354 
muzzle of my Sharp’s, but he was too quick 
for me, and made such a rapid motion with 
one of his paws I could hardly see it—but 
I felt it! 
The grizzly struck me a whack on the 
shoulder that turned me in a complete 
somerset into the gulch; but I lit on my 
feet on a ledge some ten feet below and 
saved myself from going over into the gorge 
by grasping a bush. My gun went clear 
over, however, and I heard it crash on the 
rocks below. 
I glanced back and saw that the bear 
was coming down after me, and as I sprang 
up with the intention of keeping out of his 
clutches as long as possible, the sharp, 
sickening pain that shot through my left 
ankle gave me notice that I had but one 
foot that was of any use, just when I needed 
them both the most in my life. I knew 
that now I was in a desperate strait, and 
‘no one who has not been in a like situation 
can tell or realize the agony of fear that 
took possession of me. I determined to cast 
myself over the ledge before I would suffer 
the horrible death I knew awaited me at 
the next charge of the infuriated grizzly. 
As I turned to the gorge to put my resolu- 
tion into execution, I saw a V-shaped notch 
in the rock forming the edge of the ledge, 
about two feet across at the outer edge, 
which ran back about three feet to a point. 
Instantly the thought struck me that if 
I could let myself through the notch and 
wedge one of my feet in the V, and hang 
head downward, the bear could not get 
hold of me, and I might succeed in hanging 
there until Joe could come to my rescue. 
But before I could accomplish it the bear 
was upon me again. He made a pass at 
me just as I let my shoulders through the 
notch, and his sharp claws caught me in the 
calf of my leg and ripped it open to my 
ankle, where they caught in my shoe and 
held me fast. At the same instant I heard 
the sharp report of Joe’s old buffalo gun— 
and the next moment I felt the sickening 
sensation of falling; a crashing on the 
rocks below; a sharp pain dart through 
my head, and then—oblivion. 
When I regained consciousness I was 
_ lying on a bed of leaves between two logs, 
and over the one to the right I could see 
the red coals of a fire. I attempted to raise 
. God, he is still alive,” said Joe. 
RECREATION 
myself on my elbow to see more plainly, 
but I discovered I was too weak to do so 
and sank back again. But in this effort to 
move I also discovered that my head, my 
lacerated leg and my sprained ankle were 
each bandaged and wet. Then I knew 
Joe had been working over me while I lay 
unconscious. But where was he now? 
It was night, and all I could see was the 
red glow of the fire, but as I became more 
accustomed to the darkness I saw I was 
lying in a covered pen of logs. Gradually 
the conviction came into my mind that 
Joe had built this pen around me to keep 
off the wild beasts, while he had gone for 
help in moving me. Slowly the hours 
dragged along, and it seemed that morning 
would never come. The fire died down to 
a mere glimmer, and the wind made such 
a peculiar sound as it swept down the 
gulch that I imagined some animal was 
snufhng around the pen. I fell into a 
doze toward morning, but was suddenly 
awakened by a sound of snarling. And 
it being now broad daylight, I saw four 
dark-colored animals eating the carcass of 
the bear and snarling at one another. 
The first sight of them filled me with dread, 
until I discovered they were only wolves. 
When I realized I was guarded from them 
by the pen of logs they didn’t look half 
so large as when I first saw them. This - 
assurance of mind did not last long, how- 
ever, for presently I saw a large cinnamon 
bear coming down the gulch. To my great 
relief he made straight for the carcass, 
and the wolves slunk away at his approach. 
And then, when the new arrival hadn’t more 
than stuck his nose to the carcass, there came 
the startling bang of a rifle, near at hand, 
followed by three others in quick succes- 
sion. 
The bear reared up and tumbled over, 
kicked furiously, sighed hideously, stiffened 
and died. He was very near to me; it was 
awful to see him die. © 
Whether it was the reaction from fear 
to a realization that I was safe or the pain 
of my wounds, I cannot say, but I had a 
collapse of some kind, and was recalled to 
consciousness by hearing voices. “Thank 
As I 
looked up into his face I noticed his ex- 
pression of deep anxiety, and I faintly 
