The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1888-11-15

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smother the fire. He had hardly piled
on the first handful when out of the
hole plunged a 25O-pound bear. The
smoke had rolled him, and he had got
singed little on his way out, and he
was SO thoroughly mad over being dis
turbed that he pitched at the Dutch
man and partly knocked him down.
When the Dutchman saw what an enor-
nous coon he had smoked out he
started to run, and the way he yelled
for help, with the bear almost on his
heels, was comical enough to make
jackass laugh. He roared and beloved
| a good deal louder than the mad bear
did, and his little dog put his tail be-
tween his legs and got out of sight in
no time. One of my men rushed down
and split the bears head open before
he had done the Dutchman any injury,
but the frightened greenhorn didn't
stop running till he got clear out of the
woods. Then we chopped the tree
| down and found that the bear had
| made himself a very comfortable nest
in a shoulder of the big trunk. He had
holed up there before the snow fell,
| and there were no tracks around the
tree. We never could get the Dutch
man to smoke out any more coons after
that.
Many years ago wonderfully large
bear had his home among the thick
scrub oaks between Tobyhanna and
Stauffer's mills. 1t was impossible for
any body to get at him or to get a shot
at him when he stayed among the oaks.
He had killed number of dogs that
were foolish enough to tackle him. and
he had lugged many sheep and pig
into his hiding place. Two or three
hunters had got glimpses of his head,
and they told me that he was so old
that he had begun to get gray around
the chops. They said that he was the
biggest, Oldest, savagest and cunning
est bear that any body had ever seen
in that part of the Pocono region. He
had torn his foot out of one trap, and
after that they knew his track when
they saw 1t in the snow, but they
couldn't get the old fellow to jump into
a trap again.
II had heard so much about the gray
old bear and the mischief he had done,
that along in December concluded to
| spend week trying to trap him, and
to give him up as too tough and cunning
for me if didn't succeed in catching
him at the end of that time. So ON a
Monday morning had one of my boys
drive me to the place in sleigh. ]
took two of my best traps along and a
lot of fresh meat for bait. / had my
rifle and a good sharp hatchet, too, and
after had looked over part of the
rugged region in which the old gray
bear was supposed to be in hiding,
made up my mind that trap set in q
certain hollow near one of his runways
would be pretty apt to catch him.
4 II knew he hadn't ho1ed up for the
winter, because found some of his
tracks, and because he had stolen d
sheep from Ly Sander Bushnell only {
day or two before. So I set one Of the
traps in the hollow / spoke about
building up a little higher fence thar
usual around it, and fastening the traI
to a good-sized log that I knew he
couldn't lug away very fast. Then
4 hung the bait up about six feet from
the trap and left it. The other trap
set in the same way in another hollow
fifty rods to the southeast, hitching tn,
chain around a stone that would weigf
in the neighborhood of thirty pounds
Three mornings went and looked a
the traps, and each time found then
just as had left them. and / began t,
think that my week would be fooled
away.
.sBut on Friday morning I found tha
the old bear had been around, for, b,
the life, when got in sight of the frs
trap saw that the bait had been re
moved, while the trap hadn't beel
touched Looking closer, I saw that
bear had leaped clear. over the fenc,
and trap, hooked the bait, and thei
pushed the fence down near where tn,
bait had hung and mogged off. Tha
was mighty cunning trick, / thought
and l began to believe that all tn
stories / had heard about the old gra,
bears carryings-on in the scrub oak
were as true as preaching ] judges
by the leap he had made that he was
long-legged and long-bodied old rascal
and / gave up all hope of ever gettin,
him. Then sprung the trap and pu
! it on stump, and after that starte,
, for the place where I had set the othel
! trap.
II What do you suppose found whei
, | got thereP Well, by the life. I foun,
, that the bait was hanging just as ha,
} put it, but the trap wasn't there, an
then knew that there was some flu
ahead. had caught bear, as sur,
as the world, but whether it was tht
: old gray one or not had yet to fins
} out. The tracks in the snow were thos
5 of a large fellow, and this fact led m
/ | to hope that had frauped the rrav