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A N EVE R-TO-B tFO RGOTTEN BEAR HUNT Noted Russian Novelirt, !f prVoyr jtielia.Ks"1iii Experience with Almost Tragic Consequences. The adventure here narrated appeared in a recent addition of Outdoor Lilfe and is one that happened to Leo Tolstoy the -great Russian . novelist, in 1838 and written about . 1872. More than twenty years later Tolstoy gave up hunting, on humanitarian grounds. We were out on -a bear, hunting expedition.- My comrade, had shot at a bear, but only gave him a flesh wound. There were traces of ;blood on the snow, but the bear had got . away. We all collected in a group .in the forest to decide whether we ought, to go. after .the. bear at once or wait two or three days till, he, should settle down again. We asked the peasant bear- drivers -whether it -would lie possible to get around the bear -that- days . "Np. Its impossible," said an. old Lear driver. "You must let the bear quiet down. In five days time it will be possible to surround him; but if you followed him now you would only frighten liim away -and lie would not settle down." But a young beair driver began disputing, with the old man, saying that it was quite possible to get round the bear now. "On such snow as this," said he, "he wont go. far, for he is a fat bear. He will settle down before evening; or, . if :not,- I can overtake, him on. snoWahqes." The cdmrade "r-Jwaswitli was against-following up -Uie icar, and advised, wailing. But I said: "We need not, argue. You do as you like, but 1 .will follow up tlie track -with Damian. If -we get round the bear, all right. If. : not,, we, lose nothing.. It .is still, early,, and there is nothing-else for us to do today," So it was arranged. . The others went back .to the sledges and. returned to the village .Daniian and I took some, bread and remained behind in the -forest. When they had all left us Damian and I examined ohr guns, arid after tucking the skirts of our warm coats into our belts we started of f,M following the bears tracks. " The -weather was fine, .frosty and. calm; but it was hard work snowshoeing. .Tlie- snow, was deep and soft; it had "not1 caked -together at all in the forest, and fresh snow ha.d fallen , the day before, spTliat our snowshoes "sank "six inches "deep in the snow, and .sometimes more.. TRAILING THE BE AS THROUGH THE SNOW. The bear.s -tracks were visible, from.a distance, and we could see how he had been going; "sometimes sinking in up to his belly and plowing up the snow as he went; At first, while under large trees, we kept in sight of his tracks, but when it turned into a thicket of small firs Damian stopped. "We must leave the trail now," said he. "He has probably settled somewhere here. You can see by the snow tUat heMias. been squatting down. Let us leave the track and go round;" but we must go quietly. Dont shout or cough, or we shall frighten him away." Leaving the traek, therefore, .we turned off to the left. But when we. had gone about five hundred yards there were the bears tracks again right before us. " We rfoilowed itnemr and tuey broughT us put on tp the rbadr f There-we stopped; examining the road to see which way the bear had gone. Here and there in the snow were prints of the bears paw, claws and"n"lY, 4jhd"here and there" tlie marks" of a peasantbarli? sfiocs" "Tlie "fecSrliad evi-" dently gone -toward the Village. -.JVs -we- followed the road "Damian "said: "Its no use watching the road now. We . shall see where1 Tie"-has turned ff,: to -right pr, left, "by the marks in the soft snow at the side." He must have turned; off somewhere, for lie wont have gone on to the village." We went along the road for nearly a mile, and then saw,- ahead of "lis; ther bears , track turning off the road. We examined it. How strange! "it was a bear.s track right enough, only not going from tlie road into the forest, but from the forest on to the road! The toes were pointing toward the road. ""Tills must be another . bear," I said. Damian looked at it and "considered a while. ".No," said he. "Its the same one. Hes been playing tricks and walked backward when Tie left the road." We followed tlie track and found it. really was so! The bear had gone tee ten steps backward and -then, behind -a fir tree, had turned round and gone straight ahead. Damian; stopped andsaid:- "Now, we are sure to get round him. There is a .inarsli . ahead, of usA- and he must have settled down, there. Let us go round it." We began to make our way round through a fir thicket. I was tired out by this time and it had become still more, difficult to get along. Now