Old Ephraim, the Grisly Bear 83 



so that it may easily be seen that the sport is 

 not normally dangerous. Two of my own 

 cowboys, Seawell and Dow, were originally 

 from Maine, where they had trapped a num- 

 ber of black bears; and they always killed 

 them either with a hatchet or a small 32- 

 calibre revolver. One of them, Seawell, 

 once came near being mauled by a trapped 

 bear, seemingly at the last gasp, which 

 he had approached most incautiously with 

 his hatchet. 



There is, however, one very real danger to 

 which the solitary bear-trapper is exposed, the 

 danger of being caught in his own trap. The 

 huge jaws of the gin are easy to spring and 

 most hard to open. If an unwary passer-by 

 should tread between them and be caught by 

 the leg, his fate would be doubtful, though he 

 would probably die under the steadily grow- 

 ing torment of the merciless iron jaws, as they 

 pressed ever deeper into the sore flesh and 

 broken bones. But if caught by the arms, 

 while setting or fixing the trap, his fate would 

 be in no doubt at all, for it would be impos- 

 sible for the stoutest man to free himself by 

 any means. Terrible stories are told of soli- 

 tary mountain hunters who disappeared, and 

 were found years later in the lonely wilder- 



