The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-01-01

while the underbruSh around was
beaten fiat and the ground trodden
into blood-moistened dust.
Peter, dry-eyed, but piteously moan
ing, was lying by the senseless body.
tenderly clasping it in his arms, and
on seeing US. exclaimed: MY poor
father has been killed by a grizzly
bear; and, so help me Heaven, I'll
never taste food till I've destroyed
the brute. Life is no use to me now"
"Why, Pete, my boy" said DR..
Lewis, who had knelt by the old mans
side. "your father is not dead. He'll
regain consciousness directly. Mean
time, you run to the camp for my in.
strument case and tell our friends there
to hurry along with the spring wagon,
a few blankets and other such articles
as they know will be necessary"
Actually hugging the doctor in his
Joyous revulsiOn of feeling, and softly
kissing his fathers unhurt hand, Peter
sprang to his feet and was off like a
shot. Going and returning, he must
cover nearly a mile, but in less than
ten minutes he was back again with
the little box Of surgical instruments
and some clean clothing for the
wounded man, now sitting up and in
full possession of his senses. On Sec
ing this, the affectionate son dropped
to his knees in an ecstacy of thanks
giving and fairly wept aloud for JOY.
Two minutes later the wagon thun'
dered up to the edge of the grove with
our comrades, who had thoughtfully
brought splints, sponges. bandages,
and, most needful of all, two covered
buckets full of warm water.
Then, assisted by his pupil, Fred
Reid, the doctor cleansed and stitched
in place the pendant scalp. dressed the
breast and shoulder wounds. set and
bound up the broken arm and made hia
patient as comfortable as possible. But
the tough old fellow would not ride
back to camp. Accompanied by Dir.
Lewis and Reid, he actually walked,
coolly telling the wagon men to bo
sure, when ready to return, not to for
get the grasshoppers! And l may as
we'll say right here that in less than
two months he was as sound as ever,
though around the edges of the re-
placed scalp appeared a semi-circular
streak Of snow white hair.
1t seems that on going for some
purpose into the grove he almost
tumbled over, not a grizzly, but an
enormous cinnamon bear, at which he
rashly fired. Then ensued a terrific
fight, ending In apparent victory for
the savage brute, which, though
wounded by six revolver bullets and
number of knife thrusts, somehow
managed to get away, only, however,
to die; for as soon as Joe had left
for camp, Peter, Tom Cooper and l
took up the blood-stained trail and
found the monsters carcass before we
had gone a mile.
"Ha! har' jubilantly shouted Pete.
my brave old father won the fight,
after all, and he's killed -the saRSes'
cinnamon ever--seeIt in these noun
taluS, II Det!'
The dead bear, a male, lay in clump
Of aspen scrub. All three of us had
leaned our rifles against rock about
twenty feet away, and, STOPPING down,
were beginning to remove the pelt.
when suddenly, with open mouth, blaz-
ing eyes and a hoarse shrek of rage,
q huge she cinnamon crashed through
the surrounding brush, and before we
could draw our revolvers. sent Cooper
and myself spinning, heels over head
TO the ground, where for few Sec
onds we lay, stunned and helpless.
Fortunately, the furious beast, SEEM
ing at the moment intent only upon
examining the body of her mate, had
merely whirled us aside by her own
momentum without striking at us at
all, and neither of Us was seriously
hurt. But the instant that she found
that her consort was really dead, and
while we still lay dazed, she turned
upon us for vengeance.
So great had been the force Of the
creatures first rush against and be-
tween us that We were hurled fully
fifteen feet away, but. luckily, within
five feet of the stacked arms. Yet this
fact would not have saved us from
being slain as We lay had not Peter,
who never, under any circumstances,
got ratified, bounded forward at the
first glimpse Of the bear and secured
his gun-and not the fraction of sec
ond too soon.
Too confused and dizzy to even rec
llect that we had reyolvers, we We're
vainly trying to rise. The old she,
frothing at the mouth with fury, was
within three feet of our temporarily
paralyzed bodies. Next moment those
terrible paws would have crushed our
skulls like egg shells, or those cleaning
teeth have been buried in our throats
but something happened! In order,
suppose, to more effectually exert her
prodigious strength, the maddened
beast reared partially up; Peter, now
standing behind US with his great buff
falo rife leveled, was coolly waiting
for this foreseen move. The bears
mouth was wide open, and lie fired
into it point blank. The one and a
half ounce pointed bullet, driven by
six drachms of powder, tore its way
through neck and spinal cord, coming