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Bears I Have Met—and Others by Allen Kelly
page 16 of 136 (11%)
miners held a meeting, subscribed several hundred dollars and sent
Wright home to his friends in Boston.

* * * * *

Mike Brannan was a miner on the Piru River in Southern California. The
river, or creek, runs through a rough mountain district, and Brannan's
claim was in the wildest part of it. He and his partner met a Grizzly
on the trail, and Brannan had no better judgment than to fire his
revolver at the bear instead of getting out of the way. The Grizzly
charged, smashed the partner's skull with a blow and tumbled Brannan
over a bank.

Brannan was stunned by the fall, and when consciousness returned he saw
the bear standing across his body, watching him intently for signs of
life. He tried to keep perfectly still and hold his breath, but the
suspense was too great a strain and involuntarily he moved the fingers
of his right hand. The bear did not see the movement, and when Brannan
realized that his fingers had just touched his revolver, he conceived
the desperate idea that he could reach the weapon and use it quickly
enough to blow a hole through the bear's head and save himself from the
attack which he felt he could not avert much longer by shamming.

To grasp the revolver it was necessary to stretch his arm full length,
and he tried to do that slowly and imperceptibly, but his anxiety
overcame his prudence and he made a movement that the watchful Grizzly
detected. Instantly the bear pinned the arm with one paw, placed the
other upon Brannan's breast and with his teeth tore out the biceps
muscle. Brannan had the good luck to faint at that moment, and when
his senses again returned he was alone. The Grizzly had watched him
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