The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1909-03-17

had rooted q mint longer | $.
have screamed out, but he %lll,,co -
jist in time. Tie had other hi:!y-;,
and he could finish me any old time.
"Our cabin was fixed up purity ON
Portable for pore felix's. Thar was a
milk safe, q dish cupboard. a lounge,
chairs, table, and SO on. and in the
co'ner was a bag Of -four and a key
of ~'lasses, with bacon hanging to the
hooks. Yes, sab, we was plumb COM
Portable on that day, and l orter been
sing1n' gospel hymns instead Of hunt
In. That bar had come into the
cabin to wreck things, and he started
like a steam engine. l saw every
move he made. In sixty seconds he.
had that bag of flour scattered all over
the flooh. In another sixty he had the
1asses mixed with IT. Sich a muss no.
body ever saw befo'. He wouldn't
eat the bacon, but jest chawed and
tore it into strips.
Bruin on Warpath.
III TO- or five drunken and ugly
tempered men had come In to wreck
things they could not have gone at it
any intelligenter and mo- low down
than that bar. He tipped over the
safe and cupboard and clawed 'em to
splinters; he used up the lounge in
W mintts; he smashed chairs with
one blow Of his paw. l couldn't have
taken an ak and knocked the table
apart as quick as he did. And all the
time he kept an eye on me, and If I'd
been all right I couldn't have jumped
up and reached the doah befo' he'd
had me. Inside Of twenty minits be.
had wrecked everything breakable.
and then be stood for a leetle and sur
veyed his work. Right then I was
hopin that he'd be satisfied and 90
away. I had stolen a part of the
Lawd's Cay, and I thought 1 had been
punished 'nuf. Seems that I hadn't.
however. That's the trubble with
w~ickedness, stranger. When you start
In bein' wicked thars no tellin' how
long and how hard you are goin' to be-
to pay up for 1t.
"Bimeby the bar decided to end I'M
by havin' some fun with me. I don't
reckon l fooled him the least mite
I played dead. A bar hain't no
idiot about SIGH things. He cum with
a rush and jumped on to the bed and
rolled over and over and wallowed
around like a hog in a mudhole. His
ripped and tore the bedclothes
and b ticks, and purity soon the
varmint crowded me out, and I
Tell on the f1ooh. I struck my ankle
IN SIGH a way that the pain made me
faint away. and I have allus been glad
on 1t.
Arrived Just In Time.
1T was about this time that the old
woman, listenin' to the preachin' over
at the Corners, got the feelin' on her
all was not right at home, and
sne comes away to see what's the
She hears the rumpus and smells
bar befo' she gets to the cabin. She
also sees my rifle standfn' at the doah.
She comes k~eerfully up and peeks in
and watches things for mebbe FIVE
m1ntts. This was soon AFTER I had
tainted away, and the varmint was
play1n' horse with me. He was drag
GIN me all over the room in play, and
ne was maxim me q sight to see.
was all kfvered with the 'lasses and
dour, which was beaten into a paste,
and I was bein' dragged over the
wreck Of the furniture to boot. The
had bit me a dozen times over,
but nothin' to hurt. He was probably
savtn' his big bites to the last.
1.-THE old woman stood thar and
watched, sorry for the devastation, but
Peelin' that the lesson would do me
good, and at last she ups with the
life and shoots old bruin through the
head 1t was an hour later when I
:um to, and it was Jest a month befo'
stepped outdoahs agln. We WIS
nore'n 500 out O. pocket and 1 was
aid up all that time for flynn in the
ace Of the Lawd. When I cum to +
expected a powerful lambastin' from
he old woman. 1t was her golden
and I looked to see her take
advantage Of it. What dye reckon she
"She rubbed in, Of course"
"Not a bit of 1t, stranger. She didn't
'ay a blamed word for two hull weeks,
ind then afternoon she quietly OBJ
"'Zeb, that was a whopper of a bar,
out you jest consider to remember
hat no matter how whopper a bar
nay be, the Lawd is sartin suah to be
heap wh0ppinger.'" NJ. QUAD.
"