National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1873-01-03

non that unuerneS, the wIpIe region,
Fho"s'i We ae;e Ill The Very heart 81 Tie
woods, the trees in the vicinity were
stunted, showing that the soil was shall
low. Still it was beautiful spot for
our purpose, and Francois soon had n
fire blazing, Antoine meanwhile clean
ing few of the pigeons for the spit
Our appetites were naturally sharp set,
and the meal proved to be famous one
The cracking pine-knot fire glowed in n
crevice of tho rscks, and We were in the
full enjoy ment of roast pigeon, when we
were all startled by hoarse growl in
our rear.
"Des curses! The bears! The bears!'
shoWtei Ftnht6ls, as We all leaped IN
stinctively to our feet.
Bears il was, sure enough, for coming
down upon us were four of the uncouth
brutes, scrambling over the rocks in ev-
identity an angry mood. 1t was our fire
that had done tue mischief Built in n
creyite, as it had been, some OF the
smoke must have been driven by an air
current into some sort of subterranean
cavern, which formed the den of the
bears. They had, no doubt, been
smoked out by our fire, and were conse-
quently fierce in their blind rage. 1t
was decidedly an unpleasant predica-
ment, four bears opposed to five men,
one of them wholly unarmed. for An
tome had carried oiir provender.
"To the trees get behind a tire ~
cried the two guides, nimbly setting the
example as they spoke. The Major and
the Captain followed suit, while | start
ed off to the left, proceeding that near
ly cost me my life. The suddenness of
the alarm and the unexpected sight of
the bears in such close proximity com
pletely unsettled my nerves, so that /
scarcely knew what ] was doing. To
/ the horror of my more experienced com.
paAions, suddenly paused in my head
long flight, and emptied both of my bar
rels right into the face of huge brute
that had evidently selected my unlucky
self as its grize. OF course, the hail of
small shot only added to her rage, for it
was the mother of the family, though
the was in no way disabled SO there /
was. face to face to the animal, with an
empty gun in my hand and utterly help
less, for my companions could render
me no immediate aid, having their hands
full in looking after the other bears.
Francois opened the battle by firing
at the father of the group, and succeed
ed in rolling him over He had previ-
ously handed the two officers some of
his round bullets, and they loaded
rapidly, succeeding between them in
killing one of the cubs, leaving his com
panion to be attended to by Francois
while they ran to my assistance. which
/ / ho1 60, t.I
run too far away from Francois to re-
seive my quota of the bullets, and even
if ] had them, it is doubtful if could
have made them available; When so
recklessly scattered my pigeon-shot in
the face of the she bear, | turned and
ran for the nearest tree. 1t proved to
be a mere sapling compared with the
others, so | at once started for another
and stouter stem, hoping to gain it in
time to avoid my pursuer.
Alas my foot caught il n projecting
root, and down I went on all fours. In
q moment | felt the bear seize me in a
terrific hug, her hind feet tearing away
i'll an awful manner Mt my stout leather
leggings. 1t was a terrible moment, for
death seemed imminent, while the re-
ports of my companions guns rang in
my ears with singular distinctness. The
pain of the bears hug was a suffocating
one, and | could feel her huge claws
tugging at my legs until it seemed rs if
the flesh was being torn away in masses
had lost my gun when | fell, and was
without knife or other weapon---a lesson
in woodcraft | have never forgotten---so
it was impossible to fight the brute
except to wildly pound at her eyes with
my fists as she endeavored to bite me-
a feat she unsuccessfully attempted two
or three times
Just then the Captain and the Major
ran up, but found themselves unable to
use their guns for fear of hurting me, so
they did the next best thing, and began
pounding the snarling brute on her I.
in hopes of inducing her to .
change front, rs they afterward termed /.
it. These efforts failed, however, to .
produce the desired effect, the bear wise .
ly considering n man in hand worth two .
in the bush, so she continued to hug mo, |
and growl, her hind claws scratching my
limbs until the blood ran.
But Antoine, brave fellow that he was,
proved himself fully equal to the emer-
gency, for he joined issue in the battle,
and with his sharp hunting-knife made
sad havoc with the she bears interior.
This treatment proved too much for her,
so she suddenly rose on her hind feet
until | was lifted OFF the ground, and
then abandoned me for the brave voy-
lgeur. Antoine seemed prepared for
the encounter, and as the bear charged
lpon him he dexterously buried his
Knife in her body, when both rolled over
in death grapple. BY this
line Francois had killed the second cub,
md after reloading his rife elected our
admiration by running mp and deity
putting bullet through the head of the
,he bear as she lay struggling with his
That ended our bear fight
/ am not ashamed to confess that l
ainted just then, for | was sorely
wounded, and actually ont of breath.
But pull at the flask of Cognac, car
led by Antoine, soon revived me, and
v examined my hurts. The bear had
% n my leggings and trousers into
'hreds, and my legs were deeply scored
~ her formidable claws. No bones
we're broken, however, and the flow of
blood was soon stopped by some rough
,andages, so l was able by sundown to
axe the trail for camp, where We arrived
~ midnight. Two days were occupied
~ our guides in securing the skins and
at, while we enjoyed bear steak to our
leart's content. 1 kept house in camp
or nearly week, the guides proving +
xcellent nurses. In due time we re-
urned to civilization, as the Canadian
goodmen term the settlements, and on {
e aching Kingston the officers of the
,arrison kept me a close prisoner until I