7.V THE FAR WEST. 33 



returned to camp, highly elated with his adventure. He told 

 his comrades the story, but they would not believe it until they 

 saw the broken tree and the bear tracks. They, of course, 

 told it to others, and Bill received his name. When a little 

 merry he would boast good-humouredly that he was the only 

 man in the Territory that had defeated a grizzly with his feet 

 alone, and would defy anybody else to accomplish the same feat. 

 The Earl of Southesk relates a somewhat similar incident of 

 two Indians who were treed by a grizzly in British America. 

 The tree in which they took refuge was a mere pole, having 

 only one lateral branch, and on this the first one up seated 

 himself, while his companion had to try and hold on around 

 the trunk with his arms and legs. Such a state of things 

 could not, as a matter of course, last long, and the wretched 

 man below, as his strength was giving way, felt that there 

 were only a few minutes between himself and eternity. AY hen, 

 he thought of his wife and young family he burst into tears and 

 lamentations, and was looked upon with contempt for doing so 

 by the individual safe above. The i'atal moment came at 

 length, when his strength was exhausted, and abandoning 

 himself to what he could not prevent, he closed his eyes and 

 slipped helplessly down the tree ; but, fortunately for him, the 

 bear was on a line beneath him, and he fell on its back. This 

 was a most unexpected meeting to the grizzly, and the result 

 was that it fled in the wildest panic. Seeing the coast clear, 

 the "percher" came down, and accompanied the grizzly- 

 driver to the encampment; but the latter, fearing that his 

 actions had been anything but heroic, and that he would be 

 an object of ridicule among his people if they were described, 

 offered his companion several presents if he would preserve 

 secrecy about the matter, and this he promised, but not until 

 after he had stripped the poor fellow of everything he possessed. 

 A few months later, the pereher got drunk, and went all over 

 the camp proclaiming his companion's disgrace, and ridiculing 

 him. The latter was so incensed at this outrage that he 

 procured a rifle, and going to where the scandal-monger was 

 uttering his sentiments, shot him dead before all his auditors. 

 These two incidents might prove that the most effective 



u 



