The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-10-30
Fly SOUL.
Up AN AMATEUR ;
kxOPER dBEARS
HERBERT COOLIDGE EEK

SSSSBy HERBERT COOLIDGE. SS<S
! When riding through the foothills
which border the Santa Clara Val
ley, I fell in with an elderly horse
man whose weather-beaten saddle
j and service-glossed RATA proclaimed
Z him a knight of the open range. Con-
%versation developed that he had
taken a bunch of beef cattle" to
Pa!o Alto, and was now returning to
his ranch in the mountains.
At this point We were interrupted
by a pair of bareheaded youths in an
automobile, who footed us out Of the
. road, and grinned broadly when our
n horses tried to climb the fence.
My companion was smiling remi-
niscently when we resumed our jour-
ney.
Those automobiles are a good
thing" said he. Before they came
out, that class of people had to turn
cowboy for excitement. In the early
days / rode with n such, and he
made me a lot Of trouble.
even before he could ride a gen.
-. tie horse he was much more of a cow
boy than we. who were raised in the
saddle. He wore a fringed buckskin
suit and tucked his trousers into his
boots like the cowboys in pictures.
about the time he got so that he
could ride an animal that bucked a
little, and could make an occasional
catch with a lasso, he was turned
over to me for a side partner. The
boss a%pologized for it a few days
later; said the lad was nephew OF
the owner, and asked me to keep him
from killing himself and his mounts
If l could.
II o found that Bill, as he in
sisted on being called, was all right,
except that he was young for his
twenty-one years and wanted excite
ment. He needed excitement. His
system craved it a cattle crave salt
and he got it. 1t came in such a
bunch that he became a nice, quiet,
useful cowboy.
THE range we were riding was
along the base of the pine hills that
border the seacoast below Monterey
Bay. One day, as we were crossing
a stretch of drift sand which ran back
perhaps a half-mile from the beach,
we came upon a big cinnamon bear
. prowling about among the piles OF
kelp thrown up alongshore. I would
have given ten dollars for a rifle, be,
cause he had been pulling down our
calves.
Young Bill at once made a grab
for his lasso. 1t was a sixty-foot one,
longer by ten feet than any man car
use to advantage.
"'What you going to do?' I asked
"'Going to lasso him, Of courses!
he snapped out, scornfully. Come
on
"'Not much!' l said. This horse
of mine isn't broke to hold, and he
isn't fit to hold a bear; his back is
tender
Bill didn't quite dare to say
~You're afraid but he looked it gooG
4 and strong as he began shaking Out
his moose.
YOU'D better let the bear alone,
said. 1t needs three men to handle
one of those fellows
"But Bill, acting mighty mad an6
important, plunged his spurs into hi:
mustangs tanks like the cowboy!
you read of, and raced after Mr.. Gin
namon, who was now logging it fol
the timber.
II rode after them, though not il
much alarm, because Bill WASH
what you would call an expert with
q RATA. But with the first cast he
noosed lin. What was more, he tool
his turns round the saddle-horn ant
set his horse back like a sure-enougt
vaquero. If he had been a vaquero
though, he would have dropped the
RATA and let the bear go; for the
noose had taken in a foreleg ant
was drawn about the shoulder il
such a way that the best man anG
horse Oh earth could not have hello
the brute or chicken him down.
"The cinnamon began to fight thu
rope the moment the horse settled
back, rolling over and over, and claw
ing and swapping like a bear gone
mad. Then Bill allowed his noun
to turn so that he caught the strair
sidewise.
"In this event one of two thing:
must happen-either, the horse is
pulled over or the saddle turns. i
was the saddle this time. 1t was
lucky thing for the owners nephew
= that the rope came free from the sad.
dle-horn. If 1t hadn't, nothing il
the world would have prevented hin
from being cut in two or kicked t.
death, or both.
lit was bad enough, anyway, fol
Bill got mixed up with the extra ter
feet of RATA; and the bear-well, the
bear took a new start for the timber
Bill yelled for help then in a way
hat III never forget. l knew that
drag through the sand wouldn't dam,
age him any worth mentioning, blu
jast hearing him yell made m hail
la my nat vi. AZ least my Hat new
off just about that time.
Bill and the zeal made the sane
scatter far and wide. The bear haC
settled down to business, and was
heading straight for the forest.
knew that Bill, if the bear continued
going at that rate, would be cut il
two the moment he struck timber.
"'Cut the rope!' l yelled. Gu