Erebus, and they were without weapons larger than
pocket knives--a serious position with an angry Grizzly dogging their
steps. Their first thought was to climb a tree, but knowing they were
not far from the cabin of a man named Work, they took to their heels
and did their best running to reach that haven of refuge ahead of their
formidable follower. They reached the cabin, rushed in, slammed and
fastened the door behind them, and with breathless intervals gasped out
their tale. Work kept a bar for the sale of whiskey, and he and his
son, a stout young man, with two or three miners, were sitting on rude
seats around a whiskey barrel playing cards when the two frightened men
rushed in.

The cabin was built by planting posts firmly in the ground at a
distance of some three feet apart, and in the form of a parallelogram,
then nailing shakes upon these posts and on the roof. The sides were
held together by cross beams, connecting the tops of the opposite
posts. There was one rude window, made by cutting a hole in the side
of the wall about four feet from the ground and covering this with
greased paper, glass being an unattainable luxury. Notwithstanding the
belief that there was not a man in those days but wore a red shirt and
a big revolver, there was not a firearm in the place.

In a few seconds the bear was heard angrily sniffing at the door, and
an instant later his powerful paw came tearing through the frail shakes
and he poked his head and neck through the opening and gravely surveyed
the terrified party. Every man sprang upon the bar and thence to the
cross beam with the alacrity given only by terror. After sniffing a
moment and calmly gazing around the room and up at the frightened men,
the bear quietly withdrew his head and retired.

After an interval of quiet, the men ventured down and were eagerly
discussing the event, when the bear again made its presence known by
rearing up and thrusting its head through the paper of the window.
Upon this occasion some of the men stood their ground, and young Work,
seizing an iron-pointed Jacob's staff, ran full tilt at the bear, and
thrust it deeply into its chest. The bear again disappeared, taking
the Jacob's staff, and appeared no more that night.

The following morning, search being made, the bear was found dead some
yards from the cabin, with the staff thrust through the heart. It
proved to be a female and was severely wounded in several places with
rifle bal