'twould'
| only sting him and make him as mad as a
hornet 1 might climb upon the cross
beams. Pshaw! They want seven foot
| from the floor and one scoop of his paw
would bring me down like ripe plum.
mot thinkin' of anything sensible to
do. I didn't do nothin', but I KEEP as still
| as I ever KEEP in my life. l fairly
| shr,lnk up like a withered potato.
"The bear walked slowly around the
cabin, breathn' as if he had the asthma.
Pretty soon l saw him through the sap
| Inns and I knew he could brush EN-
away like smoke. He lifted up his big
head and looked toward me, and I'll take
nv solemn oath that he was bigger than
any bull that ever paved the earth lie
stuck out his nose and shifted with
a dreadful noise. tried to think OF the
Lords prayer.
"But pretty soon he moved on and
heard him chompin' the bacon rinds out
side. He walked around the cabin tour
times and every time he stopped ana
shifted closer to the saplin's Twas only
the smell of the fire that KEEP him from
comm in, that's sure Then he moved
off, for I didn't smell him any more
"All of a sudden I made one jump to
the door cussin myself for damned
coward There I'd been thinkin' bout
myself all the time when that other poor
Teller was sleepin' in the open, and the
bear would be sure to visit him after
fnishin' with me! And he'd been kind
enough to save me from burnin' up, too.
run out, hollerin' to him:
"'Look, out, pardner. there's a grizzly
around,'
"'Tell me some news. will you came
a grouty voice out of the air, it seemed
to me. 1 looked up and saw something
dark up the oak tree, about as high as
a man could well go.
"'Youre roostin high says. Did he
take after your
"I seen i'm a-comin' and didn't stop
for lunch says he. Me blankets is rib
bons. and he's eat everything but the ak
and fryin' pam
".well, slide down and make a break
for the cabin. He amt in sight now
"'Thank ye I'm comfortable. says he.
tnIl- 1,t, I,,tn in
down. and he made a very pretty run
for the cabin. I couldn't have beat it
myself, and I was pretty spry in those
/ days We slipped in and propped the
door, and he began to cuss a fool who
would come away and forgit his ammunl-
ton.
Daylight was an awful long time a
comm. bit it showed up at last We
built a fire and made some coffee but we
didn't fry No bacon.
"rhe other feller seemed kinder blue, I
| felt sorry for him, so l says:
| "'My friend. you can have this ranch
| don't like to interfere with anybody's
| plans, and my business in town is press
In, anyway. You can have my blankets
| and what grub is left, and I'll bid you
goodby.'
".No You don't he holered, jumpin
up This ere ranch is yourn. l was only
jokin' last night The climate ere don't
| agree wi me. | must be off.
"I couldn't think of it, says /. You
can make a nice home out of it, Good
luck to you
"T means what I says he growls, real
huffy. This ERE ranch is yourn, and
don't you insult me by insinivating that
| I'm tryin' to git it away from you
well, the upshot of it was that we had
a bigger quarrel than We had the nig1
| before"
Ezra Tucker laughed and slapped his
knee.
But, how did it come out?" asked the
deputy assessor.
'Oh. the ether feller is Rose. my rart-
| ner. We got over our scare and we both
| stayed. There's Rose comm now, and
| guess dinners ready. Charles E. Brim-
| blecorn in st, Louis Globe Democrat.