The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1896-03-27
to him, and holler ana now. ike thun-

to him, and holler ana now, like thun-
der!'
81 guess Dave had been in the swamp
three minutes or more before the dis-
turbance began, When the laurels be-
gan to snap and crack and shake, l
looked up at ellison. He stood with
Lis feet braced and his teeth clinched,
and his gun ready, hadn't any idea
that Dave could make such commo-
ton among such a stubborn growth
rs laurels, and when the growing and
snarling tuned up just laid back and
wondered. ellison stood to his post
ike soldier.
"'Ain't that darn fool going to cut
and run after alp says 1.
Just then the laurels shook and
snapped rs if cyclone was working
among them. There came from the
midst of the disturbance such a combi-
nation of yells and bowls and snorts
and growls that I'd taken fright my
self and run if I hadn't known that is
was only Dave. And ellison stood still
and waited. Then heard a shot in the
swamp, and another yell, followed by
startling creaking and swaying of
the laurels, the line of that commotion
leading straight toward me.
"'Gillson.' hollered, hes a terror!
81 don't know what ellison replied,
for the next second out of that laurel
patch, not 20 feet from me, crashed a
bear so big, and with such fury in his
,ran1ar I didn't
in my tracks. l didn't have time to
think. The bear was coming head-on
for me, with his jaws swapping like
thrashing machine. l turned and
saw the maple tree that l had in my
mind reserved for ellison and my fun.
! flew for it. | don't know how many
feet covered at a jump, but, although
l knew the bear wasn't many jumps
behind me, had time to think:
Lord! If ellison goes for that tree
now he'll lead me off, and I'm goner!"
For fear he would. hollered to him
in my desperation:
"'Theres tree just below you, yon-
der! Cut for that one'
"But he didn't He started for the
maple. l put on more steam and got
there first. | grabbed the tree, | re-
member hearing two shots. The next
/ remember was that was sitting in
the snow, with my arms and legs clasp
ing the trunk of the maple tree. That
was as far as l had climbed. looked
around. There stood ellison, little
pale, but with grin on his face that
made me feel shecpish. Near by lay
the bear with the top of his head half
blown off. ellison had put both of his
buckshot charges into it. with the gun
almost against it. Sitting on log, a
few feet to the right, was Dave. What
clothes he had on him were hanging
from him in tatters, and his face and
hands were streaked with blood.
Funny. amt it, Doc?' says he. It's
so funny that I've got to git in the open
country where l can find room to
taught
with that Dave got up and limped
away home, and he hasn't spoken to
me since.
1.-The bear broke out in the wrong
place, didn't he, Doc?' says ellison
But it was deuced clever in you to run
him over here SO | could get shot at
him.
II didn't say word, but got up and
helped ellison drag the dear bear home,
only matter of five miles, and a
prouder man never walked than was
that little greenhorn hunter"
1t is supposed the bear was one that
had been driven by hunters from tie
Sinnemahoning country, the chase be-
ing SO lorg that they had given it up,
and that it had come into the laurel
patch before the snow, unknown to
anybody, and settled there for the
| winter. When Dave Ramsy went into
the laurels to make the mock disturb
ance with a bear to carry out Doc
preble's joke, he stumbled unexpected
| " upon this ugly customer, ard found
himself in a rough ant-tu1nLlc wTcstlc
with him before he knew it. The hear
weighed 575 pounds.-N. Y. Sun.