The progress., 1904-07-09

| FOlIOWlnS LNlS occurred al lnClueH
that reused the neighborhood to hun
the marauder. In haying time, afte
sundown one evening, bod, with hi
sister Zilph and her little terrier, jim
set out to find the cows, and had no
come home as usual. After hunting
for some time, they heard the bell oi
in the edge of rough, swampy trac
of hemlock scrub, and with it's wilt
jangling came the hoarse bawls ant
deep grumbling of the cattle. Some
thing was wrong.
bod and Zilph, running with al
speed, soon came in sight of the herd
and perceived to their horror that ;
bear had grappled one of Dod's grizzl!
yearlings-one of pair he had hopet
to exhibit at the county fair in the fall
The wild beast was tearing and clawint
its PROSTATE victim, which it had dex
terously cast in between hemlocl
stub and some big rocks. The othel
cattle, instead Of running away, KEEP
circling round, uttering threatening
| cries.
bod siezed a branch of dead hemlocl
| and rushing courageously upon the
bear, shouting with all his might, while
Jim barked furiously. Assaulted in the
rear SO Unexpectedly, the bear at first
took to his heels. But she was reluc-
tant to give up her prey; so she turned
and faced bod with grinning teeth and
ugly eyes, looking greedily toward the
PROSTATE yearling, beside which bod
was brandishing his club and shouting.
The boy saw that it was the old white
face again.
bod told Zylph to run for help. The
cattle, now fairly routed and fright
ened, bolted toward home before her.
The boys brave front disconnected
the bear, and at first she made no move
ment forward, but shuffied back and
forth in great impatience, growing
and showing her teeth. But soon Dod's
threatening shouts and wild brandish-
ings began to lose effect.
The bear began to edge closer. Then,
at his masters command and encour-
agement, Jim sailed forth, made little
detour, dashed slyly up to the enemy's
rear and grabbed her heels.
The bear turned and tried again and
again to scoop in little Jim with q
sweep of her great paw, but the willy
little dog lodged the long claws until
at last one sharp nail tore through his
ear, and he retired hastily beneath a
nd ci1
in the gathering dusk the bear turned
once more to bod and the yearling.
bod was in panic To leave the
already bruised yearling to be torn and
tortured by the cruel bear could not
be thought of. Yet the ugly glow in the
bears eyes warned bod of danger.
He could no longer hear the tinkle
of the bell. The cows had reached the
yard. A bird began singing off little
way in the woods, and bod could hear
the "Yeep, yeep, yeep! Yawp, yawp!"
Of wandering flock of belated turkeys
slowly vending their way homeward
before an exasperated and noisy small
boy on the next farm.
Suddenly loud shouts broke over the
ridge above bod, and his father and the
hired man came running into view.
Then the bear took to her heels and
disappeared into the scrub.
The yearling was pulled out Of the
hole and driven home, good deal
bruised and torn about the flanks.
The next morning several men
started out to hunt the creature, but
not sign was discovered. Then trap
was set. But she was all together too
knowing to be taken in," although
she managed to secure the bait-a
shank of veal and several other dain-
ties.
Not long after that she looked in on
Betty Marston one hot morning, just
as Betty was putting her cream to
churn. With hysterical cries for help,
the girl tumbled out of the buttery
window at the back of the house, and
ran to the meadow, where the men were
moving She left the bear in possess
sion of the kitchen, where large bak.
ing of pumpkin pies from the brick
oven had been set down on the wide
brick hearth to cool.
When the excited haymakers rushed
in with pitchforks and rakes, they
found only the empty pie-shells. out Of
which the bear had deftly scooped the
contents.
She had upset the big dash-churn and
guzzled some of the cream; the rest was
across the kitchen floor and
out to the doOr-rOck.
Several parties soon went out to seek
the bear, but no clue to her where
abouts could be discovered, nor did she
fall into any of the snares that were
set for her. She harvested Dod's water
melons and Wink's luscious cantaloups
in the burned patch later on. and de-
stroyed no end of corn in the milk. In
the fall she took few fat lambs just
10 fortify herself for the winter, which
the harassed farmers were glad to see
set in.
Toward the end OF February bod and
Wink started out one morning on snow
shoes. with guns and axes, to go up to
Jacks Ridge to prepare wood for the
coming sugar season. They worked
through the forenoon, cutting and
breaking up the dead maple limbs.
getting large pile ready. After lunch
they went with their guns away over
the ridge and down into the wooded
valley beyond, hoping 10 find some
rabbits, and possibly a few partridges.
After tramping for about two hours
hey had secured only one rabbit, and
we're about to start toward home, tired
out, when they were saluted by fierce
yrowls and snarls close at hand. The
boys were terribly alarmed. They could
not run on snow-shoes, but whatever
he beast was they realized after a mo-
nent's panic that it could make but
slow progress through the deep snow. |
so they stopped to listen.
The growls seemed stationary, and
% proceed from the dense brush of a |
ALLEN hemlock not far away. bod and
Wink determined to find out what |
:reature was making such a fuss an6 |
Why it did not show ITSELF