The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1908-12-10


The air was still, the sky a glorious
blue; at that hour In the afternoon
even the September sun was hot
When the shadows began TO length
en-, | shOudered my ride and plunged
into the woods. At first my route lay
along a mountain side; then for half a
mile over a windfall. the dead timber
piled about in crazy confusion. After
that | went up the bottom Of a valley
by a little brook, the ground being
Carpeted with a sponge Of soaked
moss.
At the head Of this bro: WAS a pond
covered with water lilies. and scram
BILE through a rocky pass took me into
a high. wet valley. whc"c The thick
growth of spruce was bro.en by ocru
sional strips of meadow IN lis valley
the moose carcass lay, wei at the uI
per end.
In moccaSined feet l rod SOY
through the soundlprs woods. Under
the dark branches it ulsa ...4y 44s...
and the air had the cool chill of even
ing. AS | neared the clump where the
body lay walked with rcdoubled eau
ton watching and listening with
strained alertness. Then | heard a
twig snap; and my blood leaped, for |
knew the bear was at his supper In
another moment | saw his shaggy
brown form. He was working with all
his awkward giant strength. trying to
bury the carcass, twisting 1t to one
side and the other with wonderful
ease.
One he got angry and suddenly gave
it a tremendous cuff with his paw; in
his bearing he had something half hu
morOus, half devilish. | crept up with
in forty yards; but for several minutes
he would not keep his head still. Then
something attracted his attention in
the forest. and he stood motionleSs
looking towards 1t, broadside to me,
with his fore-paws planted on the car
cass This gave me my chance |
drew a very fine bead between his eve
and ear and pulled trigger He drop
ped like a steer when struck with
pole-aXe.
If there is good hiding place handy
it is better TO lie in wait at the car
cass One day on the head-waters Of
the Madison, | found that a bear was
coming TO an elk | had shot some
days before; and at once determined
to ambush the beast when he came
back that evening The carcass lay in
the middle of a valley a quarter of
mile broad. The bottom of this valley
was covered by an open forest of tall
pines: a thick jungle of smaller ever
greens marked where the mountains
rose on either hand. There were a
number of large rocks scattered here
and there, one, of very convenient
shape, being only some seventy or
eighty yards from the carcass. Up
this l clambered. 1t hid me perfectly,
and on its top was a carpet Of soft
pine needles, on which I could lie at
my ease.
Hour after hour passed by. Every
slight noise made my pulses throb as
| lay motionless on the rock gazing
intently into the gathering gloom.
began to fear that it would grow too
dark to shoot before the grisly came
Suddenly aud without warning, the
great bear stepped out of the bushes
and trod across the pine needles with
such swift and silent footsteps that its
bulk seemed unreal 1t was very eau,
tious, continually hating to peer
around; and once it stood up on its
hind legs and looked loug down the
valley towards the red west AS it
reached the carcass | put a bullet be-
tween its shoulders. 1t rolled over,
while the woods reSounded with its
savage roaring Immediately it strug-
gled to its feet and staggered off; and
fell again to the next shot, squalling
and yelling. Twice this was repeated:
the brute being one of those bears
which greet every wound with a great
outcry, and sometimes seem to lose
their feet when hit-although they
will occasionally fight as savagely as
their more silent brethren. In this
case the wounds were mortal, and the
bear died before reaching the edge Of
the thicket.
l spent much of the fall Of 1889
hunting on the head-waters of the
Salmon and Snake In Idaho and along
the Montana boundary line from the
Big Hole Basin and the head Of the
Wisdom River to the neighborhood of
Red Rock Pass and to the north and
west of Henry's Lake. During the last
fortnight my companion was the old
mountain man, named Griffith or
Grilfin-I cannot tell which, as he was
always called either Hank" or
"Griff." He was a crabbedly honest
old fellow, and very skilful hunter;
but he was worn out with age and
rheumatism, and his temper had failed
even faster than his bodily strength
He showed me a greater variety of
game than had ever seen before in SO
short time nor did | ever before or
after make so successful a hunt. But
he was an exceedingly disagreeable
companion on account of his surly,
moody ways. ! generally had to get
up first, to kindle the fire and make
ready breakfast, and he was very quar-
relsome. Finally during my absence
from camp one day. while not very far
from Red Rock pass, he found my