American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1911-07-27

ter, spurred on by a great ambition
to be able to say that he had outran
a bear, was doing his level best
AS good as that was, he was not in
the same class as the other boys,
and If the bear had not stopped to
take her vengeance on one of the
wheels this story might never have
been told. The bear did not stop
long, but it was not necessary, for in
less than no time a safe distance
was put between the animal and the
pursued. Once out of immediate dam
ger the problem of defense arose.
There was not even a pocket knife
in the crowd, and weapons of de-
fense were very scarce. Conniff sue
ceeded in finding pole about ten
feet long that had evidently fallen
off wagon. 1t was about six inches
at one end and three or four at the
other, and so cumbersome as to be
almost useless. Horkin loaded up
with rock, and the writer found a
rotten stick about four feet long
which did not have strength enough
to be a weapon at all, and would
not have been effective against a
bear in any event.
A council of war was held and
it was decided that inasmuch as the
bear seemed to want to go down
the canyon and we wanted to go up.
we would not alter our plans. So
after a great deal of hallooing and
the singing of few songs to muster
a courage we did not feel, the trip
was resumed. The wheels, being an
impeachment, were cached and the
remainder of the trip undertaken on
foot. Darkness soon added to the
of the situation
The road was overhung with trees
and brush grew quite thick in the
center of the roadway. and every
brush looked like a bear Imagina-
tion pictured them so real that our
bravado would probably have deser-
ted us had there been any avenue
of escape, but as there were likely
to be as many bear behind as in
front of us we kept going ahead.
After hours of Drawing the unknown
dangers of the darkness we arrived
at point where we knew We
should leave the road and take a
trail, the trail could not be found
With resignation born of necessity
We gathered brush and wood and
built rousing fre, and prepared to
put in the night. Commit, like an ex-
perienced mountaineer, slept sound
;y all night. Horkin took turns at
sleeping and grumbling at his luck.
and the writer, too cold to sleep,
pu. i'll the night rustling wood-very
near the fire-and singing Little
Back Me-" About four o'clock we
were up hunting for the trail, and
awfully ready for breakfast. But
NO trail was to be found Soon we
coould fea- the bleating of sheep,
the berdeer s voice and the barking
OF his dogs, but the camp could not
be located. After spending several
hours in climbing mountain peaks
in sea reh of camp, the search was
given up. anG our attention directed
to flock of young grousewhich
had cen tantalizins US by strut
ting about in plain sight For half
an hour we tried to get one or two
with clubs and rocks, but our aim
was bad, and worn out, supperless,
breakfastless and We began to fear
dinnerless, the long tramp home was
begun. About four miles down the
canyon we found a cabin. 1t was pas
the dinner hour, but the ministering
angel who presided over that home
readily consented to get us some
thing to eat. And such a dinner
There was everything good to eat