Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1875-08-31
WOODSTOCK. w. TUESDAY, AUGUST 81, 1873.
Little Stories.
From st. Nicholas for September.
Mrs. Pope and the Bear.
BY FRANKLIN b. GAGE.

will be ravenous, and like as not the,
will break into the yard and carry of
some of the sheep, | saw bear tracks
up the mountain this morning.
"Well,' said Mrs. Pope, "they need
Mt expect to get any Of our sheep, /
they come prowling round here, I'll
drive them off in some way. W.
need the sheep too much to have then
carried off by bears"
II wish you understood using the
gun, wife. When | am gone | WORRY
about leaving You and the baby all
day alone. The woods are SO near.
| cant help thinking some wild ami
mails may come down from the noun
tains and attack you
"You needn't fear about that, an
swered Mrs. Pope. "To be sure it i,
lonesome with neither man nor doc
about. Ipresumo | should feel sote1
if | understood handling Il gun, but
don't believe anything will come neal
in the Gay-time. 50 don't worry
about us, only be sure to get home be-
tore dusk
"WelI, goodbye, then. Don't cX
pose the baby or yourself to any dan.
ger, and I'll be back before night.
So saying, Mr.. Pope, with bag OF
grain on his horse, started of to mill,
leaving his wife and baby alone in
their solitary log cabin in the wilder
ness.
This conversation occurred in the
town Of Kirby, Vermont, in the
Spring of the year 1911, when that
region was but little settled, when
even women understood they were in
constant peril from wild beasts. Jesse
Popes 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 hocks, or compelled to leave
their homes unprotected, |, while they
went TO the larger settlements on nee
essary business.
Mrs. Pope fully understood the
peril that surrounded her du.ing her
husbands absence. Her cheerful talk
with her husband vas not mere brava
do. 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 wa;
no way for her but to stay at home
and be as brave AZ possible. She was
a brave woman. Nature had endowed
her with courage, and the surround
ingS of early life had all tended to
foster and strengthen ii. She fally
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.
Bat she had always lived i'll the will
derness. The howl OF the wolf and
the growl Of the bear were familiar
sounds to her, and she had become ac-
customed 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 flax. They must have
clothes for sumnlet wear, and that
was the season to spin end weave. be
fore the summer fully set in. | can
my mother and her spin.
ming 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 of
water, as she drew out the tibers of
fax, and dexterously shaped the
strong symmetrical. thread, in man
ner that would astonish modern house
wives.
All the long forenoon her musical
wheel kept humming its pleasant tune,
stopping only now and then as IT.
mistress either crowed to the baby IN
the cradle, or looked out to see that
no wild animals were prowling about.
Noon came and went, and nothing
disturbed them. The baby in the
cradle went off TO sleep, and she kept
on with her work. After a time she
rose and looked out again. This time
she saw an astounding sight! Com,
inc down the mountain side from the
woods, she beheld a full grown bear,
not hundred yards distant. He was
on his way to the yard where the
sheep were in fold, and she knew he
was after the sheep. She had gun,
but that would not avail anything, for
she had never learned to use it, She
had an axe, but she knew an axe TO
be a poor weapon to fight a bear with.
The next thing she thought Of was
pilchfork. Their few sheep were Il
treasure to the family. All their win
ter clothing was to come from the
sheep, and now that they were in per
II, she was aroused to instant actor.
The one absorbing thought of saving
the sheep banished all sense Of person
al danger. Instead of shutting her
self up in the house she uarled out
and closed the door after her lest any
thing should molest the baby, Theh
running into ,he log barn, she atched
IL p the pitchfork, ran around the barn,