2gS 



RECREATION 



bility. It had been his experience that 

 tame bears could not be trusted to run 

 about loose, and that the most harmless 

 of the breed was pretty sure to show 

 evil temper and relapse into native 

 savagery at times. As a safeguard 

 against sudden outbreak of ill-temper, 

 the butcher decided that Juanita should 

 have a ring in her nose, and he bored 

 a hole through the cartilage and inserted 

 a ring at the end of a light chain. 



The operation was painful and de- 

 stroyed Juanita's confidence in Trimble 

 as a friend. The butcher kept her 

 chained to a post in a dark, vacant shed 

 adjoining his shop, and that was a new 

 experience. Nothing was as it had 

 been, and she did not understand what 

 the change meant. She obeyed Trim- 

 ble because obedience was a habit, when 

 he told her to do things Juan had taught 

 her to do, and she tried clumsily to 

 obey when he gave orders which she 

 did not understand, because he jerked 

 her nose chain roughly and beat her 

 with a club when she was slow. 



Trimble's bear was a better advertise- 

 ment of the butcher shop than the two- 

 inch double column display ad. which 

 he carried in the Weekly Rodeo at four 

 dollars a month in trade, and she cost 

 ■nothing, for her food consisted of meat 

 trimmings and half spoiled vegetables. 

 Strangers in town were taken to Trim- 

 ble's and introduced to Juanita, and 

 when one of the townspeople plucked 

 up courage to show off a bit by shak- 

 ing the bears' paw familiarly, he be- 

 came almost a hero in the eyes of the 

 stranger and acquired a noticeable strut. 



Pistol Johnny claimed the honor of 

 being Juanita's oldest and most partic- 

 ular friend, and was most diligent in 

 guiding strangers to Trimble's and act- 

 ing as master of ceremonies. It almost 

 persuaded him to believe in his bravery 

 to shake Juanita's paw, rub her nose and 

 tousle hen ears in the presence of an 

 admiring group, but he could not quite 

 screw his courage up to letting her put 

 her shaggy arms about him in a dance, 

 as he had seen Juan do in front of the 

 Bon Ton. 



A few extra rounds of drinks with a 

 convivial hack-load of tourists stimu- 

 lated Pistol Johnny's ambition one 

 evening, and he recklessly invited his 

 fares to go up to Trimble's and see him 

 waltz with a ferocious bear that only he 

 dared to approach. Juanita was asleep, 

 but Johnny waked her up with a jerk of 

 the nose-chain and made her stand up. In 

 the dim light of a candle held by one 

 of the tourists, the bear loomed up a 

 formidable figure, and the strangers 

 backed away to a respectful distance 

 and begged Johnny to be careful. The 

 more nervous his audience grew, the 

 more elated was Johnny, and the more 

 recklessly rough in his handling of the 

 bear. 



"Now for the fandango," said John- 

 ny, seizing Juanita in his arms, and 

 stamping time with his heels. Juanita 

 could wrestle better than she danced, 

 and she was not in the dancing humor. 

 Instantly Johnny was thrown to the 

 ground, face downward, and his yell of 

 terror sent the frightened tourists out of 

 the shed with loud cries for help. 



"Quick, the bear's killing the hack- 

 man," shouted one of them to Trimble, 

 as he rushed into the shop. Trimble 

 seized a candle in one hand and a 

 cleaver in the other and ran into the 

 shed, followed by the excited visitors, 

 some of whom had armed themselves 

 with hatchets and knives from the 

 blocks. 



Johnny's agonized cries had a singu- 

 lar quality. They were explosive and 

 jerky, and seemed to be cut off and 

 turned on spasmodically. The deputy 

 sheriff and a few other citizens, at- 

 tracted by the clamor, rushed to the 

 butcher shop and arrived in time to 

 press into the shed at Trimble's heels, 

 Earhart with gun in hand and the light 

 of battle in his eye. 



The Texan was the first to size up 

 the situation, and his loud squeal, 

 "whee-ee!" which was his characteris- 

 tic expression of supreme glee, halted 

 the intended assault upon Juanita. 

 Johnny was prone on the ground, and 

 Juanita was sitting upon the small of his 



