The Great Maple Valley Bear Panic

A correspondent in Maple Valley sends us the following incident of frontier life: Mr. and Mrs. Limpson reside on Ed Cramer's farm in Maple Valley. During the evening of June 18th, Mrs. Limpson went out of doors, and in the distance, by the light of the moon, saw a large black bear. She called to her husband, who, on coming to the door, saw one monster coming into the yard near the house. He ran back and got his gun from the wall, and in his fright he leveled it on the animal, but it flashed in the pan, the powder being damp, and not igniting from the percussion of the cap. Old Bruin paid no attention to three hostile demonstrations toward him, but came right along toward the house. At this juncture Mrs. Limpson rushed out with a small pistol, which she fired off in the air, hoping thereby to frighten the ferocious-looking monster. Mr. Limpson then called his dog and tried to set him on the bear, but the dog proved as bashful as his master and declined to make any new acquaintances, especially at that time of night. Having exhausted all available means of defense, and not having interrupted the onward march of the bear, Mr. and Mrs. Limpson concluded to beat a hasty retreat. They hastened out the back door to the barn, saddled the old horse, which they both mounted, and rode at break-neck speed to the farm of Mr. Russell. They declared they want no more encounters with bears, and they have since moved down to George Ames's mill, where the mill hands can protect them.