The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-09-16

ne could hang the carcass or an eIk The roof was gabled. constructed of 2 layer Of ive-inch logs. Upon this rest cd covering of green elk skins to make 1t waterproof. This was covered with about a foot of earth. So you can see that old Frank was prepared to withstand a siege of considerable length.
 One morning Frank looked out from the door Of his cabin and saw bunch of about twenty elk in his horse pas ture. He got his rife and killed two without moving from the shadow of his house. He dressed them and hung them up on the meat pole.
 When he got up the next morning he found he had had visitors during the night. Some bears had come along and robbed his larder. What they had not eaten they had destroyed or buried. When a bear turns thief he is penurt- ous as well as cheeky and bold.
 He had little trouble in getting two more elk to put on the pole. Then he loaded his rifle and double-barrelled shotgun. When night came he sat up and waited for callers. They were rather slow In coming, and when they had not put in their appearance by midnight he went to bed.
 When he was about half asleep the peculiar half grunt, half growl of the grizzly brought him to his feet in an instant. Peeping out through the laap- hole into the gloom of a cloudy night, he could see a monster silver tip stand ing on his hind legs and pulling away at one of the elk. In his haste he grabbed the hot-gun, but the loop-hole was too narrow to get the weapon in line.
 r, "Old Frank has since confessed that he lost his head in his anxiety to get even for the theft of the night before. Aes soon as the bear made off with the carcass Frank forgot everything-Win- chester, ammunition, danger, even over looking in his hurry that he was clad lonly in a thin undershirt-and, with his fold two- -barreled blunderbuss, dashed lout of the door and climbed on the pro- Ijecting log and thence on to the rooF. sneaking over the ridge to the caves on the opposite side he saw the bears form dimIy outlined in the darkness, working away on the carcass or the elk.
 ''The beast was too busy to notice the coming interruption of his feast, ana Frank got within four feet of him. lCocking both barrels he pokeG the mug gle out and turned loose. The charge ploughed ditch in that bear from his head to his tail, and raked the hide and flesh clear to tho backbone. ..-4. .e... | Iaf ot1f a IN6llnx4r q lthat made the mountains echo. He kicked and bucked like an outlaw bron- cho, and turned loose with a ghost dance that would have made Sitting Bulls liveliest buck look like an ordi. lnarp cake-walkef.
 Then from everywhere out of tht darkness came bears. A fitting glean of moonlight showed eight. Old F'ranl saw by the way they surrounded hi; cabin that they had him treed, and ht would have mortgaged his claim for hi Winchester and full cartridge belt.
 At first he thought of making a lear and cutting for the door. But in nt time the bears had begun campaign lof retaliation. The one he had sho was still bawling and cavorting, bui the others charged around the cabir and tried to climb up to the roof. Int caves projected about three feet over the side, and several of the brutes were big enough to reach a few inches ovel the edge. Frank says he never ap. preciated dirt roof until then. The bears could not get a clawllold to pull themselves up, for the dirt would give way and down they would roll.
 Frank didn't give up the fight. He used his old gun as a club, and if it ihad been light fowling piece. such as lis made to-day, Instead Of an ancient weapon of sturdy make, he wouldn't have lasted long at this part of the con- flict At first he tried beating them lover the head, but he might as well have tried to knock steer down by hitting him on the haunch as to annoy a bear by rapping him on the head. lThe blows hardly brought an answering Igrunt. Then he took to pounding them on the paws, and his efforts were re- lwarded by good vigorous bawls.
 Occasionally there would be Hull in lthe attack, and Frank would rush from lside to side in an effort to find an open ing for leap, but only to find a bear lying in wait. Soon he saw he could Ihold the fort indefinitely provided they did not tackle the corner by the door, where he had scrambled to the roof. il He was careful to avoid the place, al- though he kept an anxious eye upon it. T Tn spite of the exercise that had been I forced upon him, he began to get cold. q The frost was nearly an inch thick and the temperature was below freezing. He tried to climb down the chimney, but the hole was too small, and he came near wedging himself into it perma- nently. ''.tS r..
 "Then he dug the earth loose at the comb of the roof. When he reached the rawhide covering of the timbers he could get no further It was the one dry spot, however where he could shield his cold and bleeding feet from t.. l.Sl