170 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 
an opportunity for grassing him, and the Kentuckian 
seeing it, tried to console me by saying that it would take 
a rifle ball and two bottles of whiskey to bag him. 
«How could whiskey help to bag him?” I asked. 
“By making a fellow feel as if he could follow him. 
It gives a man courage to dare anything.” 
“* Does it give you great courage?” 
“‘ Well, yes. It gave me courage enough one time to 
tackle a grizzly, and but for it I think the grizzly would 
have placed me under the daisies.” 
“« How was that?” 
“Tl tell you. I was returning one evening from 
Blankville, pretty well stewed in tarantula juice, and 
while passing through the woods I saw half a deer lying 
on a brush-heap. Knowing it had been left there by a 
grizzly, I went to the cabin, got my gun, and went back 
to the carcass to wait for Ephraim, for I knew he’d come 
back for it at night. I waited near it until ten o’clock, 
but I didn’t feel lonesome a bit, as I had a bottle of the 
juice to keep me company. I was getting pretty well 
slewed, when I heard a thundering crashing among the 
dead leaves. That brought me to my senses a little, so 
I jumped up and got behind a tree to the windward. Al- 
though the night was very dark, I could see what ap- 
peared to be two bears pitching into the bait. I lifted 
my gun to fire, but the moment I put the machine to my 
shoulder I found I had brought my shot-gun instead of 
my rifle. I knew it would be certain death to shoot at 
the animals with that, as the shot would only sting ’em a 
little, enough to make ’em mad, but I was too full of 
whiskey courage to care for all the grizzlies in the coun- 
try just then, so I up and let ’em have one barrel. That 
made ’em yell, and both of ’em charged me. I then gave 
’em the second barrel when they were within a couple of 
yards of me. As they were still coming on to me like 
fury, I didn’t know what to do, as my legs were too weak 
