OUR FATAL TEMERITY ERSKINE'S DEATH. 187 



called out, "Oh, save the dogs," threw down his rifle, 

 and rushed on with his knife among the furious group ; 

 I followed on the instant. When the bear saw us com- 

 ing, he exerted still more force to beat off the dogs, and 

 meet us. Seizing his opportunity, my comrade ran his 

 steel into his side. The bear turned on him like li#ht- 



o 



ning, and seized him ; he uttered a shrill piercing shriek. 

 Driven to desperation by the sight, I plunged my knife 

 three times into the monster's body with all my force, 

 without thinking of jumping back ; at the third thrust, 

 the bear turned upon me. Seeing his paw coming, I 

 attempted to evade the blow, felt a sharp pang, and 

 sunk senseless to the ground. 



When I recovered my senses, Bearsgrease was licking 

 the blood from my face. On attempting to rise, I felt a 

 severe pain in my left side, and was unable to move my 

 left arm. On making a fresh effort to rise, I succeeded 

 in sitting up. The bear was close to me, and less than 

 three feet from him lay Erskine, stiff and cold. I sprang 

 up with a cry of horror, and rushed towards him. It was 

 too true : he was bathed in blood, his face torn to pieces, 

 his right shoulder almost wrenched away from his body, 

 and five of the best dogs ripped up and with broken limbs 

 lying beside him. The bear was so covered with blood 

 that his color was hardly discernible. My left arm ap- 

 peared to be out of the socket, but I could feel that no 

 bones were broken. 



The sun had gone down, and I had hoped that the 

 other hunters might have heard our shots and the bark- 

 ing and howling of the dogs. It grew dark. No one 

 came,. I roared and shoujbed like mad ; no one heard 



