Part 20 (1/2)
”They proceeded direct to the trap, supplied with a rope, intending to take the young bear alive It being a short time after dark, objects could not be distinctly seen; but, on approaching close to the scene of action, a crashi+ng a the leaves and dry branches, with sundry other indications, warned them of the proximity of the old animals When within a few steps of the spot, a dark roas heard--and the confined beasthis The infuriated animal inflicted a severe wound on his knee, upon which he drew his sword and defended hi several wounds frohtful and peculiar manner, when the old she-bear, attracted to the spot, rushed on the adventurous Harrison, and attacked hireat ferocity Jacob turned upon the new foe, and wielded his trusty weapon with such energy and success, that in a short time he deprived her of one of her fore paws by a lucky stroke, and completely disabled her, eventually, by a desperate cut across the neck, which divided the tendons and severed the spinal vertebrae Having completed his conquest, he had ample ti the tierous scene, we have related, was enacting, as going on in equally bloody and vigorous style at a short distance Mr Burke, having discharged his gun at the other old bear, only slightly wounded hi at him with a furious howl He was -piece At the first stroke, the stock flew in pieces, and the next the heavy barrel was hurled a distance of twenty feet a the underwood by a side blow from the dexterous paw of the bear Mr Burke then retreated a few feet, and placed his back against a large he acquainted with the nature of the ani knife fro his arms by his side, coolly awaited the onset
”Thehis teeth, and, with a savage spring, encircled the body of the hunter and the tree in his iron gripe The nextblade of the _couteau chasse_ tore his abdoround At this exciting crisis of the struggle, the other , came up in time to witness the triumphal close of the conflict
”Two old bears and a cub were the fruit of this dangerous adventure--all extreh upward of two hundred and fifty pounds We have seldoerous encounter with bears, and we are happy to say that Mr Burke received no injury; Mr Jacob Harrison, although torn severely, and having three ribs broken, recovered under the care of an Indian doctor of the Algonquin tribe”
THE MINERS OF BOIS-MONZIL
On Tuesday, February 22, 1831, a violent detonation was suddenly heard in the coalto M Robinot The waters froalleries ”The waters, the waters!” such was the cry that resounded frohout the mine Only ten miners out of twenty-six were able to reach the entrance One of theht off in his arms, a boy eleven years old, whom he thus saved from sudden death; another impelled by the air and the water, to a considerable distance, could scarcely credit his escape froer; a third rushed forith his sack full of coals on his shoulders, which, in his fright, he had never thought of throwing down
The disastrous news, that sixteen workmen had perished in the mine of M
Robinot, was soon circulated in the town of St Etienne It was regarded as one of those fatal and deplorable events unfortunately, too co Thursday it was no longer talked of Politics, and the state of parties in Paris, exclusively occupied the public attention
The engineers of the mines, however, and some of their pupils, who, on the first alar their indefatigable endeavors to discover thethat mechanical science, manual labor, and perseverance, prompted by humanity, could perform, was left undone
Thirty hours had already elapsed since the fatal accident, when torkmen announced the discovery of a jacket and soineers ialleries where these objects had been found, which they acco on their hands and feet
In vain they repeatedly called aloud; no voice, save the echo of their own, answered froloomy vaults It then occurred to theainst the roof of thesilence! Listen! yes! the sounds are answered by similar blows! Every heart beats, every pulse quickens, every breath is contracted; yet, perhaps, it is but an illusion of their wishes--or, perhaps, soain strike the vaulted roof There is no longer any doubt The same number of strokes is returned No words can paint the varied feelings that pervaded every heart It was (to use the expression of a person present) a veritable deliriu an instant, the engineers ordered a hole to be bored in the direction of the galleries, where the miners were presumed to be; at the same time, they directed, on another point, the for with theineer's pupils were now dispatched to the mayor of St
Etienne, to procure a couple of fire pumps, which they conducted back to the mine, accompanied by two fireined that the deliverance of theto prepare an ”agreeable surprise”
for the friends of the supposed victiave strict injunctions at the mayoralty to keep the object of their expedition a profound secret
