The Florida agriculturist., 1885-02-04
Bills Bear Story.

AN INDICATION THAT, SIATsoN, SENIOR, WAS
A MAN WITH DEFEcTIvE JUDGMENT.
"Blifkins, did you ever shoot a bar"
INQUIRED Matson as he indicated to
Schneider that the shupers were empty.
"Well, did-leastwise, Ihelped shoot
one once"
eLook here, Bill, amt feeling first
rate tonight, and | don't believe could
swallow bear story. If you must tell a
lie, make it fish, or a snake; some
thing common and easy"
''No, it's bar or nothing this time, and
it's going to be bar. 1t was in AZ,
Blif, down in the western part of Penn
sylvany, where dad and me had one Of
these farms that's mostly rocks and
stands up edgeways; apples and pump
kins all roll down to the bottom of the
hill in the fall.
''B' 'ars was skearce around there, but
onct in a while we'd hear about some
body getting into a scrimmage with one
up in the mountains, and ginnerally the
bar would get the best of it. One aw-
full dark night along late in the fall dad
heerd the pigs a-squealing, and he got
up and went out to see what was the
| rumpus, without stoppin' to dress up a
bit. Just as he was a-goin' around the
| corner of the hog-pen something growled
| like there was a thunder storm a-comin'
| up, and | never seed dad in such a hur-
| ry in my life as he was when he come in
and bolted the door. The next morning
one of the pigs was missing, and out in
the bush back of the sheep pastur' we
found where the bar had taken lunch.
He'd gone the whole hog, sure enough.
"You bet dad was mad He vowed if
he couldn't eat pork that winter he'd eat
bar, and he went over and got ST Chase
and his dog, and they all put two bullets
into their guns and bite of cold vittles
into their pockets and started. Marin
didn't want me to go, but dad said l
might. / had little bit of shotgun
to shoot chipmunks with, but dad rolled
a bullet up in rag and rammed it down.
Golly didn't / feel big when | started
off with the rest of 'em to shoot bar?
Isl Chase's dog was sort of hound.
and he started off on the bars tracks,
with Nose Barker's dog a-yelpin' along
behind. Arter we got into the bush,
dad told me to keep little ways behind,
and, if the bar showed fight, to drop my
gun and shin up sapling quick. AS |
tagged along arter the others l began to
think how lonesome marin would be all
alone, and I'd a-gone back to take care
Of her only knew they'd laff at me and
say l was skeered, and | wasn't bit.
''Bimeby 81 Chase said we must be
most up to him, for bar full of hog
wouldn't 90 great ways afore he'd lay
down for nap. Then l got tired and
thought wouldn't go any further, so |
sot down on beech tree that blowed
down in the summer and had all the
leaves a-hangin' to it yet. Jest then |
heard ST Chase holler to Nose Barker
that the dogs had lost the track, and
they must take 'em and head 'em round
in circle until they found it again.
81 could hear 'em talking for a little
while but purity soon they got too far
away. Bimeby felt the tree sort of jar,
and at the same time l heard rustic in
the leaves. | turned my head, and I'm
ghost if that old bars head want
a-stickin' up out of the top of the tree,
and he was a-lookin' right at Bill, too,
and a-wishin' he hadn't spoilt his appe-
tite with hog. Climb! If squirrel had
started to go up that little birch ahead
of me, he'd a-got run over. Whoop!
how hollered; and every time holler-
| ed the bar growled. He chewed up my
gun and then he came and sot down un-
| der the tree and acted as if he'd made
up his mind to stay there. 'Twa'n't
| long afore dad came back to see what
had become of me, and the bar was SO
busy watching me that the fust he knew
| there was a couple of hunks of lead
a-rattlin' round in his inwards."
''Say, Bill, was that the only bear you
ever shot?" inquired Blifkins, as he
slowly telescoped his nose into beer
| glass.
"Well, didn't zackly shoot him, but
l found him."
"And when your father shot him he
had you treed?"
"Yes"
ri never saw your old man, Bill, but
if you are telling the truth he didn't
have good sense"