The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-12-20

at every moment to md IL stretcneo
ont. But we lost II on red shaie
ridge where the blood had ceased to-
flow In streams and had dried so we
could not follow it.
Again Went for Help.
I again went for help, reaching town
just a. folks were getting ready for
Sunday school. Ny news almost
broke up the school for that day, for
half the men in town went with their
guns and dogs to find and kill the
bear. Only one dog out OF thirty
would follow the trail. His owner,
an old bear hunter, followed the traiI
with him while most of the men AMI
dogs followed behind them. L TOOK
the rest of the crowd around the iloi-
low to where / knew the trail came
up on top again, We reached there
just as the dog was passing and as ne
had left the other men far behind and
never barked on the trail, We had to
run our best to keep in sight of him.
eayed the Eear.
He bayed the bear in the bottom.
half mile beyond where We had lost
the trail and as I was the head man.
/ shouted 10 encourage him. on they
went I'D the ravine at lively chase.
Most wild animals nun through GER
tain trails or passes and as L had
trailed bear through this section be
fore, when snow was on the ground,
knew they would round the head OF
the hollow and cross over the other
mountain known as Cooper Spring
Knob.
So, instead of following. 7 cue across
and made straight up the side in
hopes of heading tnum %. When
about half way up the dog .bayed
again on the bench above me.
shouted again, not knowing that
had started them before and that If
/ had kept still might have gotten
a shot.
We never heard them again, and
after circlirlg the top of the mountain
a couple of times, in hopes OF getting
their direction. AMI watching a doe
feeding, that seemed to KNOW ii was
protected by both Sabbath and the
close season, | had given up the
chase and turned homeward when
here came the leader back across the
plateau. ! tried to coax him to take
the trail again. l Missed and ! seek
ed and whistled aud scolded in vain
He paid 10 more attention to me
than il he had been both blind and
deaf. Presently here came another
dog and another, AMI still more, and
Shep in the rear, all apparently tired
out.
/ found the crowd waiting on my re-
turn TO the den. There were evidences
tnat all the bears had been stopping
there AID we knew that both wound
ed ones had been. The first bear had
rubbed the blood off its wound on the
side of q sapling as he came down
the mountain and We had trailei the
ether wounded one there.
Bordering along the bluff the den
was under was dense thicket of tall
water.y stemmed weeds and through
this were four we'll defined. newly
made trails going in different direc-
tons We decided that the dogs had
engaged and taken the trail of one of
the we'll bears while the others plung-
ed through tais thicket and were out
of sight.
This ended our bear hunt for that
day except that Shep and enc of the
town ours had a fight. in which we
all took a turn in trying TO separate
them and were unsuccessful until one
of the crowd took Shep by the legs
and threw both dogs of the bluff and
they landed far enough apart to for
get about it before they met again.
We were never bothered by bear
again, but a neighbor, six miles
away had a calf stolen one morning
and ON turning the old COW out she
attacked Mr.. Bruin and made him
drop it.