Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1908-09-25

@ with me as companions,
kBQIUMN John Willis and an i'm
Hf48ATM passive looking Indian
- named Animal. Coming
across through the dense coniferous
forests of northern Idaho we had
struck the Kootenai River. Then we
went down with the curren& as 1t
wound in half circles through a long
alluvial valley of mixed marsh and
woodland, hemmed in by lofty noun
tains. The lake itself, when we reach
ed 1t, stretched straight AWAY like a
great ford, a hundred miles long and
about three In breadth. The frowning
and rugged Selkirks came down sheer
to the waters edge. So straight were
the rock walls that 1t was difficult for
US to land with our batteau. save al
the places where the rapid mountain
torrents entered the lake.
We had come down from a weeks
fruitless hunting In the mountains; a
week of excessive toll, in a country
where we saw no game-for in our ig-
a we had wasted time, not go
1D6 Dl1diSaI OdCh w Tic ulSh IduSco
from which the game had not yet de-
scended. After three or four days Of
rest, and Of feasting on trout-a well
come relief to the monotony of frying
pan bread and coarsey salt pork-we
were ready for another trial; and early
n morning we made the start. Hav-
Ing to pack everything for a fortnight's
use on u backs, through al excess
lively rough country we of course
Travelled as light as possible, leaving
almost all we had with the tent and
boat.
We walked In single file, as is nee
essary in thick woods. The white
hunter led, and l followed, each with
rifle on shoulder and pack on back.
Animal, the Indian, pigeon toed along
behind, carrying his pack, not as we
did ours, but by help of a forehead
band. which he sometimes shifted
across his breast. The travelling
through the tangled. brush choked for
est, and along the bowlder strewn and
precipitous mountain sides, was incon-
ceiyably rough and difficult.
An hour or two before sunset we
were travelling. Is usual, In Indian
file, beside the stream, through an
open wood of great hemlock trees.
There was no breeze, and we made no
sound as we marched. for our feet
sunk noiselessly into the deep moss.
Suddenly the hunter, who was lead
ing, dropped down in his tracks, point
ing upward; and some fifty feet be-
yond l saw the head and shoulders of
a bear as he rose to make a sweep at
some berries. He was In q hollow
where a tall, rank. prickly plant, with
broad leaves, grew luxuriantly; and he
was gathering its red berries, rising
on his hind legs and sweeping them
down into his mouth with his paw.
and was much too intent on his work
to notice us, for his head was pointed
the other way. The moment he rose
again | fired, meaning to shoot through
the shoulders, but instead, In the hur-
ny, taking him In the neck. Down he
went, but whether hurt or not we
could not see, for the second he was
on all tours he was no longer visible.
Rather to my surprise he uttered no
sound-for bear when hit or when
charging often make a great noise-so
l raced toward the edge Of the hollow,
the hunter close behind me, while Am
NAL danced about in the rear, very
much excited, as Indians always are
in the presence of big game. The in
slant we reached the hollow and look
ed down into 1t from the low bank on
which we stood we saw by the sway
ing of the tall plants that the bear
was coming u way. The hunter was
standing some ten feet distant, a hem
lock trunk being between us; and the
next moment the bear sprang clean up
the bank the other side of the hem
lock, and almost within arms length
of my companion. l do not think he
had intended to charge; he was prob
ably confused by the bullet through
his neck, and had by chance blundered
out of the hollow In our direction; but
when he saw the hunter so close he
turned for him, his hair bristling and
his teeth showing. The man had no
cartridge in his weapon, and with his
pack on could not have used it any
how; and for a moment it looked as If
he stood a fair chance of being hurt
AS the beast sprang out Of the hollow
he poised for a second on the edge of
the bank to recove his balance, giving
me a beautiful shot, as he stood side
ways to me; the bullet struck between
the eye and ear, and he fell as If hit
with a pole axe.
Our prize was a large black bear,
with two curious brown streaks down
his back, one on each side the spine.
We skinned him and camped by the
carcass, as it vas growing late. To
take the chill off the evening air we
built a huge fire, the logs roaring and
cracking. To one side Of 1t we made
our beds of balsam and hemlock
boughs; we did not build a brush lean