Hunting American Big Game 



At last the aggrieved lady gave up, and 

 plunged her head back into the snow, while 

 her brother, not having any one to fight 

 with, went off a short distance and lay 

 down. We cautiously approached, bear- 

 ing in mind that a snowdrift is a hard thing 

 for pedestrians in a hurry to travel on ; and 

 when we got about ten feet from the first 

 bear, I told my companion to snowball her, 

 and see what effect that would have, for 

 she looked too innocent to be dead and 

 finished for. 



But instead of doing so, he discarded 

 his rifle, and reached for her tail. Ah, I 

 thought so ! for, as he gave a yank, up 

 came her head, her jaws flew open like 

 clockwork, and a snort came forth. But 

 right between the eyes went the deadly 

 messenger, smashing her skull, and ending 

 any prolonged sufl^ering for any of us. Her 

 end accomplished, we turned to the other 

 partner. He had been taking it all in, and 

 was ready for a fight. He seemed pretty 

 fit too. Fortunately he could not come 

 up to us ; the snowdrift was too steep, 

 and he had only two serviceable legs to 

 travel with. Still he had true grit, and 

 faced us ; but it was an unequal battle. 



Again the bullet reached its victim, and 

 brother ba'r lay quietly on his back, with 



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