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

light, no matter how bright the sun
may be outside. We made no sound
ourselves, and every little sudden
noise sent a thrill through me a
peered about with each sense on ths
alert. ss
After going few hundred yards the
tracks turned off on well-beaten path
made by the elk; the woods were In
many places cut up by these game
trails, which had often become as dis
tinct as ordinary foot-paths. Ths
beasts footprints were perfectly plain
in the dust, and he had numbered alons
up the path until near the middle OF
the hillside where the ground broke
away and there were holloWs and
boulders. Here there had been q wind.
fall, and the dead trees lay among
the living, piled across one another In
all directions; while between aud
around them sprouted up a thick
growth of young spruces and othe,
evergreens. The trail turned off into
the tangled thicket, within which II
was almost certain we would find our
quarry, We could still follow the
tracks, by the slight scrapes Of the
claws on the bark, or by the bent and.
broken twigS: and we advanced with
noiseless caution, slowly climbing over
the dead tree trunks and upturned
stumps, and not letting a branch rustic
or catch on our clothes. When in the
middle Of the thicket we crossed what
was almost a breastwork of fallen
logs, and Merritield, who was leading,
passed by the upright stem of great
pine. AS soon as he was by it he
sank suddenly on one knee, turning
half round, his face fairly aflame with
excitement; and as l strobe past him.
with my rifle at the ready, there, not
ten steps off. was the great bear, slow
ly rising from his bed among the
young spru,es. He had heard U.S.
but appare lily hardly knew exactly
where or what we were, for he reared
up on his launches sideways to u.s.
Then he Saw us and dropped down
again on all fours, the shaggy hair on
his neck and shoulders seeming to
bristle as he turned towards us. Aa
he sank down on his forefeet / had
raised the rife; his head was bent
slightly down. and when I saw the
top Of the white bead fairly between
Ills small, glittering, evil eyes, pulled
trigger. Half-rising up, the huge beast
fell over on his side in the death
throes, the ball having gone into his
brain, striking as fairly between the.
eyes as if the distance had been meas
ured by carpenters rule.
The whole thing was over in twenty
seconds from the time I caught sight
Of the game; indeed, 1t was over SO
quickly that the grizzly did not have
time to show fight at all or come
step toward us. He was monstrous
fellow, much larger than any / have
seen since, whether alive or brought In
dead by the hunters. As near as we
could estimate (for Of course we had
nothing with which. to weigh more
than very smallsportions) hesmust have
weighed about twelve hundred pounds,
and though this is not as large as
some Of his kind are said to grow In
California, 1t Is yet a very unusual
size for bear. He was a good deal
heavier than any Of our horses; and It
was with the greatest difficulty that
we were able to skin him. He must
have been very old, his teeth and
claws being all worn down and
blunted; but nevertheless he had been
living in plenty, for he was as fat as
prize hog, the layers on his back being
fingers length in thickness He was
still In the summer coat. his hair be-