I glided on to juniper bushes and caught my snow-shoes in therii, now a "tiny fir tree appeared be-1 twecn my feet, or,, from want of practice, my snowshpes" slipped, off; and" now I came: upon a stump or a log hidden by the snow. I was getting tired aiid" was drenched -with perspiration, and I. took off my fur- cloak And there was Damian all the time, gliding along as if in a boat, his snow-shoes moving as- if of their own accord, never catching against any tiling, no slipping off. He even took my fur and slung it .over his shoulders, anil still kept urgingVmeon. , . We went "on ifor two more miles and came out on the other side of the marsh. I. was lagging behind.. My snowshoes kept slipping off and my feet stumbled.. Suddenly Tamian, who was ahead of me, stopped anil ,.waye liis Jirm., Wheji I came up "to him--he bent down.i pointing with. ..iiis jhandr and whispered MAGPIE SCENTS THE BEAR FEOM AFAR. "Do you see the "magpie chattering above -that undergrowth V It scents the bear from afar. That is where he must be." We turned off and went, on for more than another half mile, and presently we came on to the old track again. We had, therefore, been right round . the bear, which was now within the track we had left We stopped, and I took off my cap and loosened all my clothes, I, was as hot as in a steam bath, apd as wet as a drowned rat. Damian, too, was flushed and wiped his face with his sleeve. ".Wcll.1-shV,. he .said, "we, have done, pur job and liow we must have a rest." Th. evening . .glow already showed red through, the forest., W.c took off our snqwsTioes arid "ski down on them. and?.gp.t some bread and salt put of our bags... Ifpt Jjai;q jsqmjnow,. and., then some bread, and the bread tasted so good that J thought f hud -never in my life Iliad any Jike it before. Wc sat there resting until It began to grow dusk, and then I asked Damlaa if it was far to tlie vil- Inge. . u7t , 54f ;. -.. . .-i "Yes,?" he-said; Vlt miiKt le .about eight -miles. We will go on there tonight, but now we must rest., Iuf on your fur-coat- sir, or youll be- catehiug. cold." Dumitiu flattened down the snow,. land breaking! off -soie fir- bwucheinad iX pC,j 0j. them. WeJ lay down aide- by side, resting our heads on our arms. I do-faot: remember how I fell asleep. Two , ir ... , tv , 1 : hours plater, I woke, up, hearing something crack. I had slept so soundly that I did not know where I...WaB. I..loked around me. Hpw wonderful! T was In some sort of a hall, all glittering and white with gleaming pillars, and when- I looked up ! saw, through delicate white tracery, a vault, raven black and studded with colored lights. After a good look I remembered that we were in the forest, and that what I. took for a hall anil pillars, were", trees covered with snow and hoarfrost, and the colored, lights were stars twinkling between the, branches. , Hoarfrost had settled in tlie night, all the: tyjiRs Vere thick with it, Damian was covered with rt; it w0801 my fur coat, and it dropped down, from the; trees. L woke Damian and wc put on dur: snowshoes and started. It was quiet in . the fprpst: No-- sound was heard but that of our snowshpes pushing through the snow, except whennow flod then a tree,, cracked by the frost, made tlie forest, resound. Only once we heard the sound of a living1 creature. . Something rustled close to us, and then rushed away. I felt sure it was the bear, .but; when we went- to the spot whence the soiind had come, we found the footmarks of hares, and saw: several ypung aspen trees with their bark gnawed. We had startled some hares while they were feed-f ing. STARS SEEMED RUNNING TO MEET US. " We came out on tlie "road, arid followed it, drag-; ging our snowshoes, behind us. It was easy-walking now. Our snowshoes clattered as they. slid- ie-iiind us Tf rom side to side "of tlie hard trodden rpad.i -The. show creaked . under our boots, and. the .cold: hoarfrost, settled on our faces like down. Seen through the branches; the stars seemed to be running: to meet .us,-, now twinkling, now vanishing, ..as if ; the. whole sky were on the move. . , I found my comrade sleeping, but woke him up, and related hqw: we had got round -the bear. ; After telling our peasant host. to. collect beaters for ..the morning we; had supper and lay down to sleep.,, . I was so- tired that- I could have slept on till; midday, if my comrade had - not roused . nie;r .1: jumped up and saw that he Was already dressed and busy doing something to his gun. . ,. iwhere is Damian?