The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1913-01-16
Strong Medicine

2eon in the thlnly settled alstllcls OF
northerns Canada is usually wide, If
not large, Craig office was al Wat
wick. in northern Muskoka. and a
drive of forty miles was no novelty
to him. lie had come 10 know all the
backwoods roads of the township we'll
enough To be able to find his way in
the blacklist nisht-which, in fact,
lie frequently had TO do.
He was returning from an ali-daN
drive. and returning late, for nightfall
overlook him while he was still a
long way from home. a. brilliant sum
mer moon came up. however. as the
SUI Went down and this was tortu-
nate for the road required careful
driving. II had been corduroy NICE,
bu@ was little used. unfenced. Uneven
aud weed-grown. On both sides the
srrubby pines crowded into THE
extends almost unbroken 10 the l.orth
pole.
He was still a couple of miles from
home when The horse suddenly snort
ed, SHE'D violently. and stopped short.
Craig. who was very tired and half
doing. caught a glimpse of a small
black animal running about on the
road ahead. which he took 10 be a
dog.
Steady, Peter" he admonished.
Get mp, What's the NATTER"
At this encouragement Peter bolt
ed with a suddenness that nearly
threw the surgeon from his seat.
Horse and buggy went right over the
little dog, and there was d wildly
humping dash over fifty yards of the
rough road before Peter could be 90.
under control. When pulled up, he
still seemed wildly uneasy.
Qnietins tho horse, Craig looked
back and saw the little black body
struggling in the moonlight. He was
sorry. and he felt that he could NOT
leave the animal there TO suffer for
hours. lie resolved to go back and
chloroform it. if, as he believed, it
was badly crushed by the wheels,
There was a bottle of ch~loroform
in his medicine-satchel. and he led
Peter to the edge of the woods and
tied him firmly to a tree. Taking
the medicine-case, he staltd back,
carrying also an empty oat-sack to
wrap round the animal while admins
tering the drug.
But before he came very near, he
perceived that il was no dog. 1t was
a bear cub, perhaps six weeks old.
and it made a crippled attempt 10 run
at Craig's approach, disclosing that
its hind leg was broken.
The surgeon caught it easily. how
ever, and as it bit and scratched like
d little fury. he showed it into the
empty sack. He had no more thoughts
of chloroform: he was determined to
take it home, cure it If possible. and
tame 1t.
In the sack the little animal strug-
gled so amazingly. emitting smothered
yelps and Winnings. that the surgeon
had TO use both hands for the sack.
He slnnS the medicine case over his
shoulders by a ca%lrying-strap he often
used, and FASTENED toward the buggy
with his squilming burden.
The cub yelped and suualled. Craig
could hear Peter t%hrashing about. and
Row he understood the horses panic.
He was more than halfway TO the
buggy when he heard a sudden rapid
smashing in the brushwood. as If
some large animal We're plunging
through it. and it thrilled him, too.
With instant alright. lie began to
run. Somehow he had not thought
of it before, but he might have known
thatAso small IA cub would not be found
far from its mother.
But he held resolutely to the sack.
lie believed that the She bear would
be afraid to come out into the open
road, and, in fact. the crashing rush
seemed to be following him just in
side the cover of the cedars. Craig
had almost reached the buggy when
a great dark shape shot into the moon
light like an arrow.
With a single squirt. Craig reached
the buggy. and hurled the sack and
imprisoned cub into it. Gathering up
the reins. he reached for mis- pocket
knife and slashed the tie-strap. and
as the excited and terrified horse
went off with a bolt, the surgeon flung
himself into the buggy.
Before he could get control of the
reins. the buggy rocketed over a pile
Of logs and skated on two wheels for
d dozen yards at the edge of a deep
ditch. Craig was lying half on the
squealing cub. and before he could
get his balance in the reeling vehicle.
it tipped owe a low stump and upset,
iiinsins the surgeon into the dead
lower spikes of a great cedar at the
roadside.
In a panic he tried to hoist him
self up into the tree and out of sight.
lie saw the bear plunge into the
wreck. There was a squeal from the
morse. a fury of kicking. a crash. and
ne burst loose and galloped up the
road with a trail of broken straps.
Craig had contrived to Chamber SIX
vi eight feet up in the cedar. although
la was Snporoi an tho snil,- b,,n.L.-