A Charging Grizzly 91 



stop for that, and as I hurried on I could hear the water 

 splash behind me as Martin, having secured his rifle, 

 hastened after me. Then, as I came into the open, I saw 

 Jack standing at the edge of some timber, leaning on his 

 rifle, while in front of him, sixty feet or so away, a large 

 grizzly lay rolling and bawling as she rolled. In the wil- 

 lows across the creek there was a big commotion — bears 

 bawling and Nebo barking; my curs joined in the up- 

 roar; a bear showed his head and I sent a slug into it; 

 Martin came up in time to get a shot at another; a third 

 appeared and was instantly killed. We had four bears 

 down and there seemed to be no more coming. 



Martin, in telling of the beginning of the adventure, 

 said that when they came to the small creek and looked 

 over the beaver house, they decided that they would have 

 to cut away a dam below it and run off the water. Jack, 

 therefore, placed his gun against a tree and went forty or 

 fifty yards down-stream to the dam. As they were about 

 to begin cutting this away, they were attracted by a noise 

 in the willows across the creek, and Martin had advised 

 Jack to get his gun, thinking it might be a moose. How- 

 ever, as they heard no further noise, they went to work 

 on the dam, and when they again looked up they saw an 

 enormous grizzly standing on its hind legs and looking 

 over the willows at them. The dog had then begun to 

 bark, and the bear, accepting the challenge, started for 

 them. Jack sprinted for his gun, and Martin, sticking his 

 spade into the mud, shinned up a tree, prepared to referee 

 the show. As Jack got his gun the grizzly appeared at 

 the water's edge directly opposite, and before he could 

 shoot, jumped for him, landing in the middle of the 



