He did not turn, but ran on into the bushes
and then fell over and died.
In the other case the cowboy, a Texan, was mounted on a good cutting
pony, a spirited, handy, agile little animal, but excitable, and with
a habit of dancing, which rendered it difficult to shoot from its back.
The man was with the round-up wagon, and had been sent off by himself to
make a circle through some low, barren buttes, where it was not thought
more than a few head of stock would be found. On rounding the corner
of a small washout he almost ran over a bear which was feeding on the
carcass of a steer that had died in an alkali hole. After a moment of
stunned surprise the bear hurled himself at the intruder with furious
impetuosity; while the cowboy, wheeling his horse on its haunches and
dashing in the spurs, carried it just clear of his assailant's headlong
rush. After a few springs he reined in and once more wheeled half round,
having drawn his revolver, only to find the bear again charging and
almost on him.
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