Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1903-06-25

morning he told bis friends that he
was going up the mountain to kill one
of the big fat bucks that ne felt as.
sured he would find on the summit,
and shouldering his rifle he left the
camp before the sun was up. He
spent nearly the whole of the fore.
noon on the mountain, but luck was
against him that day for not single
deer was to be seen. He then started
down the steep ridge that leads
from the summit down to the fork Of
the creek and as this ridge was well
covered with oak trees, he kept q
sharp lookout for the game he was in
search Of When he had proceeded
down the ridge few hundred yards
below the chimisel be saw a young
bear about forty yards ahead of him,
and, without stopping to think, he
took shot at it. When the cub felt
the sting OF the bullet tit was only
slightly wounded) it began to how
and in moment the old bear rushed
into view When she caught sight Of
Hopper she started after him with
blood in her eye and he ran down the
steep side Of the ridge like the devil
was after him. About sixty yards be
low the top of the ridge there was an
oakl tree and Hopper put in his best
licks to reach this tree before the beal
caught him. The tree had forked al
the ground and one-half of it had
blown down, and into this log Hopper
sprang just as the bear was swapping
at the tail of his coat, A desperate
leap landed him in the fork Of tht
tree and at the same time the beal
landed on the log. Seeing that she
was sure to catch him he took hi
heavy rifle with both hands and threw
1t with all his might down on tht
bears nose. The heavy blow checked
her long enough for him to climt
higher up the tree and he scrambled
out on the first long limb he reached
The bear was close at his heels, bu
she climbed out on a larger limb Il
the right of him. When he haC
|erawled out ON the limb as far as 4
would bear his weight he had to stop
and by that time the bear was directl.
opposite to him and swapping at hin
viciously. AS she had to use all of he
feet to hold on to the limb she coulC
not use her huge paw to knock hin
off, SO she tried her level best to reacl
his face with her mouth and bite hi
head of. To avoid this he caught
hold of some small branches above ant
threw his head back as far as he could
'tJust then" said he, 81 thought thai
/ was a goner and that my time hat
surely come. Blowing her hot breatl
into my face and her nose only few
inches from mine every time sh,
opened her jaws to snap at me hel
fangs looked as long at the tines of
pitch fork and her mouth as large al
the mouth OF a rain barrel. 1 thought
OF Susan and the kids at home ant
wondered how they would feel wher
they learned that l had been torn t
pieces by a bear. Then ] thought o.
my companions down at the camI
and in order that they might know
where to come and find my manglec
remains, l shouted as long and loud a.
/ could" Mr.. Hopper possessed a pail
Of Indian rubber lungs and a voice
like a fog horn, and he could let out
yell that would have made Conan
che Indian ashamed of himself
"When / let out that blast from my
lungs, that went reverberating up and
down the deep canyon for many miles,
it so frightened the old bear that she
backed down the tree in hurry and
then put In her best licks to reach the
chimisel. 1t was the closest call that
/ ever had and l only escaped death
by the skin of my teeth" That after
noon Hopper took his companions up
to the scene of his rumpus with the
bear and, in order to show them the
relative positions they occupied, he
climbed out on the limb and took
hold OF the small branches above and
then threw his head back as far as he
could. Just then the small branches
that he grasped in his hands suddenly
snapped and he turned several somer-
saults before he struck ground. For
tunately the side OF the ridge was
very steep Just below the tree and
covered with a dense growth OF wild
oats waist high. This broke The force
Of his fall, instead of-his neck, and be
again escaped unhurt.
A month later, with Mr.. Hopper and
several other friends, was over there
at the same camp on fishing and
hunting trip and he took me up tC
show me the tree, but no persuasion
could induce him to climb it. The
following day spent all the forenoon
hunting on Black Mountain and ]
wandered all over 1t without finding
any game. ! then went up through
the dense growth OF chlmisel to the
fartherest peak and returned to camp
on the opposite side Of the deep, dark
canyon that lies on the north side
About three-quarters of a mile from
camp l struck the trail OF that same
old bear and her two cubs. They had
crossed the canyon and gone up on the
oak ridge where she had so recently
scared Hopper out Of his boots. When
l returned to camp / told my com.
panions about seeing the old bears
trail and about O'Clock in the after
noon four Of them went up the canyon
TO look for her. 1t was not long after
they left camp until l heard theil
rifles begin to bark and from the way
they kept up the fusilade l thought
that they had discovered a whole
flock Of bears and that we would have
some bear meat for supper, but they