Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1880-01-15

| DuSluShbS bbbEl6u uOb IOOG 1OE me-
dropped my gun and made for the
nearest tree, and Skinned up it in less
time than it takes me 10 tell it. had
my pistol in my belt, and every barrel
was loaded. / paused on limb about
ten feet from the ground. The bear was
at the foot of the tree ready to ascend.
He was looking right up at me,
and his mouth was open at least
eight inches. was fearfully
scared, and my hands trembled
SO that in taking my pistol out of my
belt and cooking it, it slipped from me
and fell per plunk into the BEARS
mouth. He made one gulp and swal-
lowed it. 1t didn't seem to discommode
him in the least. He closed his Jaws,
and it looked to me as if thoughtful
expression came over his face. A new
idea seemed to strike him, as it were.
At any rate he hurried back to the spot
where had shot his tail off, stopped q
moment, and then disappeared in the
woods at the top of his speed. l lost
no time in getting down out of that
tree, securing my gun, and making my
best time for home. For months the
hunters tried to get a sight of that
bear, but it was no use. He couldn't
be found. Everybody thought he had
crawled off and died. A year afterward
| was standing on a runway for deer on
Paupack ridge, when along came a big
bear, taking it easy through the woods.
A funny thing about him was his tail,
which turned upward like deer's,
while BEARS lays fiat down. 1t gave
him very ridiculous appearance, and
/ could scarcely take aim at him, l had
to laugh so. The bear was close to me
and hadn't seen me. sent ball into
him. simultaneously with the report
of my gun heard a dull, rumbling re-
port, and saw big piece of the bear
fly upward. Then came another report
followed by two more, and the bear
was scattered about the woods like
autumn leaves. At first l was fright
ened, but it wasn't ten seconds before
| understood the whole thing. The
bear was the one that had swallowed
my pistol q year before My rihe-ball
had penetrated the BEARS stomach at
the spot where the pistol still lay, and
had hit the hammer with force enough
to knock it down. That, ofcourse, dis
charged one chamber, and, as usual,
the others followed. This explanation
was satisfactory to me until / happened
to think that my bear Of the year before
was minus tail, while this one had a
tail, although funny one. l hunted
around among the remains of the late
bear, and finally found the piece that
had the tail on. 1t was BEARS tail
but was upside down. Closer inspec-
tion revealed the fact that it had not
originally been in that position. 1t
was all plain to me then. When the
bear that swallowed my pistol had
seemed to be struck with new idea at
the foot of the tree, he thought of stick
ing his tail back in its place before it
got cold, with the hope that it would
grow fast again To carry out this
happy thought he had hurried away
picked up mis- tail, and then flew to the
solitude of his den to perform the oper-
alton. In his hurry and excitement he
stuck the tail on upside down. To give
it time to unite firmly with the parent
flesh again, the bear remained quiet in
his den. This was why the hunters
could never find him. By the proud
and dignifed way the bear was march
ing along when l shot him with such
disastrous results, I candidly believe it
was his first appearance in public with
his grated tail"
This one was more than the old settler
could stand. He swung his cane and
made the bar-room howl.-Oor. N. 7.
san.