El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-07-26
The HeraId's Daily
ShertStOry

! his own neck and shoulders
Then, quick as flash, IKE JOEL
relivering a hard attack, the pea
| drove in his second blow, from the
other paw, rising half up on MS hing
legs as he did SO. Bat! pat! sOuhueu
the strokes-all as quickly as thdC-
the second blow landing clean on the
wapfti's neck 1t was terrific SMASH.
The mighty stag dropped Instantly J"
his tracks without a sound, ana gusI
as if he had been pole-axed; Ihe
grizzly had just broken MS neck "I'u
a single blow.
Then the everlasting silence of the
mountains broken only by the crash
ing of the wapiti herd, now far away,
settled down over the scene, and all
WAS still. The bear stood quite mo-
tionIess over his splendid prey, listen
ing-suspiciOus as Away.
He was a grand figure of a BEAST
there in the red light of the setting
/ sUn-a monster some ten feet Ions.
and of yaster bulk and weight even
than his victim; massive and hairy,
bumped shouldered, almost bow-leSSel
by reason of the enormous depth d
his great chest-a rugged king OF the
So still did he stand that a great
white-tailed eagle swept down on
rushing pinions, to see If there was
any chance of snatchinE 4 bit of veni-
son for herself, 1 suppose. But the
hear took no notice. He was listening
Presently, very far away behind
him, he heard a twiG snap. That was
enough. Something beside himself
was following the deer over the d.
vide. He had suspected it before by
the actions of some bis-horned noun
tain wild sheep up above. They had
taken flight at something they could
see below from their dizzy lookout
Then that grizzly did a wonderful
thing STOPPING, he took a firm,
crunching grip with his huge jaws on
the great stays shoulder, and with
on ehiShty hoist lifted him and half
dragged, half carried MIN away - 62
a nasty hillside for distance OF 700
yards, and stopped not till he had
reached a dense thicket that offered
safe retreat
And from this thicket. a quarter OF
an hour later, he saw a party of three
hunters go by, hot on the trail Of the
deer. Luckily for him. perhaps. they
saw nothing to make them suspect his
presence. Luckily for at least one OF
them too, perhaps, for it would have
taken good few bullets to stop that
furry terror when he charges on his
foes.
When the hunters had quite gone
and the moon rose, turning all that
wonderful world of river, mountain,
hurting torrent, and pine-clad slope
into a fairy scene. the grizzly fed.
Later, the hunters having, of course,
failed to Overtake the thoroughly
alarmed deer, were on their way 10
camp again This time, however. they
did not overlook the bears great foot
marks. Thus IL happened that with
their powerful 405 Winchester repeat
ing rifles at the ready" they ap-
preached the thicket
But there was no gizzly-only his
tracks leading away from the other
side of the thicl1et right up the face
of the mountain, to the high bare
peaks where the wind had blown all
= E~. r,EF I'D I'D Hn-a FaN
lost his tracks for good.
Very likely he is hunting wapiu
deer in that part of the Rocky noun
tains now, but I wonder If he went to
that snOwless part of the mountain
by design or chance? He was certain
" a very old and cunning bear any
way, and capable of many quite clever
lodges.