Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1906-02-07

refused to Spent the night in the
wagon; he preferred his bed. But
Lucretia perseyered. She had by this
time grown accustomed to her hid.
ing-place in the wagon body, and she
ventured to remain there alone. Glenn
ent nimself considered Tie place safe
enough for i1er. He did not believe
that bear would go near the wagon.
He slept with his window up, how
ever.
On either the fourth or fifth night
of her prolonged effort to hunt with
camera" Miss Brooks fell asleep,
perhaps for an hour or two. A con.
siderable jar and rafting of the wag-
on walked her suddenly. She looked
out at the peep-hole. The night was
starlit, and it seemed to her that
those apple-trees were full of bears.
Branches were cracking and apples
We're falling. by the bushel! There
were loud champing sounds, cough.
ing, snuffling, and all the riotous COM
motion of an ursine feast
For the moment our amateur pho
CS5A oPhSi uol luCu, uuI
rather elated. This was just what
she had watched for. In nervous
haste she reached for her camera and
made ready to work the flash-light.
Just then, however, the wagon was
Jared again, and she heard shut
fling noise close beside it.
Could this be Clement? But on
peering forth she saw very large
animal within an arms length of the
peep-hole. Its great muzzle was
raised to sniff the cart!
Miss Brooks gasped in terror
wnereupon the animal rose upon its
launches with low growl. This
completed her CONSERVATION, for the
creature doomed up much taller than
the cart. 1t seemed to her to be
eight, yes, ten feet tall, and so near
that she smelled it's breath.
She felt sure that at a stroke of
one of those big, dropping paws it
could have knocked the cart body to
bits.
| Miss Brooks did what most young
ladies would do under circumstances
SO startling-she screamed, or at
tempted to do so, but was so terrified
that she merely made faint sound.
The bear snuffed repeatedly and went
ambling round the wagon, evidently
investigating those little, gaspy
| squeaks.
BY this time Clement had arrived
on the scene with his gun. He, too.
had been soundly asleep at the cabin,
but walked, having heard through the
open windows the sounds of ursine
activity in the orchard. He jumped
up and putting his head out at the
window to listen, distinguished his
sisters little gasping cries.
MY heart nearly Topped over" SO
Clement wrote in letter, for
thought those bears were eating Lu.
cretia up! l grabbed my gun and
ran up there. At every step could
hear the faint little squeak! 1t was
awful! / didn't expect to get there
soon enough to save much of her!
There wasn't much left of her, to
judge by the sound!
81 ran along beside the log fence
and then saw that tremendous big
bear moseying round the wagon. Just
as / got there he swung round on
the upper side of it, SO that he stood
clear of the body, and | cooked both
barrels and let go at him. was wild
with fear, for 1 thought that beal
had eaten Lucretia. He looked big
enough to eat whole family.
The bear gave yell and ran. The
| other bears left, too, when they heard
the gun. could hear them leaping
out of the apple-trees. swarming
over the log fence, coughing up ap
pies, making a general stampede uI
into the tall timber. But didn't stop
to listen to them, ran to the wagon
'Lucretia!' l exclaimed, with a
terrible sick feeling coming over me
Speak, can't you? Are you alive
And with that Lucretia put hel
head out. Was that you Who fired
Clem?' said she. am all right
She pretended to be so calm and
not mite scared that l was a little
angry-I had been SO frightened
about her. That was pretty noise
to make, anyhow said /. You
sounded like little pig dying Of
colic!'
"Sne laughed at me. You have toe
much imagination, Glenn said she
But l think you hit that bear;
seemed to hear something strike
hint"
"That was the end of our adventure
for the night, and Lucretia said
nothing moro about taking fasn-light
pictures of bears in apple-trees.
guess that she had had as much hunt
ing with camera as she cared for
"Of course, as every one knows, ii
is easy to tell a great story as to the
size of bears seen in the night; but
in this case certain facts were OBJ.
tanned later. In the latter part OF
October, Cinnamon bear was
trapped less than ten miles from my
place, and we have little doubt that
it was the one fred at. For this
bear had broken jaw which had not
healed, and four marks as Of buck.
snot in his hide.
"On account OF his nearly useless
jaw he had grown very thin, but the
hunters who trapped him estimated
his live weight at seven hundred
None of the mountain men hereabouts
mad ever seen a larger bear. They
kept him over in the Yosemite Val,
ley in log cage for several months
His jaw did not heal, however, and
at last he grew so emaciated that ii
became necessary to shoot him.
Youths Companion.
/ Toistoi's Optimism.