The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-02-24

; canal and the owner of the boat and l
were admiring the beautiful glow of
the sunset on the opposite hills, when
we saw a black bear shamble out of
the bushes and strike the tow path
| only a few feet from the stern Of the
boat. 1t stuck up it's nOs and shifted,
kept coming nearer to the boat all the
time, and acting as if it wanted to
| come on board. There was a ton or
more honey on board, and the owner
| said that the bear had evidently got a
sniff of it and wanted to gObble some OF
it up. No n on board had a shooting
iron of any sort, so for nearly half a
mile we watched the bear and let it
have its own way. 1t continued to fol
low us and to sniff with it's nose raised
and the way it acted amused us all.
When the boat had about a mile n a
half to go beforei it got out of the woods,
Jack DumOnt, a chunky little fellow
who was steering the boat, let drive at
the bear with a horseshoe and struck it
between the eyes. The blow was a com
plete surprise to the bear, audit wheeled
to one side and went growing off into
the woods. For several minutes we
could hear him thrashing through the
underbrush, nearly opposite the boat,
rnd then all was still.
By that time it was getting dusk, and
the full moor o came up In a clear
sky AS the boat neared the clearing
and we had enjOyedth the beautiful moon
lit scenery the driver yelled back to us
and said that a bear had just waddled
out of the small timber a few yards
ahead of the mules and was shufhing
along the toe path. We couldn't see
it in the dim light, and as we didn't
have any gun we paid little attention
to what the driver said. Further on
the driver sang out that the bear was
making for the clearing and that it
kept looking over it's shoulder every
few steps. When we had got well out
of the woods the driver reported that
the bear had left the tOwpath, struck
into a public road, circled around and
crossed a bridge i've the canal. The
last part of his statement wasn't true,
as events proved, though he thought it
was at the time.
My host and 1 were sitting on a
bench looking at the moon from the
stern of the boat. When we passed
under the bridge we heard something
heavy strike the roof behind us, and
looking around quickly to e what it
was, there stood a bear facing us. 1t
was shifting loud and moving it's head
from side to side as though it was try
ing to spy out what it's nostrils had
scented, and before my companion had
time to think what to do with the bear
Jack gave a yell and dashed at the
bear with a club. He hit it on the side
of the head and was going to deal it
another blow when the bear up with
one of it's paws and knocked him heels
over head into the canal. Then it be-
gan to nose along the floor in search of
the honey it had smelt, and we both
pitched at it and mauled it over the
head with iron bars. The bear turned
tail and began to below like a bull,
lodging from one side of the boat to
the other. We followed it up and
pounded it so hard over the head and
shoulders that it rushed past US tum-
bled over everything in its way, and
sprang from the side of the boat,
scrambled up the side of the bank and
went down the tOwpath toward the
woods.
The owner of the boat tied up for
the night right away, and Jack, who
had crowded out Of the muddy water
without any assistance, found that he
couldn't use his right arm at all. We
got him aboard and put him to bed,
and the next day he said he was lame
all over. He stayed in bed for four
days, and during the rest of the trip
the owner had to steer the boat him
self. "-NeW York Tribune.