250 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS 



that she may live to fight, she stays to kill that she may 

 eat. Oh ! for a tree I If there had been one in sight 

 I would have risked running for it, as Grizzlies are not 

 good climbers like the Black Bear ; but there I was, 

 I could neither run nor shoot. ]My enemy gave a grin 

 and a growl and took another step forward, clawing at 

 me. I dared not lift my rifle to my shoulder, lest she 

 should grab the muzzle, but I managed to grasp the 

 barrel, and swinging it round brought the butt down on 

 the Grizzly's nose with a heavy blow. She was only 

 enraged by it, not stunned, and gave a growl, gnashing 

 her teeth with a horrible noise. For a moment I ex- 

 pected no other fate than to become the supper for the 

 little Bears ! 



" Something cold slipped along my shoulder and 

 touched my cheek. Fortunately I had sufficient nerve 

 not to turn — there was a sharp report close to my 

 head that made me deaf and kept my ears ringing for 

 months afterward, but the Bear pitched forward, just 

 clearing me, and rolled down the rocks to a ledge below, 

 shot through her wicked eye. 



" Then I turned. Joe was behind me, calm and cool 

 as if he had merely shot a Squirrel. 



" ' I saAV her a-comin' from the open yonder, and I 

 reckoned you'd be wantin' me 'bout now. Never mind 

 skinnin' her until we get our Bighorn — she'll stay 

 down thar till we call fer her ! I reckoned that shot 

 would scare the Bighorns, but it hasn't ; they must be 

 a green bunch that haven't ever been hunted,' he said, 

 lookino' around the corner. 



o 



" Sure enough ; the rocks screened us, and the ram 

 had merely shifted his position, while the whole bunch 



