The suburban citizen., 1900-08-04

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home the COWS, saw the beast on the
lake shore, licking up fish roe Mother
Sospatra also saw it the next morn
ing, grabbing for eels at the mouth Of
a brook near by. The woman had
| gone there to dig for ecls herself, ana
was somewhat discounted TO find her
| tishing-place Jumped" so to speak,
by so formidable a claimant
In all their movements the Romigs
now felt obliged to be on the lookout
| for their ugly neighbor, but had no
| thought Of attempting to hunt or kill
| it. About the beginning Of July. how.
| ever. a different complexion was put
on their attitude toward the bear \
loud bawling was heard in the diroc-
! tion of the enclosed pasture and imme-
| diately the two COWS appeared. run
/ ming in terror to the she'd followed
! 10y live Of the cOssets one sheep was
| missing and on fastening to the pus-
ture Wassell and Pelagia found where
the coser had been killed They passed
timidly through a gap in the hedge
and came in sight of the bear, eating
| the sheep, among willow clumps near
| the brook. They say that it gave vent
/ to several hideous roars when it per-
ceiyCG them, and came shuhiing toward
them, IT'S front covered with bits Of
! CORY wool
The young Dou6hoh0r and his sis
ter beat q hasty retreat, and thence
forth the family were in great trou-
! Die and perpleNity. They dared not
| turn their cows and sheep out to feed,
and were obliged to cut fodder for
them. Worse still, the bear having
jasted mutton, was not long content
10 leave the cossets undisturbed in
/ the shed near the house.
Fearing an attack Wassell had cut
! poles and strengthened the shed as
much as he could, driving large stakes
into the ground and laying n close
| wall Of poles between them: but when.
one night not long after, the bear was
minded TO taste mutton again, it came
and tore down the fence with a noise
| that struck terror to the hearts Of
| the peaceful Immigrants. The below
ing Of the atfrChted COWS seeking es-
cape from the SIZED added to the alarm.
and together the family passed n lad
nightlamenting the loss Of their stock,
yet not daring to venture forth in de-
fence Of it.
When morning cane they found that
! the cows and four of the sheen had
escaped to the bushes along the lake
shore, but tnat one sheep had been car
lied off by the bear.
| Except three other DOukhobor fam
| lilies, living at little distance, there
was no one to whom Wassell could
apply for aid; and these neighbOrs
were as much ut a loss as the Romgs
how to deal with the beast Of prey.
| For a time they could think Of moth
ing better than to make the fence
| stronger. and tried hard to do so: but
the bear now with n raging appetite
| for mutton, broke into the shed re-
peatedly, till but one cosset remained
Of the little flock.
The fence having proved quite incap-
able of resisting the bears prodicious
strength, they bethought themselves
! Of protecting the shed with a deep
ditch around It, In digging this. the
industry Of the entire family and their
neighbors was strkingy exmpllded.
They eXcavated in two days a trench.
or moat, in the deep, black soil, ten
feet in width and nearly as deep, en-
closing the shed on all sides.
The ditch had nearly perpendicular
sides, and the bottom soon became
miry, and a foot or more OF water
was collected IL it. To carry fodder
and water to the COWS and sheep in
the shed, Wassell was obliged to
cross on a log which served rs Il tenn
porary bridge.
Mother Sospatra heard the boar
about the place during the following
night and in the morning they saw
that 1t had worn a path around the
outside margin Of the ditch; but it had
not succeeded in crossing it.
The next night the beast walked
round and round the house, and as
the poor people We're in great fear
lest it should burst in their door. they
kindled fire as quickly as possible.
At sight Of the CLEAN through the lit
lie window, the bear made Off. Plain
| ly, it had walked round the cow-shod
a great many times that night; and
the next morning Wassell saw where.
in one place, the earth beneath the
top turf had caved into the trench
under the brute's weight.
This gave the young Doukhobor n
hint that the creature might probably
be entrapped, and he now made his
first offensive movement against the
bear by getting down into the trench
ana digging away the earth under the
top turf for considerable distance.
The path which the bear had trodden
was thus undermined on one side. and
the consequence was that on the sue
ceeding night the beast actually tum.
bled in TO the trench. Pelagia had
been awake and looking out. and the
others were speedily reused by she
bears roars. Being very heavy, it
sank into the mire TO the depth OF It's
IaUe