Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1872-05-29
A Poor Chance TO Sleep.



cinity OF a stream of water or river, to which
road is cut through the trees. The trees
are fclled and divided into cuts Of suitable
length for timber or boards, and are drawn to
the banks Of the streams, where they remain
till the ice breaks up iuthe spring, when the
logs are rolled into the stream aud are iloated
down the current to the place where they are
wanted. As the work Of numbering is always
done in the winter, so that the logs may be
drawn on the snow, and as the places where
it is carried on are at a distance from perma-
nent settlements, the men engaged in the
business construct log huts to live in and con-
struct barns Of the same material for the
oxen that draw the logs When the winters
are long and severe and the snow is deep,
there is always considerable difficulty in get
ting provisions into the woods to supply the
choppers aud teamsters, aud still more trouble
in procuring supplies of hay and grain for
the horses aud oxen.
Many years ago lumberman on the Ken
nebec river in Maine, experienced the difficult
ty Of getting hay for his teams during the
wintest l'q5b he resolved to make farm on
portion Of land that he had cleared, and raise
employ a rather lazy fellow who used to spend
what he earned during the numbering season
in loadug about groceries in the summer As
the man had wife whom he ought to save
money for, the lumbermau thought it would
be good act to put the lazy chap in charge
of his hay farm. There was no place to
spend money, no groceries or taverns to visit,
so he thought he would do we'll. He had a
good log house to live in, some COWS, pig.
several chickens and some swarms Of bees
that had been transferred from hollow trees,
or captured while swarming With these,
the vegetables he could raise, the sugar he
could make from maple sap, and the game he
might kill, be could have made as good liv-
ing as many people do who 90 out on the
frontiers in our time.
But this man was so lazy that he did moth
ing Of the kind. One COW got lost in the
woods, and was gone so long that she got dry.
The wolves eat up his pig, the foxes caught
his chickens, and the bears, which are very
fond Of honey, pushed over the hives and de-
voured the contents He was too lazy to
hunt game in the woods, or even to keep the
wild animals away from his premises. The
only thing he could do was to FISH Trout
aud several other kinds Of fish were very
plenty in the streams and he spent most Of
his time, when he was out Of bed, in sitting
on log in the shade Of tree, and catching
them Putting a bait on hook, drawing
the fish to the shore, and taking them home
for his wife to clean and fry, was all the work
he cared about doing He was even too lazy
to carry a gun when he went out to fish, else
he might have shot an abundance Of game,
since partridges and rabbits were very plenty,
and sometimes even deer aud moose crossed
his track. One time he regretted his laziness
in this respect, as his love Of ease nearly cost
him his life.
He was out of tobacco, and having wanted
something to fill his pipe with all the morn
ing, be set out in the afternoon to 20 to his
neighbor's, who lived about six miles off, to
borrow some. There was no road, in fact,
there was nothing to direct his course except
some notches or blszes on the sides Of the
trees every few rods. When he was about in
the middle of his journey, be heard the noise
of sticks cracking before him, aud taking a
look, he saw a large brown bear, and two
cubs following her. The bear growled and
showed her bal b white teeth. She did not
stop to attack him, however, but went straight
ahead, only looking back, now and then to
growl and show her teeth. This man who had
been too lazy to hunt bears aud was even too
lazy to carry gun 10 shoot them 1t they
crossed his path, knew something Of their
habits. He expected this bear was only GO
ing forward little way TO hide her cubs,
when she would return and follow him. This
was, 10 truth, exactly what she did Hearing
the sticks cracking, be looked round and saw
her coming after him at full speed. 1t was
of no use to run. He did not like running
and besides it was too much like work There
was choice between only two things-stand.
ing and being devoured by bear, and climb
ing tree. He chose the latter.
The tree he selected was a tall, straight
ash sapliug, just of a size for man to climb
with readiness but quite too small for bear
to climb He had to make faster use Of his
legs than he usually did to get them out OF
the bears way. When he had got up about
twenty feet he stopped on a limb to rest, for
as you will suppose, he was very tired as wei
as some scared He looked down and saw
the bear at the foot of the tree, swapping hei
teeth, and occasionally tearing of pieces o
bark. When she became tired Of this, sh'
went to the trunk of very large beecl
tree that stood so near to the ash that thei
branches were interlaced. She easily mounted
this tree, and seeing the position Of the maj
she was after, she crawled along on larg
limb til! she was quite near him. When sh
had got out several feet, however, the liml
began to bend with her weight so that sh
could not leap into the ash tree, and it wa
not safe to venture out further.
Both man and bear were up trees of thei
own choosing; both had climbed as far as
was safe to 90 aud both were in very un
comfortable situations. The man wanted t
get down and 60 home, for be did not care hal
so much for a smoke as he did in the morn
ing. But the bear kept her place, an
though it was beginning to grow dark sh
manifested no intention Of going to take car
of her cubs. The wind began to blow, whic
made it all the more uncomfortable for botl
, the man and bear, since each had to hold o
the faster to the limbs that supported them
Soon it became very dark, the man wishin
he was in bed, though to tell the truth, b
was poi gary sleepy. But he was destined
spend the night up tree with the eyes Of
hungry bear watching to see if he moved.
think il very likely that she had promise
her two cubs that if they would be good ap
} not cry, she would give them plenty {
fresh meat to pay for going to bed alon'
} Whether so or not she kept her place till tn
0 moon rose, which it did just before morning
! She had spent an uncomfortable night, br
? she was glad to find that the man she wa
watching was still in his place.
Even our lazy fellow began to think it wa
/ time to do something, so he got out his knit
Q cut of a long branch Of the tree, and with
string he had in his pocket he tied the knil
g to the end of it. With this he began
punch the bear in the face and on the shou
! ders this made her howl with rage, and sb
t snapped at the pole to try to catch i 10 he
e mouth, After awhile she began to think th'
!. she was getting the worst of the bargain an
perhaps, hearing with her quick ears the CT
of her cubs, she descended from the tree an
,ka ,looa xyhara eha had la