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

higher. and at the cracking in tho
boughs the old virago reared up and
made a couple of bounds that took
her six feet mp the trunk
The surgeon scrambled upward.
tearing through the branches. with
the leather satchel banging against
his stomach. But the bear came up
with amazing agility; she seemed to
wriegle through the dense branches
Ike a squirrel. and while Craig was
painfully gaining another yard, the
enemy had almost come up ON a level
with his feet.
He was quite unarmed; he had
even dropped bis pocket-knife ON the
road. Blu he remembered hat there
were a couple of short-very short
operating knives in his case. and he
ierked open the satchel to get AT
them.
The bears head protruded from the
dark LEAKAGE below him. In a panic
he kicked at it, and the return blow
ripped the bottom of his trouser leg
into ribbons.
He could not feel the knife. but,
hardly knowing what he did, he
snatched the largest bottle in the case.
and aune ii downward With all his
strength.
1t hit and rebounded from the hairy
neck. The bears face rose TO his
knee With an open-mouthed scowl. and
he smashed another bottle squarely
across it.
The animal wayered. with a chok-
ing cough. She let go with her hind
feet. chung am instant with her fore
CLAWS. and then dropped smashing
! through the branches, striking the
earth like a o
Craig stared down at her, almost
letting 90 his wv hold in his amaze
ment. There she lay. as il stone-dead.
! at the bottom If the tree.
There was a pungent. choking odor
in the air. but al the momen he was
too excited to speculate upon it or To
recognize ii.
He could not believe that the ami
NAL was dead. for he knew that he
had no p~oisons of such Instantaneous
effect i'm his case. He ventured TO
slide down the tree, however, keeping
as far from the m~otionless body OF his
enemy as he could, and once ON the
ground. he flung off the medicine-case
and bolted up the road almost as fast
as Peter had gone.
He ran for nearly half a mile, and
then slowed, ont Of breath. to Il fast
walk. The moonlit road remained
empty behind him, and he came i'm
sight of Warwick in less than an hour.
Just there he encountered a party
coming to look for him. With lanterns
and rifles. Peter had come up to the
barn gate half an hour before, drip
ping wet and shivering with fright.
trailing a broken harness. and with
three long. bleeding scratches on his
flank.
With this Reinforcement, Craig
went back. They found the buggy ly-
ing where it had capsized. but the
bear was gone. No trace of her could
be found within fifty yards, and be
fore going. she had contrived to drag
the cub from under the buggy and
to tear open the sack. Crippled as
he was. she had aiken him with her.
TO recover if he could without v|etcrin-
AIRY aid.
The rapid recovery of the animal
was as puzzling as it's sudden collapse
and Craig was more than even at =
loss 10 account for it. The medicine
case lay where he had dropped ii. and
he searched the ground for the brok-
en- bottle.
After some minutes he found the
neck With the cork in it, and it s1ill
seemed to have a clinging odcr. pierre
ing and pungent. He knew what ii
was. even before he found the larger
fragment with the label sticking to it.
Holding it up to the moonlight, be
read the inscription, 'I.ig. Ammonia
Fort"
The bottle had been almost fun
and five ounces of strong liquid am
monia discharged upon the bears
eyes and nose must hive been more
than enough to blind and stranglc her
tor some time.
No weapon could have been more
effective. and it was a ~bIoodless ylc-
tory besides FRANK LILLE POI.
LOCK.