Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-08

ever with which I might defend myself. l
thought of at least dozen plans of dealing
with the beast, but dismissed all as soon as
thought of, for not one seemed feasible.
Meanwhile the bear was almost upon me.
The twinkle in his eye fascinated me. l be-
gan to wonder if his claws were really as
sharp and strong as they are made out to be.
was losing all control over myself; dull,
ness gathered over my faculties. watched
with almost indifference the approach OF that
grinning mouth, with its rows OF cleaning
white teeth, and wondered how / would feel
with those merciless fangs rending my flesh,
1t all seemed like huge joke, and l laugh,
ed softly to myself as ] lowered my foot and
let it touch his neck as i to caress him.
Then. with growi that half startled me
of his huge paws, almost knocking me from
my perch. His claws tore through the boot
and inflicted several severe scratches on my
foot and ankle.
with Wild yell, bringing all the force / could
command, hit him over the nose and head
with the branch that still held in my hand.
He stoppedS hesitated, and then backed
down to the ground, where he sat looking at
me with face expressive of utter amazement.
now began to recover my sefpossession,
and, as the bear came on again, an idea struck
me which, if put into execution, would gain
considerable time, if it did not drive him away
altogether.
Ou bue udy we udQ Stttitcu liOiu hOhc
had donned feecy woolen shirt that looked
quite inf1ammable; in fact, as / was getting
into it, thought what nice little bonfire 1t
would make But, Of course, this was only
a passing idea, and never dreamed OF the
use to which it was to be put,
Hastily doffng my coat, / pulled this off,
and striking match, applied light to the
end thereof.
Bruin was again quite close to- me, and as
the shirt blazed up, threw the flaming mass
and
Bruin, thus taken by surprise, turned, twist
ed and tried to shake it off, and then, as the
fire began to make itself felt, started to look
for the ground.
even as of old Deianira's gift proved too strong
for stout Hercules-and in an endeavor to
tear it from his head, he lost his hold of the
tree and fell backwards to the ground.
And then ensued such tearing and plung-
ing, interspersed at intervals with deep growl-
ing, as did my heart good to witness.
| The fire had got into his fur, and he must
have suffered some pain, for though he had
succeeded in dislodging the obnoxious shirt,
Tor rather what was left of it-he continued
rolling and rubbing his paws over his head.
/ could see that the fur on his neck was
scorched off, and that his ears We're damaged
/ considerably.
He got on his feet, and aided by his sense
| of smell, rushed for the stream, and tumbling
| off the bank, fell with loud splash into the
water.
| He struggled about here for minute or
| two, and then crawled out on the other side
! of the stream, and having applied the rubbing
process once more, disappeared in the woods.
I Immediately descended from my perch.
My brother arrived little while after the
| bears departure, and said he thought he had
| heard me shouting, and supposing that l had
struck the trout, had returned Immediately.
When l told him Of my adventure, he would
not at first believe me, but after he had seen
the charred remains Of what had once been
gorgeous vesture, and the poor little dog
lying on the ground mangled heap, he was
contented on the score of my veracity, and
congratulated me on my happy escape.
He then proposed going in pursuit Of Bruin,
but declined, as I not only had seen enough
of bears for good while to come, but also
| felt that bright fire at the old farmhouse
was preferable, in my present condition, to a
tiresome and perhaps futile tramp through the
woods.
My bear was captured few days later in
trap. He was recognized by the singed
fur on his head and neck. His skin now
serves as mat in a friends house, while a
few of his stray teeth glitter occasionally in
my eye from their place over the mantel