The Savannah morning news., 1903-10-11

barrel of the rifle steadied down for a
moment. Then came a puff of smoke
and sharp report. A second lateE
our stralning ears caught the impact
of the bullet as it found the game.
The head of the bear went back as
though it had been struck with a slede e
hammer.
" Right in the snOut! was the excla-
nation of the foreman.
THE bear disappeared for an in
slant, and second later was seen
clambering up the bank. Kennedy
fired again, but this did not stop the
enraged grizzly. He started in a lum-
bering but surprisingly rapid lope
straight for the cowboy
The Nerve of Kennedy.
Kennedy did not finch when he saw
what was before him. The barrel of
his rifle looked as firm and rigid as a
bar of iron, so little was it disturbed
by the process of ejecting the shells
and throwing the cartridges into
place. The smoke curled upward from
the muzzle in a steady stream and the
rifles crack came with the regularity
OF clock ticks 1t appeared to see that
Kennedy made every shot count, for
ne stood on slightly higher ground
than that over which the bear was
coming, and we saw no dirt thrown
up by bullets, as would have been the
case had he missed.
THE grizzly presented an appear
ance calculated to inspire terror in the
hearts of the bravest. He was cover
ing the ground at high speed, in spite
of his apparent awkwardness. His
numbering gait rendered him the
poorest of targets, for the reason that
only chance shot could strike a vital
part. At one moment he would be
doubled up like a jack knife, with
only his hump showing; the next he
would be stretched out at full length
like a greyhound. Blood spurted from
nearly a dozen wounds on his head,
hump, neck-everywher except a spot
which would allow a bullet to stop him.
He was crashing his teeth like a wild
boar, and from his jaws dripped great
fakes of foam which flecked his Grim
son-stained hide.
In less time than it takes to tell it
Kennedy had emptied his rifle, but
still he scOrned to take advantage of
his opportunity and mount the wait
ing broncho and escape. He cast his
rifle aside and drew his six-shooters
a pair of short barrelled forty -fours.'
AS he threw his rifle away he struck
his horse with it, and the animal, al
ready nervous from the firing and
probably seeming the bear, started
forward a few feet and then stopped.
The animals bride rein hung in front
of him, and the well-trained cow pony
seldom moves until the rein is thrown
back over the neck.
The foreman of the ranch had seen
the movement of the horse, which had
been unnoticed by Kennedy, and
shouted:
step back with your horse, Aft!
Step back with your horse'
The Bear Charges.
But Kennedy was too busy with his
six-shooters to heed the warning.
ut took only a moment for him to
empty his revo1vers, but. so far as
their effect on stopping the bear was
concerned. they might as we'll have
been loaded with blank cartridges. The
great, hulking brute whirled UP to
within eight feet of the dauntless cow
boy and reared on his hind legs. With
an indescribable growl of rage he wad
died with uncertain tread toward his
foe Kennedy fired the last shots from
his siX-shooters point blank at the
breast of the towering beast, rendered
more terrifying by the blood and foam
which colored his hairy coat. Next
instant, he threw his brace of weap-
ons at the bear. and turned toward his
horse.
1t was then that we gathered the full
Instead of grasping the saddle as he
thought to do Kennedy merely struck
the launches of the broncho. With a
snort of terror the animal bounded
away and left his rider at the mercy
of the grizzly The cowboy paused,
dazed and then started to run. He
had taken only one step when the bear
seized him with his forepaws and en-
veloped him in an embrace as merci-
less as the coil of a python.
Hit Fifty-FOur Times.
"A fusillade Immediately began from
our party, all of us blaming ourselves
that we had needed Kennedy's in
structions to the letter. We galloped
down to where the bear still stood.
swaying to and fro with the man In
mis- paws. At last the brute dropped,
lying in pool of blood. Kennedy, too
was dead, the brute had ripped open
his chest with his paws.
when we skinned the bear, al
though his hide was worthless, we
found that he had been hit ffty-four
times. The shot which had brought
him to the ground, the only one which
struck vital spot, was from the fore
mans forty-four. and was right be-
hind an ear"