The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1903-06-13

on date and on some minor detail
when they separated at Kennedy
door. To give his wife last chanc
to redeem herself in the matter of be
lief in his personal courage, the latte
gentleman brought the conversation
around to the big game of the ia
West while they were waiting for tn,
dessert to be served at dinner.
Have I ever told you, my dear,
he said, "of my encounter with ;
grizzly on one of my hunting trips t.
the Rockies, during a college vaca
ton ?"
"N-no," replied Mrs. Kennedy
II do not recall any mention of {
grizzly. What circus was he travel
ing with ?"
"Oh, this fellow was not in cage
with muzzle tied neatly about hi:
jaws" returned Kennedy, sweetly
"He was an unfettered son of the
great forest, with an ugly CLEAN in
his eyes, vicious mouth that show.
ed a double row of villainous teeth
from between his parted lips, and
claws that protruded three inches, al
least, from his feet
Mrs. Kennedy shuddered audibly.
I came upon this fellow on my
way back to camp, one day." went
on the narrator. "He was sitting
directly in my path, four rods off ,
completely blocking the way. AS i'll
luck would have it, I had but one
cartridge in my gun and none in my
pockets. had used them all up but
that one before starting back to camp.
One cartridge or dozen, it was all
the same. was bound to have that
grizzly or perish in the attempt. 1
brought my rifle to my shoulder and
fred"
"And the result?"
The hugh beast never moved a
muscle. When I reached him he was
stone dead. The ball had gone in
just-well, what are you laughing at !?
I don't see anything especially humor-
Gus in the death of a bear p Kenne-
dy's tone was resentful.
"Do excuse my unseemly mirth,"
said Mrs. Kennedy when she had re-
gained control of her voice, "but that
expression, stone dead,' was too
much for me. 1 should suppose a
bear might be in that condition after
standing, stuffed, in fur store for
two years -
"Stufed?" echoed Kennedy.
Certainly" was the reply. "Dick
Lawson, who was along with you and
Henderson on that trip, told me all
about it year and half ago-how
he and Henderson found that bear in
a fur store in Denver on the way out,
the extravagant price they paid for
it, and the difficulties they encounter
ed in having it sent on after them and
in smuggling it into camp-all with
a view to your undoing Dick said
that he and Henderson were lying be-
Of Triumph -rnar Kept growing III your
face as you cautiously approached that
stuffed bear was worth going across
the continent to see p
"I'll make Dick Lawson suffer for
that when see him !" growled Ken
nedy, wrathfully. CPL"
"But if remember right" went
on Mrs. Kennedy, "Dick said you
were half a mile away when you fired,
and were up a tr-" But the en-
trance of the servant saved the mas
ter of the house and further taste Of
the inquisition-for that time, at
least.
"Clarkson didn't propose that little
scheme of his day too soon," NUT
tered Kennedy to himself as he be-
took himself down town again after
dinner. "This thing has got to stop,
or my hair'll be gray. I'd have
fought shy Of grizzly bears if I had
remembered that Helen met Dick
Lawson at Bar Harbor a year ago
last summer. HIM, wonder if he
told her that l caught a stuffed fish.
also, on that trip-a fish with about
seven pounds of bird shot inside it.
Confound those boys How my rod
buckled, and with what breathless in
terest they helped me land that beast
ly fish Mem-stear clear of all ref
erences to fishing in the presence of
Mrs. Kennedy %
On the evening of the night set for
the vindication of his personal cour-
age, Kennedy made plea of wishing
to sit up later than usual to finish a
book he was reading, and at half-past
ten Mrs. Kennedy went to bed, leav-
ing him in complete possession of the
first floor. Half an hour later, he
stole softly down stairs to the base
ment floor, where were situated the
kitchen, laundry and dining room.
He first made a collection of solid
silverware upon the table, bringing
forth and adding to the heap some Of
his wife's most cherished possessions,
as we'll as highly -prized piece of sill
yer that had come down to him as an
heirloom from his own ancestors.
"For," observed Kennedy to him
self, with much satisfaction at his
own astuteness, "Mrs. Kennedy S
thankfu1ness because of the preserva-
ton of her treasures will heighten hel
admiration for my prowess. Great
head, old man !"
Instead of simply leaving one oi
the kitchen windows unfastened, he
raised it and left it open, thinking
this would make things easier for his
friend Clarkson. He then got the
plate of beefsteak and realistically
dripped a small stream of its juice
from the center of the kitchen hool
straight to the open window and Ut
over the window sill. The juice thai
was left on the bottom of the plate
he scattered upon the ground outside
No fleeing burglar, dripping witt
"bloody gore" could have left hi.
life's blood behind him more natural