The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1905-09-28

instinct OF every wounded animal TO
fight, and not TO run away.
But just about this time n good.
strong hope came TO me. The bear,
doubtless suffering from the fever
thirst Of her wounds, was eying the
creek below longlngly. Presently she
began to sidle down the slope. keeping
one eye on me and the other OH the
water. When she got down about
hundred feet, 1, with both eyes on the
bear, began to slide carefully Gown
the tree.
But hardly had l moved when she
gave an angry snarl and scrambled
back to the foot of my pine. There
she sat OH her launches for good
half-hour, with never glance at the
water. trying. apparently, to bore holes
through me with the gaze of her fierce
little eyes.
Il sat for that half-hOur as still as
mouse, hoping against hope that she
would give me another try for freedom.
noting with horror that the wind had
turned, and was taking the smoke up
the canon. When l was almost in
despair the grizzly grew restless, and
at last began to edge toward the water
again. L did not move this time
sat as mOtiOnless as wooden Indian
until she had her nose in the water.
Then fairly dropped out of that tree.
going down from branch to branch like
n flying squirrel.
Il landed among the needles with a
flying leap from the lower branches,
and l alighted running. A glance over
my shoulder showed me that the bear
was after me and already halfway up
Che bank. But this gave me a good
hundred-foOt start She was stiff from
her wounds, and n rush of hope told
me that l could win.
But 200 yards of terrific running
left me distressed for breath, and the
bear was coming on at full tilt. She
was something more than 200 feet be-
hind, to be sure, but getting limbered
up at every jump, and beginning to
gain rapidly.
FOR half-mile we raced through
the woods. l ginning in the open. and
the grizzly gaining in the brush. Then,
| thoroughly winded and with the bear
close behind. 1 Skinned up young
pine rs fast rs l could go.
II was treed again, and with q fierce
old she grizzly below me and a fiercer
forest fire sucking up the canon. The
wind was hot now and heavy with
smoke. Down below heard the
flames roaring through the brush and
timber like a furnace blast. Inside of
| fifteen minutes, 1 knew, the pines
round me would be licked up like
matches.
Even now there was no hope OF
running away from the flames Would
| have 10 choose between jumping into
the arms of the bear and burning up.
or would she flee from the fire in time
to give me n chance of escape by Il
| dash for the creek? There wasn't
much hope of weathering the flames
in the creek, but 1 was most anxious
for a chance to try it.
But the grizzly didn't seem to have
n thought about the fire. Through the
smoke l could see her reared on her
launches, struggling in vain to climb
into the lower branches of my pine.
Down the canon the flames were run
ming as only wild-fire can. but the en-
ragged brute still fought to get up that
tree. She seemed to hold against me
all that had happened and was hap
pening.
Il prepared to die right there. There
was still plenty Of time for run to
the creek, but from the way the grizzly
| acted took it that she would hang on
IN fio
faced my death l had no hard feeling
against the bear. i knew something of
| how the beast, harassed and wounded
by men, felt. But confess that was
as bitter as gall toward the men for
whose amusement / seemed about to
suffer death.
Destruction was full upon us; we
were in the face of the forest fire.
| There is no describing that scene. It
was like a confused nightmare of
| scOrching heat, suffocatiDg smoke and
the cracking roar of flames. The
| grizzly seemed as regardless of the fire
as was the horse 1 once tried to drive
| from a burning stable
''There was something more terrify-
4
the mighty destructiveneSs of it all,
and it was this, L presume, that gave
me my chance. In despair was about
to close my eyes to the awful sight
| when l saw the bear waver, and my
heart gave wild throb of hope. For
a moment she faced the leaping mass
OF advancing flames, and then whirled
| and fed.
"The next instant I was scuttllng
through the smoking woods for the
creek. My only chance, knew, was to
find one Of the water-washed caverns
where the creek bed was deep. Trust
ing to chance alone, 1 rushed straight
forward, taking a flying leap into the
water from the overhanging bank.
"As it happened, and 1t was the
| luckiest happening in the world for