River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1890-07-17

The pigs merely grunted good
naturally, and evidently kept right on
sleeping. The bear walked to the door,
pulled the latch string with his teeth,
passed out. and pushed the door gently
to again. / was so dumbfounded that
couldn't move nor speak. l was actually
momentarilY par ilyzed by this sudden
and startling clearing up Of the mystery
surrounding the disappearance of my
pigs. When | recovered myself / hur-
ried down from the NOW and out of the
barn. / could see the bear half way
across a field, striding at the top of
his speed toward piece of woods
about an eighth of mile distant. |
had no idea what disposition the bear
intended to mako of the pigs, and | ran
as fast as | could and reached the
shadow of the woods Gy ? short cut, and
hurried along their edge, hoping to
head off the constituencies robber and
rescue his unsuspecting victims if pos
sible. But the bear had too much the
start of me, and if it had been pos
sible for me TO get there in time the
chances are that | would not have done
so, for when the bear had got within
few yards of the woods two other bears,
tremendous big fellows, stepped out
from the edge of the timber and hurried
toward him. My bear handed the pigs
over to the two wild bears. The three
bears stood mo- mt together as If in
consultation, and then the two returned
to the woods and my bear trotted de-
liberately back home. When | got
there he was just pulling the latch
string at the pen. He went in and shut
the door behind him.
MY first impulse was to get my gun
and blow the brains out of this petted
protege of mine, but after deliberation
made up my mind that | might not
only deal out terrible vengeance to him
but to his accomplices at the same time.
| could hardly contain myself, though,
when l went out to feed my pigs next
morning tC see the one lone member of
the family come TO the trough, and the
hypocritical and villainous bear lying
there scratching the back of the mother
whose offspring he had delivered over to
be torn to pieces and devoured in the
depths of the Wilderness. That night got
two neighbors and we took our guns and
hid in the woods near the spot where
my treacherous bear had handed the two
pigs over to the wild bears. ! was sure
that the bear would fetch the last pig
to them that night, but was not pre-
pared for the unheard-of heartlessness
and ingratitude that he exhibited. We
had been in the woods an hour or more
when the two wild bears came slouching
along and lay down not more than. thirty
! feet from where We were hidden. They
remained very quiet, and at about the
same hour as my bear walked ont of the
pen with the two pigs the night before
| saw him coming across the field this
night. As he drew near ! saw that he
not only had the last young pig under
his arm, but that he was leading the old
SOW herself, coaxing her along by
scratching her back as she trotted limo
Gently at his side. You can imagine
my feelings then. The two bears arose
to go and get the plumber brought thus
| freely to their hands. but they never
/ got it. My two neighbors emptied their
/ guns into the old marauders, and they
| fell dead in their tracks. Before my
ungrateful bear had recovered from his
surprise / was out and confronting him.
He recognized me, dropped the pig, and
made break for the woods. had the
small satisfaction of killing him at the
| first shot. You can raise and domesti-
cate bears, but you can't make EN- rep
utable. They viii always be bears. -
| n Y. Sun