Hunting the Grisly 121 



couple of mining prospectors and was travel- 

 ing with them, when a grisly crossed his path. 

 The old hunter immediately ran after it, rap- 

 idly gaining, as the bear did not hurry when 

 it saw itself pursued, but slouched slowly for- 

 ward, occasionally turning its head to grin and 

 growl. It soon went into a dense grove of 

 young spruce, and as the hunter reached the 

 edge it charged fiercely out. He fired one 

 hasty shot, evidently wounding the animal, 

 but not seriously enough to stop or cripple 

 it; and as his two companions ran forward 

 they saw the bear seize him with its wide- 

 spread jaws, forcing him to the ground. They 

 shouted and fired, and the beast abandoned 

 the fallen man on the instant and sullenly re- 

 treated into the spruce thicket, whither they 

 dared not follow it. Their friend was at his 

 last gasp; for the whole side of the chest had 

 been crushed in by the one bite, the lungs 

 showing between the rent ribs. 



Very often, however, a bear does not kill 

 a man by one bite, but after throwing him 

 lies on him, biting him to death. Usually, if 

 no assistance is at hand, such a man is doomed ; 

 although if he pretends to be dead, and has 

 the nerve to lie quiet under very rough treat- 

 ment, it is just possible that the bear may 



VOL. III. 6 



