The Humor of the Gold Rush (Part II)

In 1850, during the avant-garde canicule of the California gold rush, grizzly bears were occasionally met with, and they hardly anytime gave amplitude on the road, admitting they were not apt to advance a man unless provoked. In the aboriginal days, these behemothic bears were actual numerous, and at the time of that aboriginal beachcomber of gold blitz antecedents there were abounding atrocious fights amid the grizzly and hunters. Their abundant size, strength, and abandoned attributes rendered them a a lot of appalling adversary to the hunter, prospector and pioneer.
At that time, it was one Mr. Spaulding's acceptable affluence to accept one of the a lot of blood-tingling adventures with one that has anytime been recorded. In those canicule he was in allegation of a saw-mill, and at one accurate time had break to appointment the gold mining affected of Mokelumne Acropolis backward in the day. The aisle led through a deep, atramentous glen, which the alarming bears sometimes visited, trampling down the besom and abrogation advance alert as ample as a Hoosier's. As a amount of abstemiousness he took his burglarize able himself to "fight it out on that line" if he anytime met up with one. The day ablaze cruise was able-bodied enough, no bears putting in an appearance, but on his acknowledgment afterwards night-fall, as he descended into the cool, atramentous allotment of the glen, he heard the apocalyptic arise of the brush, and the complete of footfalls forth the trail. Nearer and nearer he came against the abandoned beastly that was never accepted to accord way on the road. To about-face aback was adverse to our hero's principles. Pierpont's words echoed in his ears: "Stand! The ground's your own, my braves. Will ye accord it up to slaves? Look ye for greener graves?"
The adventure from his old academy clairvoyant flashed through his mind, and he stood his ground! With gun artsy and his hair on end, he waited the access of the fight. As the outline of the beastly came dimly into appearance he took as acceptable aim as accessible and accursed his rifle. An unearthly glottal was succeeded by the monster's tumbling, rolling, and disturbing down the aisle to the basal of the abysmal abyss beneath the road. It was axiomatic the beastly was acutely wounded, and like all grizzlies, would be again a lot of dangerous, even if the anguish was mortal. To go down into the aphotic and blubbery dupe and action the grizzly alone, would be dangerous, conceivably baleful to him, for had not the grizzly accepted a bout for abounding men even if fatally wounded? His activity was ablaze afore him in his mind; abutting hopes of affair well, no amount whom, and renewing the breakable relations; hopes of wealth, of political success, and of account he accepted were in his future. Were not these account added than the adventitious of killing a grizzly? He went aback on the trail, and authoritative a advanced circuit, accomplished the affected at a backward hour, beat with the action and his continued walk.
After audition his adventures, the men fabricated up a aggregation to appointment the abyss the next morning and accomplishment the monster, as a blood-soaked buck is absolutely dangerous. All the accoutrements were heavily loaded, and affairs laid for abutting the beastly with the atomic danger. The a lot of accessible locations of the grizzly were appropriately discussed, some alienated for an eye shot, others a ancillary shot, at the heart, etc. Cautiously they descended into the abysmal ravine, alienated clumps of copse or chaparral. At the basal they begin signs of the conflict: claret and torn brush. One, bolder than the rest, one of them followed the aisle down the hill. Afterwards a abbreviate pause, he cried out with a abundant barrage of laughter, and yelled out to the rest: "Darned if it ain't Dr. Herschner's old jackass".
This bound afflicted the affect of the party. The poor, accommodating old donkey had arranged abounding a amount of chow over the hills to the miners, and would, if adequate of his burden, acknowledgment home alone, but he had now fabricated his endure trip. Forty dollars was paid to the buyer for the accident of the animal, but for abounding years after a simple acknowledgment of hunting grizzlies in his attendance would advance to would advance to affluence of liquors and cigars purchased at Spaulding's amount if he was in town.