The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-10-20

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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 very comfortable nest
in shoulder of the big trunk. He had
holed up there before the snow fell,
and there were no tracks arc md 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
Stautfers mills. 1t was impossible for
any body to get at him or to get 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 it in the snow, but they
couldn't get the old fellow to jump into
a trap again.
81 had heard so much about the gray
old bear and the mischief he had done,
that along in December concluded to
spend a 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
lot Of fresh meat for bait ! had nv
rifle and good sharp Ratchet, too, and
after | had looked over part of the
rugged region in which the. old gray
bear was supposed to De in hiding |
made up my mind that trap set in a
certain hollow near one of his runways
would be pretty apt to catch him.
81 knew he hadn't holed up for the
winter, because l found some of his
tracks, and because he had stolen
sheep from Ly Sander Bushnell only
day or two before. So | set one of the
traps in the hollow l spoke about,
building up a little higher fence than
usual around it, and fastening the trap
to a good-sized log that [ knew he
couldn't lug away very fast. Then |
hung the bait up about six feet from
the trap and left it. The other trap 1
set in the same way in another hollow
fifty rods to the southeast, hitching the
chain around stone that would weigh
III JIIC lCl9 lllJCI lOOIl Vi llIlItN DOuluS.
Three mornings | went and looked at
the traps, and each time | found them
just as had left them, and | began to
think that my week would be fooled
away.
But on Friday morning I found that
the old bear had been around. for by
the life, when | got in sight of the first
trap | saw that the bait had been re-
moved, while the trap hadn't been
touched Looking cio5or, l saw tha1 a
bear had leaped clear over the fence
and trap, hooked the bait, and then
pushed the fence down near where the
bait had hung and mogged off. That
was a mighty cunning trick, / thought,
and | began to believe that all the
stories had heard about the old gray
bears carryings-on in the scrub oaks
were as true as preaching. judged
by the leap he had made that he was a
long-legged and long-bodied old rascal
and | gave up all hope of ever getting
him. Then sprung the trap and put
it on q stump, and after that | started
for the place where | had set the other
trap.
"What do you suppose found when
[ got there? Well, by the life, found
that the bait was hanging just as l had
put it, but the trap wasn't there, and
then knew that there was some fun
ahead. | had caught bear, as sure
| as the world, but whether it was the
old gray one or not 1 had yet to find
out. The tracks in the snow were those
of large fellow, and this fact led me
to hope that | had trapped the gray
jawed one that so many men had tried
to kill The stone at the end of the
chain had Plowed a furrow in the snow,
but was afraid that it was not heavy
enough to keep the bear from getting
so far away that L could not catch up
with him.
However, made the best time |
could through the scrub oak, stopping
every little while to listen, and at last
| heard the chain rattle. Before | had
got sight of the bear, he had got a sniff
of me, and the way he took on was mu-
sic to me, though it would have fright
| n,,n1 l, 4 /,