Part 19 (1/2)
With a wild scream, half of fury, half of fear, Melindy also darted forward, trusting that the aniht
And the calf, terrified at the sudden outcry, staggered to its feet with a loud bleating
The bear was just upon it, with great black paw uplifted for the fatal stroke that would have broken its back, when he saw Melindy's axe descending With the speed of a skilled boxer he changed the direction of his stroke, and fended off the blow so cleverly that the axe alht a partial hold, and cleft the paw to the bone
Furious with the pain, and his fighting blood now thoroughly aroused, the bear forgot the calf and sprang at his daring assailant
Light-footed as a cat, the girl leapt aside, just in tied around the base of the rampike She realized that she had undertaken too much, and her only hope noas that either she would be able to outrun the bear, or that the latter would turn his attentions again to the calf and forget about her
The bear, however, had no intention of letting her escape his vengeance For all his bulk, he was ah she ht have outstripped hiht her in the ha thicket; but at this crucialof branches close behind hi charge of old ”Spotty,” who had heard her youngster's call
The bear had no tiht, but only to brace himself The cow's horns, unfortunately, were short and wide-spreading She caught hi-rahty claws and forearms, at the same instant, secured a deadly clutch upon her shoulders She bore hiainst the trunk indeed, but there he recovered hi charge, she could not tear herself free Foiled in these tactics, she lunged forith all her strength, again and again, bellowing ainst the tree And the bear, grunting, growling, and whining, held her fast while he tore at her with his deadly claws
Too ht, Melindy stood upon the fallen trunk and breathlessly watched the battle In a fewthe worst of it; and upon this her courage onceas close as she dared, she swung up her axe, and paused for an opening She was just about to strike, when a well-known voice arrested her, and she jumped back
”Git out of the way, Child,” it co the turmoil ”Git out of the way an' let me shoot!”
The crippled old wo When that screa air, Mrs Griffis had shot out of her chair as if she had never heard of rheu hurt her At the suour all caun from the corner, where it stood always loaded and ready, she went across the pasture and through the laurel patches at a pace alh the bushes into the hollow, and saw the situation, her iron will steadied her nerves to meet the crisis
The instant Melindy had jumped out of the way Mrs Griffis ran close up to the co kept too busy to spare her any attention whatever Coolly setting the un (which was loaded with buckshot) close to the beast's side, just behind the fore-shoulder, she pulled the trigger There was a roar that filled the hollow like the firing of a cannon, and the bear collapsed sprawling, with a great hole blown through his heart
Old ”Spotty” drew back astonished, snorted noisily, and rolled wild eyes upon her mistress Then, unable to believe that her late foe was really no longer a menace to her precious calf, she fell once more upon the lifeless form and tried to beat it out of all likeness to a bear The calf, who had been knocked over but not hurt in the bear's charge upon Melindy, had struggled to its feet again; and Mrs