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The Voice of Experience
by Timothy Fogg
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Sidney Hurley and his wife Elizabeth were quite disgruntled by the change in the weather. The previous days had been sunny and hot, so hot that his wife suggested they make up a portable camp and
"make like the natives," as she put it. In truth their outfit was one that a native wouldn't know what to do with.
Their tent was a great two room walled affair, and she would have liked to have brought a servant to erect it but they had not brought sufficient help on their trip to America. Their horses were the gentlest that the ranch of Elizabeth's uncle could offer. The fire that Sidney put together could easily have been mistaken for a burning house from a distance.
It was this fire that drew the attention of the old man. He had been tracking a wounded grizzly for two days and it was heading for this very canyon. The going had been slow until this morning when the steady drizzle started. Now the dog that was attached by a long rope to his belt was able to follow the trail as fast as the man would let him. The dog knew his job well and made no sound to announce the presence of the hunter.
The old man frowned as he looked at the fire. It had to have been made by greenhorns. Only the inexperienced would build such a blazing inferno to invite night blindness as well as every predator (animal or human) that came within ten miles. He followed the track a ways further and frowned again. Sure enough, the wounded bear had gone up the canyon and then these damn fools had come along and made a camp big enough for a fair sized army. He shook his head in disgust. The West was getting way too crowded, and when it was filled up, what was left? It saddened him that he didn't know an answer.
Sidney was just engaging in the one thing that he was good at - complaining. "I tell you, Elizabeth, this whole trip has been foolish. New York City was all right, and so was New Orleans, but this business of coming out West has just been a waste. The country is not meant for a gentleman, and the people here are uncouth. I should never have brought you into this."
"To begin with," came his wife's fiery answer, "You didn't bring me into this. You followed me along. I would have made the trip with or without you." She did not let him interrupt.
"As far as New Orleans goes, you were lucky to get out of there with your shirt. If I hadn't have bailed you out you would have lost that too. Why you think you know how to gamble is beyond me."
"I just had a run of bad luck, that's all. If you would have given me more money to work with I could have doubled it."
"Doubled the loss, is more like it. And how about India? When that tiger charged you almost fell off the elephant. I think you should stay home and shoot driven birds. But then you spend too much time in the pub."
Without a sound the old man had entered the camp to stand beside the fire. He and his silent dog waited to be noticed. The woman saw him first and gave no alarm. Somehow he wasn't surprised. This woman had sand.
When she motioned to her husband the man put on a show of feigned indignity. "How dare you enter the camp of myself and my good wife? I've got a half a notion to give you a pummeling."
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His wife intervened. "Sidney, be quiet before you make a fool of yourself." She turned her attention to the newcomer. "What are you doing out here at night? Are you looking for food?"
"No, ma'am, I'm looking for a bear. He's a runt grizzly that's been killing calves over a wide area, and two days a couple of cowboys from the English spread had a run-in with him. One of them is dead and the other quit and went back to Texas. I've been tracking that bear for two days, and right now he's up in this canyon in back of you."
"The English spread? Why, that must be my uncle's ranch."
"It is, I heard talk about it yesterday," said Sidney, "and what this guy says is preposterous. That cowboy was killed fifty miles from here. No bear is going to travel that far."
"He's done it. He's hit in the hindquarter and it looks like he took a shot in the front paw too. He's here, and he's mad. You two had better pack just what you need and get out of here. You can send someone back after the rest if the bear doesn't destroy it."
"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you? We could leave you all this stuff and you could just steal it at your leisure."
"Look," said the old man. "I've been easy on you because of the lady. I won't explain this - I'll just tell it like it is. If you call a man a liar or a thief out here you had better be ready for a fight. Such words are cause for a shooting. "
"How uncivilized. I think you should turn around and leave. I've got a gun. I am certainly a match for any old bear."
"Ma'am?" The old timer turned his attention to the woman and ignored her husband.
"Well, we are both armed and this is such a pretty spot. I'm sure you mean well, but the West is such a big place and you might be mistaken. What is your name, Sir?"
The dog's hackles rose and a low growl emanated from his throat. The old man's rifle crashed and the couple heard a thrashing in back of them. When they turned to look a grizzly was twitching its last.
Sidney nearly fainted, and only the woman's strong arm kept him erect.
"Lily. Ben Lily. People who live in the West know me as a bear hunter." With that he spun on his heel and walked away, leaving the Hurleys to suffer through the rest of their trip to the Colonies.
Ben Lily was a famous bear hunter who worked for ranches all over the West. He is best know for his hunt for the Taos bear, a beast that was said to have killed thousands of head of cattle. He hunted that bear for years, and when he finally got him Lily was almost deaf and kept a dog tied to his belt to warn him of danger.
©2002 StoriesByEmail.com
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