Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1931-10-01

his pocket he extracted a iShhOOk anc
from another pocket a hank of line
two articles, in the wilderness, he was
never without. Then, sticking, his lit
tie ak in his belt, he sauntered of
down the island looking for a birch
sapling that would make a good fishing
rod.
Now it CHANGED, quite naturally, that
the man, the 400 and her calf, the
little bear, the fox, and the many
squirrels were not the only fugitives
who had found refuge on the island.
From further down the blazing shore
a full-grown bear, huge and gaunt
and hungry, had got away with a
scorching which did not improve his
temper and had made his landing at
the lower end of the island. Men he
hated, but also wisely feared. He had
once been we'll peppered with buckshot
and had never forgotten the exper-
fence.
Having caught sight Of Jed Smith
while the latter was drying himself on
the rock, he had thereafter taken good
care that the man should not catch
sight of him; and he had kept to the far
end of the island, teasing his mighty
appetite with q mouse or two and tor
pid beetles and stringy roots. But he
had also, to his great satisfaction,
caught sight Of the big COW and her
calf. He could afford to wait. The
restless creatures would wander allover
the island. The calf would not be al
ways at its mothers side. When the
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with one blow Of his paw. He would
then have to fight the mother, Of
course, and he knew that a full-grown
COW moose wa fully a match for the
average bear. But he was a monarch
of his kind, a victor in many battles,
and skilled to ward off the lightning
stroke of those sIashing and tampling
hOOfs.
When the COW and calf got started
they kept wandering on, very slowly,
stopping now and then for the COW to
crop the aromatic twigs OF a young
birch or the tips of a huckleberry bush
or stunted moosewood sapling, till they
were come nearly to the end of the is
land. Then the COW clambered up a
steep slope to reach some especially
tempting provender. The calf, Sinking
the climb, fingered lazily below, watch
ing his mother. Suddenly out of the
corner Of his eye, he caught sight Of a
monstrous black form rushing upon
him. He gave q bawl Of terror. .
The COW slid down the slope like an
avalanche, saw the peril, and hurled
the calf out OF the way, bowling him
clean of his feet. In the same instant
she whirled about nimbly as a dancer.
In the same instant, also, the bear was
upon her; but, unable to check him
self, he wa too close to strike with the
full force of his armed paw. AS she
was in the act of swinging away from
it his claws merely raked her shoulder,
damaging little more than hair and
hide. AS she completed her swing she
struck at him like lightning, a short
blow which caught him or the ribs and
made him grunt angrily. Then she
danced back out Of reach, away from
the calf.
Savagely the bear lunged after her,
but again she was too nimble for him;
and before he could strike she was be-
yond reach of the stroke. And In q
few seconds she had drawn him some
twenty or thirty PAGES away from the
calf. Then, seeing her game, he stop
ped, and half swung about, as II to
charge back upon the trembling
youngster. The COW was deceived by
this feint. Frantically she plunged
forward, rearing and striking with her
great knife edged hoofs. Those strokes
were like the strokes for a pile driver,
but the bear was ready for them. Ris-
ing to his full height he Tended them