- -said I. "In the forest, long ago. He has already been over the tracks you made,, and been back here, and now lie has gone to- look after the beaters." I, washed and. dressed- and loaded -my guns; and then we- got into a sledge arid started. Tlie sharp frost still continued. It was quiet, land the sun could not be seen. There was a thick mist above, us and hoarfrost still covered every- thing. . After driving about two; miles along tlie road, as we came near the forest, we saw a cloud of smoke rising from a hollow and presently reached a group of peasants, both men and women, armed with cudgels of all descriptions. We got -out and went up to them. The men sat; roasting potatoes, and laughing and talking with the: women. Damian was there too; and when. we arrived the people got up and Damian led them away to place them in the circle we had made the day before. They went along in single file, men and women, thirty in all. The snow was so deep that we could only see them from their waists upward. They turned into the forest and my friend and I followed in their track. Though they had trodden a path, walking was difficulty but, on the other hand, it was impossible -tj fal.Jt. was like walking between two walls of . -snow,. - SHOWED US "WHERE TO STAND. We went on in this way for nearly a half mile, when all at. once we" saw Damian coming from .another .direction running toward -us on his snow-shoes and beckoning us to join him. We went toward him, and he showed us where to stand. -I took my place and looked around me. To my left were tall fir trees, between the trunks of --which I could see a good way, and like a blaek patch just visible behind the trees I couM see a-beater. In front of me was a thicket of young firs about as high as a man, their branches weighed down and stuck together with snow. Through this copse ran a path thickly covered with Snow and leading straight up .to where I stood. Tlie thicket stretched away to the right of me, arid ended in a small glade, where I could see Damian placing my comrade. I examined both my guns and considered where I had better stand. Three steps behind me was. a tall fir. JThats where Ill stand," thought I, "and then I can lean my second gun against the. tree," and, I moved up toward the tree, sinking up to my knees in the snowat each step. I tirod the snow down and made "a clearance about a yard square .to stand on. One gun I kept in my hand, the other, ready cocked, I placed leaning up. against the tree. Then. I unsheathed and replaced my dagger to make sure that I could draw it easily in case of need Just as I had finished these preparations, I heard Damian shouting in the forest: "Hes up! Hes up!" And as soon as .Daniian shouted the peasants, round the circle ail replied in their different voices: "Up, up, up! Ou! 6u! On!" shouted the men. "Ay! Ay! Ay! screamed the women in high-pitched tones. f The bear Was insidethe circle, and as Damian drove him on the people all round kept shouting. Only my friend and . I stood motionless, waiting for the bear to come toward us. As I stood gazing and listening--my heart beat violently. I trembled, holding my gun fast. Now, now," I thought. "He will come suddenly. .1. shall aim, tire, and he will drop- " Suddenly to my left, but at a distance, I heard something falling on the snow. I looked between the tall fir trees, and some fifty paces off, behind the trunks, saw something big and black. I took aim and waited, thinking: "Wont he come any nearer?" HE WAS AN IMMENSE BRUTE. As I waited I saw him move his ears, turn, and go back; and then I caught a glimpse of the whole of him in profile. He was an immense brute. In my excitement I fired, and heard my bullet go "flop" against a tree. Tcering through the smoke I saw my bear scapipcring back into the circle and disappearing among the trees. "Well," thought I, "my chance is lost." He wont, come back to me. Either my comrade will "shoot him or he will escape through the line of beaters. In any case he wont give me another chance. I reloaded by gun, however, and again stood listening. The peasants were shouting all round, but to the right, not far from where my comrade s.tpbd, I heard a woman screaming in a frenzied voice: "Here h-is! Here he W. Come here, come here! Oh! Oh! Ay! Ay!" Evidently tiv could see the bear. I had given up expecting him ami was looking to the right at my comrade. All at once I saw Damian with a stick in his hand and without his snowshoes running along a foopath toward my friend. He crouched down beside him, pointing his stick as if Urtiing at sonietliine. and then I saw my friend rate his gtm and uim in the same direction. Cmck! He fired. thought 1. ne has killed him. PSut ivg,aw that my oi.wr:nie