HUNTING THE GRISLY. 111 



in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, and was 

 a keen hunter, especially fond of the chase of 

 cougar, bear, and elk. One day while riding 

 a stony mountain trail he saw a little grisly 

 cub watching him from the chaparral above, 

 and he dismounted to try to capture it ; his 

 rifle was a 40-90 Sharp's. Just as he neared 

 the cub, he heard a growl and caught a glimpse 

 of the old she, and he at once turned up-hill, 

 and stood under some tall, quaking aspens. 

 From this spot he fired at and wounded the 

 she, then seventy yards off ; and she charged 

 furiously. He hit her again, but as she kept 

 coming like a thunderbolt he climbed hastily 

 up the aspen, dragging his gun with him, as it 

 had a strap. When the bear reached the foot 

 of the aspen she reared, and bit and clawed 

 the slender trunk, shaking it for a moment, 

 and he shot her through the eye. Off she 

 sprang for a few yards, and then spun round 

 a dozen times, as if dazed or partially 

 stunned ; for the bullet had not touched the 

 brain. Then the vindictive and resolute beast 

 came back to the tree and again reared up 

 against it ; this time to receive a bullet that 

 dropped her lifeless. Mr. Whitney then 

 climbed down and walked to where the cub 

 had been sitting as a looker-on. The little 

 animal did not move until he reached out his 

 hand ; when it suddenly struck at him like an 

 angry cat, dove into the bushes, and was seen 

 no more. 



In the summer of 1888 an old-time trapper, 

 named Charley Norton, while on Loon Creek, 



