Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1909-04-16

! when we were at such disadvantage
! Next day we went off on a long
j tramp through the woods and along
j the sides Of The canyons. There were
! plenty Of berry bushes growing IL
i clusters; and all around these there
were fresh tracks of bear But the
! grizzly is Also Il flesh-eater, and has a
! great liking Tor carrion. On visiting
the place here Merrifeld had killed
the black h"Hr we found that the griz-
| lilies had been there before us, and had
| utterly devuIlrcd the carcass, with can.
nibal relish Hardly a scrap was left.
and we turned our steps toward where
lay the bull elk | had killed. 1t was
| quite late in the afternoon when we
reached the place. A grizzly had evi.
: IDENTIFY been at the carcass during the
| preceding hight, for his great foot
prints were in the ground all around
it, and the carcass itself was gnawed
and torn, and partially covered with
earth and leaves-for the grizzly has
curious habit of burying all Of his
prey that he does not at the moment
| need. A great many ravens had been
! feeding on the body, and they wheeled
! about over the tree tops above us, ut
tering their barking croaks.
The forest was composed mainly of
! what are called rIdge-poe pines, which
grow close together, and do not branch
| out until the stems are thirty or forty
| feet from the ground. Beneath these
trees we walked over carpet Of pine
needles, upon which our moccasined
feet made no sound. The woods
seemed vast and lonely, and their ST.
lence was broken now and then by the
strange noises always to be heard in
| the great forests, and which seem to
mark the sad and everlasting unrest
! of the wilderness. We climbed up
along the trunk of dead tree which
! had toppled over until its upper
branches struck in the limb crotch of
another, that thus supported 1t at an
angle halfway in it's fall. When
above the ground far enough to pre-
vent the bears smelling US, we sat still
to wait for his approach; until. in the
| gathering gloom, we could no longer
see the sights Of our rifles, and could
but dimly make out the. carcass Of the
| great elk '-'
1t was useless to wait longer; and
we clambered down and stole out to
the edge Of the woods. The forest here
covered one side Of steep, almost
canyon-like ravine, whose other side
was bare except Of rock and sage brush
Once out from under the trees there
was still plenty of light, although the
sun had set, and we crossed over some
| fifty yards to the opposite hillside, and
! crouched down under bush to see If
perchance some animal might not also
leave the cover. To our right the ra
vine sloped downward toward the val
ley Of the Bighorn River, and far or
its other side we could catch q glimpse
of the great main chain of the Rockies,
their snow peaks glinting crimson in
the light Of the set sun. Again we
waited quietly In the growing dusk
until the pine trees In our front blend
| ed into one dark frowning mass. We
saw nothing: but the wild creatures of
the forest had begun to stir abroad.
The owls hooted dismally from the
| tops Of the tall trees, and two or three
times a harsh wailing cry, probably the
voice Of some lynx or wolverine, arose
from the depths Of the woods. At last,
! as we were rising to leave, we heard
| the sound Of the breaking of dead
stick, from the spot where we knew
the carcass lay. 1t was a sharp, sud.
den noise, perfectly distinct from the
natural creaking and swapping Of the
branches; just such sound as would
be made by the tread Of some heavy
creature. H0ld Ephraim" had come
| back to the carcass. A minute after
ward, listening with strained ears, we
heard him brush by some dry twigs
1t was entirely too dark to go in after
him; but we made up our minds that
| on the morrow he should be ours. .
Early next morning we were over at
the elk carcass, and, as we expected,
found that the bear had eaten his fill
at 1t during the night His tracks
showed him to be an immense fellow,
and were so fresh that we doubted II
he had left long before we arrived; and
we made up our minds to follow him
up and try to find his lair. The bears
that lived on these mountains had eYi-
IDENTITY been little disturbed; indeed, the
Indians and most Of the white hunters
are rather chary of meddling with
"Old Ephraim, /" as the mountain men
style the grizzly, unless they get him
at a disadvantage; for the sport is.
fraught with some danger and but
small. profits The bears thus seemed to
have very little fear Of harm, and we
thought 1t likely that the bed Of the
one who had fed on the elk would not
be far away.
Ny companion was a skilful tracker.
and we took up the train at once. For
some distance It led over the soft.
yielding carpet Of moss and pine nee
dies and the footprints were quite
easily made ont, although we could
follow them but slowly: for we had.
OF course. to keep sharp lookout
ahead and around us as Ne walked
noiselessly on In the sombre half.light
asways prevailing under the great pins