34 Hunting Trips on the Prairie 



fired into the brain, the bullet in one case striking 

 fairly between the eyes, as told above, and in the 

 other going in between the eye and ear. A novice 

 at this kind of sport will find it best and safest to 

 keep in mind the old Norse viking s advice in ref 

 erence to a long sword : &quot;If you go in close enough 

 your sword will be long enough.&quot; If a poor shot 

 goes in close enough he will find that he shoots 

 straight enough. 



I was very proud over my first bear; but Merri- 

 field s chief feeling seemed to be disappointment that 

 the animal had not had time to show fight. He was 

 rather a reckless fellow, and very confident in his 

 own skill with the rifle; and he really did not seem 

 to have any more fear of the grislies than if they 

 had been so many jack-rabbits. I did not at all 

 share his feelings, having a hearty respect for my 

 foes prowess, and in following and attacking them 

 always took all possible care to get the chances on 

 my side. Merrifield was sincerely sorry that we 

 never had to stand a regular charge; while on this 

 trip we killed five grislies with seven bullets, and 

 except in the case of the she and cub, spoken of 

 further on, each was shot about as quickly as it got 

 sight of us. The last one we got was an old male, 

 which was feeding on an elk carcass. We crept up 

 to within about sixty feet, and as Merrifield had not 

 yet killed a grisly purely to his own gun, and I had 

 killed three, I told him to take the shot. He at 

 once whispered gleefully: &quot;I ll break his leg, and 

 we ll see what he ll do!&quot; Having no ambition to 



