The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1907-11-14

jected at the base Of the lowest
branch.
The claws and teeth in the i'm
mediate rear heartened me for the
leap of my life. / was fortunate
enough to hook the snag with sim
gle carefully timed sweep of the iron,
and with no noticeable pause in my
upward flight, assembled to foothold
In the crown Of the tree.
"The grizzly, although falling back
into an awkward heap from his first
spring at my receding legs, seemed
unwilling to admit that he was not a
tree-climber; and spreading himself
out like a flying squirrel against the
broad trunk, he dug his huge claws
into the rough bark and began inching
his way upward.
"The tree leaned from the direction
OF the prevailing winds, and this, with
the bears great zeal and strenuous
application, gave some promise of his
attaining his ambition in spite OF
natural disadvantages. He became
quite encouraged over his prospects;
but when he had climbed a couple Of
feet, | reached down and hit him a
clout over the head with the hand
hold of my IRON The stout rod re-
bounded from the blow as il the old
fellows hide were made of india-rub-
Der, but it affected his temper violent
ly, and with a cultural snarl, he
dropped all holds, and promptly slid
to the ground.
We played this game until high
noon. The grizzly could not resist the
impulse to return buffet for clout, and
upon every withdrawal Of his fore
hooks he dropped back to mother
earth, always landing in sitting
posture, with bump so harsh that
his teeth would rattle.
Finally he took recess, and after
stirring about my camp for a while,
ate dinner for us both. Everything
he did not eat he tore to pieces or
overturned. Flour, bacon, bedding,
beans. stock salt, dried fruit and sugar
he pied with grave satisfaction,
Ignoring completely the wild whoops
and the lively war-dance with which
| strove to divert him.
Then, as if with the thought of
settling his dinner, he reclined on his
bullying side, and watched me with
languid interest while took up my
belt couple of holes and wondered
how long it would be before l got an
other square meal myself
For me nothing clears the brain
like fasting, and after an hour of 81
lent contemplation, began to work
out a scheme which promised a neat
combination of business and pleasure.
First | procured some dry branches
and built lively fire in the saddle
shaped crotch Of two gigantic limbs.
Then | climbed out to where a storm
twisted branch threw out a luxuriant
growth Of new shoots, and cut a
couple of stout slaves six feet in
length. One of these whitfield to
sharp point at the tapering end; the
other | dashed to the handle of the
Granddaughter by means of my leather
belt and some buckskin strings which
found in my pocket.
By this time the fire had a good
foundation of Goals, in which I bedded
the clover leaf. While I waited for
the iron to heat, offended the reclin-
Ing grizzly by pelting him with
chunks of oak bark, and when he
came protesting to the base of the
oak, by some vigorous digs with the
pointed staff. Upon this, he took up
the cares Of the world again, aspiring,
as before dinner, to become a tree
climber.
But caused him to defer the pre-
liminary trunk-grappling effort by
vigorous prods with the sharp stick.
Then, as he reared in a great rage to
threaten and parry, | let him chew
and claw the staff for moment,
while thrust the branding-iron un-
der his guard, slapped the glowing
clover leaf on his breast, and held it
firmly an instant, while the over
heated metal settled through his
shaggy coat
1T was very much discounted
and outraged grizzly that withdrew
from the dense little cloud of singed-
hair smoke. AS he backed about.
angrily splitting out bits of the splin-
tered staff and examining his fore
quarters in grave amazement, OBJ
served with keen delight that the
clover leaf had taken splendidly. The
imprint centered his broad, tawny
breast, and was as true and as trim
as a die. Never to my eyes had it
looked half so imposing.
''One more before you leave me!
One more to match it from below!"
shouted, and proceeded to rekindle
my fire and the grizzly's tree-climbing
ardor
IN this latter I found considerable
difficulty, as the branding incident
seemed to have imbued the old fellow
with deep-rooted diffidence. A full
half-hour OF pelting with sticks and
bark was required to draw him within
reach of my prod, although once this
was accomplished, he speedily became
1<>r% r. r.