Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1865-07-04
Adventure with an American Bear.

Anti REHEL,
----.
Adventure with an American Bear.
Among be earliest settlers il the wilds o
Salmon River, was Yermonter OF the name
Of DJbsJn--a res lutte and athletic man. Re
turning one evening from a hunt after his va
/ grant cOws-whlcb, accordinging to custom il
uew countries, had been turued into the wood
70 procure their own subsistence from the rank
heritage Of the early summer-Just before emery
| lng from the forest upon the clearing Of hR
neighbor, the late worthy Mr. Sleeper he saw a
large bear descending IRON a sycamore, where
be had probably been 10 quest OF honey A
bear asceujs d tree much more expertiy than be
descedds 10, telng obliged to come down stern
foremost Ny Trend Dohson dld no5 like to BE-
Jolngd in his evening Walk by such companion
and without Ttil,eu0h what he should do with
the warm ut Afterwards, ne up To the tree
o. the opposite eide from the animals body
and just on hls reaching the ground, seized him
hmIy by 10th ioTe.faws. Bruin gro3ed and
kuashe1 bis tus k, but be soon ascertained that
his paws were IN the grasp Of paws equally roL
slf0ug with h.s OWn. Nor could he use HE
1iE0er claws " dl-tmbGwel hl- antagonist, a.
the manner of the bear is, inasmuch as the tree
vas between them. But DobsOn predicament,
IS be had rather the most reason was worse vet
He con no more asslll the bear than the baa-
coulI asslll hin. NJr could he venture to let
- Of tin, tilce the presumption was that Bru-
IN would not make d very gracious return for
thus unceumOnlOusly taking him by the hand
The twilight was iast deepening into darkness.
and his position vas far les comfortable than
II otherwise would have been at the same hour,
surrounded by his wife aud children al toe sup
per table, to say nothing Ct the gloomy pros
poets Tor the night. Stl Is Joe Sleeper $ house
was not f,r distant be hJpel to cill him to hls
assistance. But hls lungs though none Of the
Seakest were unequal to the task although
ne halloed and bawled the live long night.
making the woods aud lkn ring gain, he
succeeded no bateT than dld Gendo Of old
IN calling 'plrlts from the Vastly deep It was
4 wearIsome night for DJbs1n such game OF
n0ldiast be had never been engaged in before
Bruin, too, was probably somewhat wearied ;
although he could not describe his sensations 10
English, he took the regular John Bull method
Ot making known hls dissatsidotlou--t that IS t.
say, be gtowled necessarily. But there was no
let 90 IN the case, and O0bson was therefore
under the necessity OF holding last until he felt
IS il bus cenching and aching fingers and the
bears paws had grown together
As daylight returned, and the smoke from
MIR. Sleeier's chimney began to curl up grace
iully, though rather dImly in the distance,
DObson again repeated his cries for succor, ana
nis heart was sOUn gaddenel by the appearance,
OF his worthy but inactive ueghbor, who had
at last been attracted by the voice OF the mpa-
tleut sufferer, bearing an AK upon his shoulder
Dobson had never been so much r. need at see
ing Mr.. Sleeper, albeit he Wa a very kind and
estimable ghbor.
Why dome you make haste, Sleeper, and
not be lounging about az this rate, wnen you
see Christian In such a kettio OF f.h as this p
% vum Is that you, Mr.. Dobson, up sgin
a tree thar! And was It you hear n hallooIne
so last nlght2 guess you ought u have your
lodgings foe nothing If you We stood Up agiu
that tree ali night.
"ll's no ioke though, | can tell you Joe
Sleeper ana # you had hold OF the black var
mint it strikes IN ,hlt you d thi K thar yOu'd
paid dear en-, ugh for it. But ii you heard me
calling for help in the night, why did nc you
come and see what was the trouble p
"0h, was just ing tIrei to bed after lay
ing up log fence ali uay, and thought Id wait
I'll, morning, and come out bright and diriy
But il Id known twas you
Know 1t was me, replied Dobson bitter
ly. YOU knew twas somebody who had A ,sh
and blood, too good for lhosa paguy black var
mints though aud you knew there had been
smart sprinkle Of hears about the settlement all
Of the sprlng.'
Ill b, -, H.,
never too late to DO good. So hold light now
and don't let the tarne critter get loose while
split his head OPEN
=" No, no, slid D1hson, " After holding the
beast all night, think | ought to have the
satisf cton OF killing him. 50 you Just take
hold of hs paws here, and viii take the AK
and let streak OF daylight into his skull about
the quickest
The proposition being u fair one, Mr. Sleeper
vas too reasonable man to object lie was
no coward either; and theriupln stepped up tn
the tree, and cautiously taklng the bear with
both his hands, relieved honest Oobs1n from his
prejcamen,. The hands OF the latter, though
sadly sutlined by the tenacity with which they
had been clenched lor so many hours. were soon
brandlshlng the ax, aud he apparently made ali
for giving the deadly bluw-aud
deadly would it have been had he struck but
to the surprise OF Sleeper, he dad not strike
and to bis further coustarnauon, Dlbs1n swung
the AK upOn his shoulder and marched away,
whlstling as he went, with as much app lrent
indifference as tbs other had shown when com
ing to his relief.
1t was now Sieepsr's turn to make the forest
vocal With his cries. In vain he ravei ciled
and threatened Dabson walked on and dis
appeared, leaving rs sad prospect Tor his
breakfast as he himself had Tor his supper.
Hour alter hour passed away and Sleeper sull
found himself at bo-paep with Sir Bruin 10
the course OF the afternoon, however, Dobson
supposed that the lesson he was teaching had
been thoroughly learned by his pupil and when
he thought the latter would willingly forget
the resentment for the sake OF succor, the sturdy
Yankee returned, and by single blow relieved
both bear and man from their troubles in the
same instant. Sleeper thought rather hard OF
DobsOn Tor sometime, but no real breach of
friendship ensued, and, indeed, the two border.
ers became afterwards better friends and neigh.
bOrs than before.