Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-06-10
A BEAR STORY.
The Terrific Fight and Startling Adventure
with o Rolling Stone.

with . Rolling stone.
"Ninc year ago yisterd'y M'riar says
to me th't she'd like to hev some roots
an YARDS to stew up inter or-fashioncd
root beer" said the old settler.
"I know'd they was plenty on 'em
out on the edge o. Bier Davis clear.
in. an ez hadn't had q trapse in the
woods sence my last set-to with tho
azmy, l tol' M'riar I'd pop over to BIZ
jcr's an gcther in the YARDS. SO ]
showed my graftin' knife in my pocket
an' went. I found th't the birch a
pcelin' ez free cz a boy goin' in swim
min, an the way 'Bijer's woods smclt
o. yarbs would a skcert the collie away
I'm weeks old baby. lwere down
on my knees ut the foot O. Slidin'
ridge, jist more thin yankin' out sassy.
frax root, wen kcrswot! come whack
long side o. my head. an flew an
slid an tumblcd over sumfin' like a
quarterly an acre o land fore / got my
bearin's.
"'Lightnin' 1 says. or / grabbed
an clutchcd fur sumpin' to anchor to.
AN out'n clear sky at that says.
"W'cn l found myself ag'n an got
up to look back an see II the lightnin'
had left any thing standin'. wat
should loom up before me but a big
bar. right on the spot whar I'd ben u
diggin', and thar he sot, dinin' on my
birch bark and sassyfrax. ez impydcnt
cz a lightnin rod peddlcr. He had
act'ly come up ahind me ez l were
yankin' the roots, an had swatted me
off'n my own diggin's! Wull, now.
b'gosh. wa'n'ta goin' ter lay down
an put up with dod-durn nonsense
from bar without disputin' the ques-
tion. an so just hustled back with my
graftin' knife in my hand. an in less
thin nine seconds me an that bar was
bucklcd inter one o the pootiest rough
an'-tumbles cz was ever coaxed up.
'.wull, arter me an tho bar had
played circus at the foot O. that ridge
fur ten or fifteen minutes I began to
see, b'gosh. th't the bar were gittin'
the big eend O. the fight, an th't the
prospects fur me follcrin' the birch
bark an the sassyfrax N the bars
gullct was very promisin'. ! were
just bcginnin' to pictur' M'riar OF a
tor able slick-lookin' widder, spite OF
her age, wen hcerd big, crackin'
,ound up cards the top o the hill,
w'ich pushes clus ontcr five hundcrd
DOT high jist at that pint. The bar
heerd it, too. We both quit chawin'
an gougin' an poundin' an went ia
lookin' an listenin'. 1t didn't take
me long to 'skiver wat the 'sturbancc
were. an the bar got an inklin' of II
at the same time. Somehow OF
other a big rock at the top o
the ridge had come loose. an 1t had
started on n lcctlc trip down to the hol.
Ycr. An its line o march, b gosh, were
plumb to'ards me an the bar. Wull.
NE an the Bar didn't lose no time in
grccin' to flag O. truce. ye kin bate.
The bar started on the dead jump
to ards one int O the compass, an
sot my sails in the opp'site drec'
ton. The rock were a-bearin' down
the steep hill like cannon ball, an
trees was a-snappin' an a-nyin' ev'ry
witch way aforc it. Suddenly an idet
hit me. Quicker'n lightnin' i turned
to follcr it out. 1t showed me a way
20 get the best o. that bar yit The
bar had got a couple o rods away.
skinned my eye up ut the rock acomin
down like aroarin' hurricane, an made
my calculations. Then l give two
Jumps an had that bar by the hind
legs. He were so s'prised that he didn''
seem to sec wat l were up to till 'twer'
too late. drug him back to tho foo
o. the hill, right in the path o th'
hyin' rock. l got thar jist in time
an. clutchin' the bar by both hint
paws, / throw'd myself back ez fur e'
could an held the bar thar zif he't
been in wise. l heerd noise like ar
arthquakc, and felt wind th't mus
ha' ben travclin' about two thousan
miles minute, an then l didn't heal
nor see nuthin' more. Wen come t.
things was ez quiet an peaceful ez
mornin' in May. l were layin' OF
sumpin' like hundred foot I'm whal
I'd ben holdin' the bar down. wa
clutchin' in each hand the hind foot o
bar. That's all O. the varmint tn
were to be seen. Tn rock were layin
down in the holler right on the edge o
the swamp half buried in the muck
It's thar yit, boys, an II ye 60 an dii
It up yen find in under 1t all that
left O. the bar. IN y. Sun.