The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-10-10
A Hunters Yarn.

ClIuc Wucu CdCkSOu Tdu lOr ITcSluenC
the first time, perhaps, / was one day
hunting upon The rid &c between Mead
ow Run and Cucumber Run, which
tumbles off the rocks Just across there.
had known for some time by the
signs that there was nest of cub bears
somewhere in the neighborhood, SO on
that day concluded that would put
in my time finding them, as a party up
at Uniontown wanted pair to send
over to Baltimore to a friend who was
fond of outlandish pets.
You see that it was along about the
first of September, and pretty warm at
that, and, after walking up and down
the ravines, I began to get pretty tired.
1 was not SO heavy then as 1 am now,
and did not weigh more than couple
of hundred pounds. AS l said, was a
little tired, and so on the top of the
ridge l sat down by the side of a
smooth chestnut stump about twelve
or fourteen feet high. hadn't sat
there more than minute until l heard
something inside the stump, and soon
made out that it was couple of cub
bears playing with one another.
Hooked on all sides of the stump to
find an opening, but none was to be
seen. Then happened to notice the
marks of claws up the side of the
stump, and l understood it. The hole
went in at the top. l set my gun
against bush, appended the branch of
a tree, and was soon at the top of the
stump, looking in at the two cubs,
which were about the size of full
grown rat-dogs.
Twas SO excited that I jumped down
into the stump and grabbed the cubs.
They at first began to squeal, and then
turned on me for fight. But they were
small enough to handle, and in a min
ute or two had their mouths tied so
they could not bite, and their feet fast
cned so they could not scratch.
knew that the old bear would be
along pretty soon and make it hot for
me if she found me in the nest, so l
swung the youngsters into my buckskin
belt preparatory to getting out.
Get out? Did l get out? Land of
love! it makes me shiver to think of it
yet. l could no more get out of that
stump than 1 could fly. The hollow
was bell-shaped, larger at the bottom
than at the top-so large. in fact, that
l could not put my back against one
side and my feet and hands against the
other and crawl up, as rabbits and 9TH
er animals climb up inside of hollow
trees.
In no way could 1 get up foot.
There were no sticks inside to help me
up, and made up my mind had to
die certain. About the time l came to
this conclusion l heard the old bear
climbing up the outside of the stump.
With only my hunting knife as a means
of defense, and in such close quarters,
you may possibly imagine the state of
my feelings.
The old bear was not more than half
a minute, at the outside, climbing up
the stump, but it seemed like a month,
at least. / thought of all my sins a
dozen times, at least. At last she
reached the top, but she didn't seem to
suspect my presence at all, as she de-
liberately turned round and began slow
ly descending, tail foremost.
1 felt as though my last hour had
come, and began seriously to think
about living down and let the bear kill
me, so as to get out of my misery as
quickly as possible. Suddenly an idea
struck me, and despair gave way to
hope. l drew out my hunting-knife
and stood on tip toe. When the bear
was about seven feet from the bottom
of the hollow fastened on her tail with
my left hand with vise-like grip, and
with my right drove my hunting-knife
to the hilt into her haunch, and at the
same time yelling like whole tribe of
Indians.
.What did she do?'' chorused the
whole crowd. who had been holding their
breath.
What did she do? Well, you should
have seen the performance. She didn't
stop to reflect moment, but shot out
at the top of the stump like q bullet out
of gun. a hairs breadth to the min
ute. 1 held on until we struck the
ground, some thirty feet from the
stump. Then the old bear went like
lightning into the brush, and was out
of sight in half a second. was little
bruised by the fall, but that was all. I
took the cubs to Uniontown the next
day, aud on account of the adventure I
got five dollars apiece for them, and in
those times five dollars was as good
as fifty dollars now.-PtNsburgh Iele-
graph.