Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-09-02
MRS. POPE AND THE BEAR.
BY FRANKLIN B. GAGE.


9 You must look out for the sheep,
wife. These warm days will bring the
bears out of their dens. They will be raw
enOus, and like as not they will break into
the yard and carry off some Of the sheep.
/ saw bear-traCks up the mountain this
morning"
Well, . said Mrs. Pope, they needn't
expect to get any of our sheep. If they
come proWling round here I'll drive them
off in some way. We need the sheep too
much to have them carried off by bears"
wish you understood using the gun,
wife. When I am gone l worry about
leaving you and the baby all day alone.
The woods are SO near can't help think
ing some wild animals may come down
from the mountains and attack you
You needn't fear about that" answered
Mrs. Pope. 9 To be sure, it is lonesome
with neither man nor dog about. [ pre-
sumo | should feel safer if I understood
handling a gun, but don't believe any
thing will come near us in the daytime.
So don't worry about us, only be sure to
get home before dusk"
Well, good-by, then. Don't expose
the baby or yourself to any danger, and
I'll be back before night
So saying, Mr.. Pope, with bag of
grain on his horse, started off to mill, leav-
ing his wife and baby alone in their soli
tary log cabin in the wilderness.
This conversation occurred IN the town
of Kirby, Vt, in the spring of the year
1911, when that region was but little set
tied, when even women understood they
were in constant peril from wild beasts.
Jesse Pope's cabin stood close to the foot
of the Kirby Mountains, in whose rocky
Businesses bears, catamounts and wolves
had their inaccessible dens. Bears,
especially, were so thick as to be source
of constant dread to those who had f1ocks
or were compelled to leave their homes
unprotected while they went to the larger
settlements on necessary business.
Mrs. Pope fully understood the peril
that surrounded her during her husbands
absence. Her cheerful talk with her hus
band was not mere bravado. She said
what she did as much to keep her own
spirits up as to dispel her husbands
anxiety. She knew that he must 90 to the
mill, and there was no way for her but to
stay at home and be as brave as possible.
She was brave woman. Nature had en-
dowed her with courage, and the sur
roundings of her early life had all tended
to foster and strengthen it. She fully
understood her situation, and when her
husband passed out of sight she knew
she and her baby were alone in the
great wilderness, beyond the reach of help,
should anything serious occur. But she
had always lived in the wilderness. The
howl of the wolf and the growl Of the bear
were familiar sounds to her, and she had
become accustomed to lonely life in the
woods. So, instead of shutting herself in
the house, she went on with her work as
usual.
After the breakfast dishes were washed
and put away she brought out her little
linen wheel' and went to spinning fax.
They must have clothes for summer wear,
and that was the season to spin and weave
before the summer fully set in can re-
member my mother and her spinning
wheel, and can imagine just how Mrs.
Pope looked, sitting with one foot on the
treadle | can hear the buzz of the wheel
as it flew round; | can see just how often
she dipped her fingers in the little cup o.
water, as she drew out the hbers Of flax
and dexterously shaped the strong sym
metrical thread in a manner that would
astonish modern housewives.
All the long forenoon her musica
wheel kept humming its pleasant tune
stopping only now and then as its mis-
tress either crowed to the baby III til
cradle or looked out to see that no VILE
animals We're proving about. Moor
came and went, and nothing disturbe
them. The baby in the cradle went of I
sleep and she kept on with her work
After time she rose and looked out again
This time she saw an astounding sight