Notwithstanding the untiring efforts made to place these pumps in the mine, it was found impossible Either they were upon a plane toowith facility, or the water was too muddy to be received up the pipes; they were therefore abandoned In theor by the inclined well, seemed to present insurmountable difficulties The distance to them was unknown; the sound of their blows on the roof, far fro a certain criterion, or, at least, a probable one, seemed each time to excite fresh doubts; in short, the rock which it was necessary to pierce, was equally hard and thick, and the gunpowder unceasingly used to perforate it, ned in the mine may be easily conceived
Each of the party, in his turn, offered his suggestions, sometimes of hope, sometiue suspense, which is, perhaps, more painful to support than the direst certainty The strokes of the unfortunate itation, fro able to afford theht that in such a painfulthan those they sought to save, as the latter were, at any rate, sustained by hope
While most of the party were thus perplexed by a crowd of disquieting ideas, produced by the distressing nature of the event itself, and by their protracted stay in a mine where the few solitary lamps scarcely rendered ”darkness visible,” the workmen continued their labors with redoubled ardor; so to pieces blocks of the rock, which fell slowly and withthe hole before naht to discover new galleries, either by creeping on ”all fours,” or by penetrating through perilous and narrow crevices and clefts of the rock
In the midst of their corporeal and mental labors, their attention was suddenly excited from another painful source The wives of the hapless miners had heard that all hope was not extinct They hastened to the spot; with heart-rending cries and through tears alternately of despair and hope, they exclaimed, ”Are they _all_ there?” ”Where is the father ofthem, or has he been sed up by the waters?”
At the bottom of the mine, close to the water-reservoir, a consultation was held on the plan to be pursued Engineers, pupils, workreed that the only prospect of success consisted in exhausting the water, which was already sensibly di of the steam-pump; the other puorous efforts employed to render the the failure of these pu a line, and passing buckets from one to the other; this method was adopted, and several of the pupils proceeded with all speed to St Etienne It was enerale_ was beat in two quarters of the town only The Hotel de Ville was assigned as the place of rendezvous On the first alarining a fire had broken out, but, on ascertaining the real cause, several of them returned home, apparently unmoved Yet these same persons, whose supposed apathy had excited both surprise and indignation, quickly reappeared on the scene, dressed in the uniforic influence of organizedunder the orders of a chief, and stimulated by _l'esprit de corps_
It was truly admirable to see hat address and rapidity the three or four hundred men, who had hastened to Bois-Monzil, passed and repassed the buckets, by forenerous efforts becaine a subterranean vault, badly lighted, where they were obliged toposture, to avoid striking their heads against the roof of the vault, and, most of the ti from every side; some idea may then be formed of their painful situation They were relieved from this laborious duty by the _Garde Nationale_ of St Etienne, whose zeal and enthusiasm exceeded all praise But a more precious reinforcement was at hand; the workreat nuht be expected; if they failed there was no further hope
The _chaine a bras_ was again renewed by companies of the National Guard, relieved every two hours, who, at respective distances, held the lights, and under whose orders they acted It was a cheering spectacle to behold citizens of all ranks engaged in one of the noblest offices of humanity, under the direction of poor colliers
The ianization of the National Guard, were never ly exemplified than on this occasion Without the together an entire population; of leading the people froht and day, so as to insure a regular and continued service; all would have been trouble and confusion With the was ready, and in le chief; and the whole was conducted with such precision and regularity as had never on similar occasions, been witnessed before
The road from St Etienne to Bois-Monzil, exhibited a scene of theto and fro; chasseurs, grenadiers, cavalry and artillery-men, all clothed in their rich new costu _a la Parisienne_, others were la, and, by ”fits and starts,”
abandoning theances of sentiment so peculiarly characteristic of a French population When night drew her sable curtains around, the picturesque of the scene was still htened Fresh bands ofin fro torches; National Guards arriving from different parts of the country, to join their comrades of St Etienne; far to offer their hu, and, in short, the _tout ensemble_ rendered the approaches of Bois-Monzil like a bivouac on the eve of an expected battle; happily, however, the object of these brave men was to preserve life and not to destroy it