St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-03-18
for hs Children.
Uncle Amos and the Bear.
BY ROBERT ARNOLD.


been a soldier of the Revolution, and,
after his country had gained her indie
peudence, he bought tract of land in |
this almost unbroken wilderness, clear
ed a few acres, built a rough house, and |
settled down for the rest of his days
with his old wife and his son Josiah. |
His house was surrounded by dense |
forest, the home of wildcats, bears and
other wild animals. Sometimes at
night while lying in his bed, thinking
of the work for the morrow, he could
hear the wolves bowling in the distance
or walking lightly around his pig-pen,
coveting the squealing prize that they
could not possibly reach.
Uncle Amos had been a famous hunt
er in his day, but, at the time of my
story, he was old and stiff, although
his love for hunting was as strong as
ever. One warm, bright day in Sep
TENDER, when Josiah had gone several
miles to mill, Uncle Amos was working
in his coTnfeld As he was returning
to his work after dinner, he saw a large
black bear come out of the dark forest
and walk slowly toward the field to
which he was going. He went back to
the house as quickly as possible, seized
the ancient musket which he had car
ried in battle years before, and started
at the top of his speed toward the bear.
When he had got within fifty yards,
the animal saw him and began running
rapidly towards the woods. Uncle
Amos saw that he could get no nearer,
and taking hurried aim, fired. The
bear stopped, grOwled, reared up on his
hind legs, and then ran on faster than
before.
The old mans heart was fired 10y this
adventure and he did not feel like Civ
ing the afternoon to so dull task as
cutting corn. So he went home, got
his powder horn, and half dozen bull
lets, and began his bear-chase again.
His wife, knowing his age and infirmi-
ties, cOaXed him to stay at home, but
| he would not. His blood was up, and
| he would not listen to reason. She
stood in the doorway shading her eyes
| from the rays of the sun, and looked
earnestly after him as he disappeared
among the trees.
| The woods were still, and dark, and
| fragrant with the odOr of the fir and
| spruce. Uncle Amos began to feel
young again and happier than he had
been for years. As lie went along, he
peered carefully in every direction
Occasionally, ruffled grouse would fly
up with a loud whr, and once timid
white and brown rabbit went bounding
by but he paid no attention to them.
| He was after the bear, and the bear he
would have, or nothing. By and by he
came to a tall tree which had fallen
across the cOw-path he was following.
He stopped a moment, debating which
way to turn to get around this Obstruc-
ton, when, suddenly, huge black OBJ
ject rose from the other side of the tree
and gave him such look of rage and
hatred that for a moment he was COM
pletely unnerved. He managed to dis
charge his musket, but his agitation
was so great that his aim was bad, and
the bear came crashing through the
bOughs with such energy that Uncle
Amos could only throw away his gun
and climb with all his might small
fir-tree that luckily stood close by. He
mounted the tree with surprising veloc-
ity for a man of his years, and seated
himself on a limb above the bears
reach. The bear rushed around the
tee several times and began scratch
ing on its trunk. Then be sat down
aad gazed at Uncle Amos knowingly
and maliciously.
AT first, the sportsman was SO pleased
with his escape from the animals
clutches that he could not repress his
joy. He laughed aloud, but the bear
did not even smile. He seemed to be
too much in earnest for that. An hour
passed. Uncle Amos's laughter had
l. Gle
more like crying. Three hours fed
Uncle Amos was sore and tired, but the
bear sat without moving muscle, the
very impersOnatiOn of patience, waiting
for the tired hunter to come down, and
} seeming to know that he must come
down some time.
The sun sank behind the trees. The
birds began their evening song. The
J stars came out, and looked down upon
an old man percbed in a fir-tree, tired
and lame, and rheumatic. The air
grew chill, and the prisoner began tc
shiver. Darkness slowly came on and
and the whip poor-will found voice tC
welcome it. Then the full moon rose
} and steadily climbed the eastern sky
Everything was so still that Uncle
Amos thought that perhaps the bea
was gone. He peered through the
, thick soughs; the brute was there
, The old mans courage was slowly leav
ing him and so was his strength. He
could not bear much longer the pain o
sitting in his cramped position, al
though he felt that it was not safe t.
: try to change it. AT last, he ventureC
to turn around slightly, so that h,
might lean his back against the trunk
: of the tree. His foot slipped, his hands
4 loosened their hold, and no went crash
] ing through the branches to the earth.
:, Although the bear had waited Ion:
| and patiently for him, yet, when he tel
almost into his mouth, the brute's desr,
e to have him seemed suddenly to van
e ish. Indeed, Uncle AmOs's fright wa
e equaled only by the bears. Bruin wa
= evidently taken by surprise, and h,
D scampered off through the underbrusl
Z as though he had not a moment to lose
D The old man lay upon the ground
1 trembling and moaning, in fear tina
u the bear would speedily return. Hi
n fright bad taken away the little strength
r that the fall had left him. After per
= haps half an hour, he managed to craw
z slowly to his gun. The powder horl
d was still around his breast, and tin
d bullets were still in his pocket. Th
e light was dim, but, after much fun
: bling, he succeeded in loading the mus
Il ket. Then he felt better. His courag,
d and his strength came slowly back to
e getheT, and lie started to hobble home
t ward. He had not gone far before b.
Il heard a voice that sounded like Josiah's
v Leaning upon his sons arm, after ;
: nainfnl ionrneY he reached hnme Ill