did not run toward the bear. Evidentiv i- Mm. or tli shot had. not: taken full effn-. "The bear will tret a.uir i ,.tlicniit. lie will go. back, tp.t he wont come a second time toward :ineliut what is thnt?" CAME BLUNDERING STRAIGHT AT ME." ;pmothinR. v:fj -.xmlng toward me like a whirl -wjml, stH.r-,irii as It came, and I saw the snow ilffitg hp tiuite iieur me. I glanced straight before hie, and there was the bear, rushing along he tMith r through . the thicket right at me, evi-deh.ti.yv beside himself with fear. He was hardly i half dozen paces off. and I could see the whole of hini his black chest and enormous head with a reddish patch. There he was, blundering straight .at me, and scattering the snow about as he came. I could see by his eyes that he did not see me, but, mad with fear, was rushing blindly along, and his path led him straight at tlie tree under which I Was standing. I raised by gun anil fired. He was almost upon me now and I saw that I had missed. My bullet had goue past him and he did not even hear, hie fire, but still came headlong .toward me. I lowered my gun and , fired again, almost touching. h.is.Jiead. Crack! I had hit but not- "killed him! - He .raised his. head., and laying his ears back cameafcmf;, showing his teeth, . I .snatched at my other gun, but almost before L had .touched it he bad lowu at me, and knocking me over into .: lie mw had passed right over me. i"Thaiik.goo.iiii-ss he has le.ft mo," thought I. .1 tried to rise, but something pressed me down and .-prevented my getting up. The bears rush had carried him past me, but he had turned back and .had. f alien on me with the whole weight of his ibodjv I. felt something heavy -weighing me down :and something wrm above my face, and I realized tliat;herSvas drawing my whole face into his mouth. My nose was already in it, and I felt the heat of it and smelt, his blood, was pressing my shoulders down with his paws so that I could not move, all I could do was to draw my head down toward my ehest away from his mouth, trying to free my nose and eyes, while he tried to get his teeth into them. Then I felt thnt he had seized my forehead just uniler the hair with the teeth of his lower jaw, and the flesh below my eyes with his upper jaw, and was closing his teeth. It was as if my face were being cut with knives. I struggled to get away, while he made haste to close his jaws like a dog gnawing. I managed to twist my face away, but he began drawing it again into his mouth. "Now," thought L "my end has ;come!" Then I felt the weight lifted, and looking up I saw that he was no longer there. He had jumped off me and run away. When my. comrade and Damian had seen the bear knock me down, and begin worrying me, they rushed to the rescue. My comrade, in his haste, blundered, and instead of following the trodden path, ran into the deep snow and fell down. While he was struggling out of the snow, the bear was gnawing at me. But Damian, just as he was, without gun and with only a stick in his hand, rushed along the path shouting: "nes eating the master! Hes eating the master!" , And, as he ran he called to the bear: . "Oh, -you, idiot! What are you doing? Leave off! Leave off!". " V.. J EXCITEMENT BULLED THE FAIN. The bear .obeyed him, and, leaving me, ran away. When I rose there was as much blood on the snow as .if a sheep had been killed, and the flesh hung in rags over my eyes, though in .my excitement I felt no pain. My comrade had come up by this time and the other people collected rouud; they looked at my wound and put snow on it. But I, forgetting about my wounds, only asked: "Wheres the bear? Which way has he gone?" Suddenly I heard: "Here he is! Here he is!" And we saw the bear again running at us. We seized our guns, but before anyone had time ,to, fire, .he had run past. He had grown ferocious and wanted to gnaw me again, but seeing so many people took fright. We saw by his track that liis head was bleeding, and we wanted to follow him up; but as my wounds had become painful we went; instead, to the town to find a doctor. The doctor stitched up my wounds with silk, and they soon began to heal. A month later wc went to hunt that bear again, but I did not get a chance of finishing him. He would not come out of the circle, but went round and round, growling in a terrible voice. Damian killed him. The bears lower jaw had been broken, arid one of his teeth knocked out by my bullet. . He was a huge creature, and had splendid black fur. . , I had him stuffed and he now. lies in my room. The wounds on my forehead healed up so that the scars can scarcely be seen. - ; .
