AND OTHER HUNTING ADVENTURES. 171 



ains near the headwaters of the Stinking Water 

 river. The younger of the two, though an able- 

 bodied man, and capable of doing a good day' s work 

 with a pick or shovel, was weak-minded, and the 

 elder brother never allowed him to go any distance 

 away from camp or their work alone. He, however, 

 sent him one evening to the spring, a few rods off, 

 to bring a kettlef ul of water. The spring was in a 

 deep gorge, and the trail to it wound through some 

 fissures in the rock. As the young man passed 

 under a shelving rock, an immense old female grizzly, 

 that had taken up temporary quarters there, reached 

 out and struck a powerful blow at his head, but for- 

 tunately could not reach far enough to do him any 

 serious harm. The blow knocked his hat off, and 

 her claws caught his scalp, and laid it open clear 

 across the top of his head in several ugly gashes. 

 The force of the blow sent 1dm spinning around, and 

 not knowing enough to be frightened, he attacked 

 her savagely with the only weapon he had at hand 

 the camp kettle. 



The elder brother heard the racket, and hastily 

 catchng up his rifle and hurrying to the scene of the 

 disturbance, found his brother vigorously belabor- 

 ing the bear over the head with the camp kettle, 

 and the bear striking savage blows at him, any 

 one of which, if she could have reached him, 

 would have torn his head from his shoulders. 

 Three bullets from the rifle, fired in rapid succession, 

 loosened her hold upon the rocks, and she tumbled 

 lifelessly into the trail. The poor idiotic boy could 

 not even then realize the danger through which he 

 had passed, and could only appease his anger by 



