ON THE PRAIRIE 207 



German, and at the same time the loud 

 coughing growl, or roar, of a bear. They 

 turned just in time to see their companion 

 struck a terrible blow on the head by a griz- 

 zly, which must have been roused from its 

 lair by his almost stepping on it; so close 

 was it that he had no time to fire his rifle, 

 but merely held it up over his head as a 

 guard. Of course it was struck down, the 

 claws of the great brute at the same time 

 shattering his skull like an egg-shell. Yet 

 the man staggered on some ten feet before he 

 fell; but when he did he never spoke or 

 moved again. The two others killed the bear 

 after a short, brisk struggle, as he was in the 

 midst of a most determined charge. 



In 1872, near Fort Wingate, New Mexico, 

 two soldiers of a cavalry regiment came to 

 their death at the claws of a grizzly bear. 

 The army surgeon who attended them told 

 me the particulars, as far as they 

 known. The men were mail carriers, and 

 one day did not come in at the appointed 

 Next day, a relief party was sent out 



