American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1922-09-14

mile distant, Hudson heard q sound
that he thought he recognized. It was
a high, sharp, agonized bark that
dimmed into a low whine, II believe
I've got a coyote or a wolf up there"
he said. They hastened their steps.
The whole picture doomed suddenly
before their eyes. There was no wolf
In the trap. The steel had sprung,
certainly, but only a hideous fragment
of a foot remained between the jaws.
The bone had been broken sharply
off, as a man might break a match in
his fingers. There was no living wolf.
Life had gone out of the gray body
many minutes before. The two men
saw all these things as a background
only-dim details about the central
figure. But the thing that froze them
in their tracks with terror was the
great, gray form of the Killer, not
twenty feet distant, beside the man
gled body of the wolf.
The events that followed thereafter
came in such quick succession as to
OF an instant all three figures stood
m~otionless, the two men staring, the
grizzly ha%lf-leaning over his prey, his
head turned, his little red eyes full of
hatred. He uttered one hoarse, saw
age note, a sound in which all his
hatred and his fury and his savage
power were made manifest, whirled
with Incredible speed, and charged.
Hudson did not even have time to
turn. There was no defense his gun
was strapped on his back, and even
if it had been in his hands, it's bullet
would not have mattered the sting Of
a bee in honey-robbing. The only
possible chance of breaking that dead
ly charge lay in the thirty-thirty deer
rifle in Dawes arms; but the craven
who held it did not even fire. He was
standing just below the outstretched
limb of a tree, and the weapon fell
from his hands as he swung up into
the limb. The fact that Hudson stood
weaponless, ten feet away In the clear
ing, did not deter him in the least.
No human flesh could stand against
that charge. The vast paw fell with
resistless force and no need arose for
a 0CNOAAu DlON AhO app . DOuN
was struck down as If felled by a
meteor, and the power of the impact
forced it deep into the carpet of pine
needles. The savage creature turned,
the white fangs caught the light in the
open mouth. The head lunged toward
the mans shoulder.
No man may say what agony Hud-
son would have endured In the last
few seconds Of his life If the Killer
had been given time and opportunity.
His usual way was to linger long,
sharp fangs closing again and again
until all living likeness was destroyed.
The blood lust was upon him there
would have been no mercy to the dy-
ing creature in the pine needles. Yet
1t tr~anspired that Hudson's flesh was
not to know those rending fangs a
second time.
On the hillside above, a stranger to
this land had dropped to his knee in
the shrubbery, his rife lifted to the
level of his eyes. 1t was Bruce, who
had come in time to see the charge
through a rift In the trees.
The bear was on Hudson, and the
man had gone down, before Bruce
even interpreted him. Then it was
just a gray patch, a full three hundred
yards away. His instinct was to throw
the gun to his shoulder and fire with
out aiming yet he conquered it with
an iron will. But he did 10Y quickly.
He dropped to his knee the very sec
ond that the gun leaped to his shout
der. He seemed to know that from a
lower position the target would be
more clearly revealed. The finger
pressed back against the trigger.
The distance was far Bruce was
not a practiced rifle shot, and it Dor
dered on the miraculous that his lead
went anywhere near the bears body.
And 1t was true that the bullet did
not reach a vital place. 1t stung like
a wasp at the Killers flank, however,
cutting a shallow flesh wound. But il
was enough to take his dreadful atten-
ton from the mortally wounded trap
per in the pine needles,
He whirled about, growing furious
ly and biting at the wound. Then he
stood still, turning his gaze first to the
pale face of Dave Turner thirty feet
above him in the pine. The eyes glowed
in fury and hatred. He had found
men out at last they died even more
easily than the fawn. He started to
turn back to the fallen, and the rifle
spoke again.
1t was a complete miss, this time /;
yet the bear leaped in fear when the
bullet thwacked into the dust beside
him. He did not wait for a third. His
caution suddenly returning to him,
and perhaps his anger somewhat sati-
ated by the blow he had dealt Hudson,
he crashed into the security of the
thicket.
Bruce waited a single instant, hop
ing for another glimpse of the crea-
ture; then ran down to aid Hudson.
But In driving the pear from the trap
per's helpless body he had already
given all the aid that he could. I'm