Very cautiously I
peered around a projecting corner of wall. There sat a huge black bear on
his haunches holding up a great steel trap which clutched one of his paws.
It was such a strange sight that my fear was forgotten. There was something
almost human in the way the bear looked at that trap. He touched it
gingerly with his free paw, and nosed it. I crept up close to the corner of
stone and looked around again. The bear was now close to me. I saw the
heavy chain and the log to which it was attached. He looked at trap and log
in a grave, pathetic way, as if trying to reason about them. Then he roused
into furious action, swinging the trap, dragging the log, and bellowing in
such a frightful manner that I dodged back behind the wall.
But this sudden change in the bear, this appalling roar with its note of
pain, awakened me to his suffering. When the noise stopped and I looked
again, the bear was a sight not to be forgotten. He showed a helpless,
terrible fear of the steel-jawed thing on his foot. He dropped down on the
sand with a groan, and there was a despairing look in his eyes.
This made me forget my fear, and I had only one thought--to put him out of
his misery. When I leveled my rifle it was as steady as the rock beside me.
Aiming just below his ear, I pressed the trigger.
Pages:
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133