170 AMEKICAN" GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 



an opportunity for grassing him, and the Kentuckian 

 seeing it, tried to console me by saying that it would take 

 a rifle ball and two bottles of whiskey to bag him. 



" How could whiskey help to bag him?" I asked. 



" By making a fellow feel as if he could follow him. 

 It gives a man courage to dare anything." 



"Does it give you great courage?" 



''Well, yes. It gave me courage enough one time to 

 tackle a grizzly, and but for it I think the grizzly would 

 have placed me under the daisies." 



"How was that?" 



"I'll tell you. I was returning one evening from 

 Blankville, pretty well stewed in tarantula juice, and 

 while passing through the woods I saw half a deer lying 

 on a brush-heap. Knowing it had been left there by a 

 grizzly, I went to the cabin, got my gun, and went back 

 to the carcass to wait for Ephraim, for I knew he'd come 

 back for it at night. I waited near it until ten o'clock, 

 but I didn't feel lonesome a bit, as I had a bottle of the 

 juice to keep me comjjany. I was getting pretty well 

 slewed, when I heard a thundering crashing among the 

 dead leaves. That brought me to my senses a little, so 

 I jumped up and got behind a tree to the windward. Al- 

 though the night was very dark, I could see what ap- 

 peared to be two bears pitching into the bait. I lifted 

 my gun to fire, but the moment I put tlie machine to my 

 shoulder I found I had brought my shot-gun instead of 

 my rifle. I knew it would be certain death to shoot at 

 the animals with that, as the shot would only sting 'em a 

 little, enough to make 'em mad, but I was too full of 

 whiskey courage to care for all the grizzlies in the coun- 

 try just then, so I up and let 'em have one barrel. That 

 made 'em yell, and both of 'em charged me. I then gave 

 'em the second barrel when they were within a cou])le of 

 yards of me. As thoy were still coming on to me like 

 fury, I didn't know what to do, as my legs were too weak 



