The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-26
HEAPS on FUN FOR BEAR.


LIIIhdF v Aeh.NhN Wy rs NNS
hemlock belt, and Uncle Potts and his jolly oil
wife," said John Gilbert, the travelling grocery
man. land l had just sat down to dinner whel
q stub-and.twist of a boy, about 10 years old
with q very moist and much ~turned.up nose
camc in, smiled, ran bis nose over tho who'll
length of his sleeve. and piped out:
"'Aunt Neutrality-suspicious. wants Il
know II you won't-now-lend her one o. youi
-now-milk pans till pap kin-now-Go to tow
an git her one
''Thcn tho boy shifted again and swabbet
his nose once more With his sleeve.
lone o. my milk pansl' said Aunt Thank
full. 'Sakes. alive. BENNY What's como o
your mammy'sf
'snif, swab, by the boy, and then:
whats como Of i'll Well. / wonder II the
bear didn't scrunch 1T lSniff, swab.l An
mothers got to have q milk pan till pap kin
now-Ro to town an GIT her one
" The bear scrunched IT. said Aunt Thank
full, getting up and moving in O dRzed sort Of
way toward Benny, who simply bodied his
head. said Huh. huh,' and shifted and swabbed.
Aunt Thankful went and got o milk pan,
handed Il to Benny as II she didn't exactly un'
derstand why she was doing 1t, put her hands
ON her hips. and, In sohloQuy, repeated:
The bear scrunched it,
Huh. huh,' said Benny, and went out Of the
ubuht tikit obu b""pbthes ShA
gazed at the door. still dszed. when 1t opened
again, and in came Benny.
" AN you oughto see how he scrambled the
besskip. Goshi'
Then no went out and didn't come back.
Aunt Thankful returned to her place at the
table by and by. but still not at her ease.
'Drat that boyT' said she. What's he driv-
In at. anyhowi'
"Drivin' atT' said Uncle Potts, who hadn't
lost o second during all this conversation DO.
tween his wife and Benny, but had kept right
on with his dinner without apparently hearing
oit' n of them. .Drivin' att Why nothin'
ptrtic'lar. except that l s'pose there's been q
boar havin' some fun with 'em down at Pimley's
an has sort O. things a little
That was the end Of the incident for the
time, but after dinner was through and Uncle
Potts had lit his pipe and walked out to the
barn and back o couple Of times, he said:
Come on, John. Wen go down to PIN.
Toys and see how good a time the bear actu'Iy
20 bear, an It wouldn't s'prise me none il bruin
pad been hay1n, Q regular Fourth o July cele-
so we went down to Pimley's, q mile distant.
Pimley was home-a thin, gawky, stoop-shoul.
dered man with the inevitable hemlock belt
"''Huilo. Plm!' shouted Uncle Potts. 1
don't see nothin' of your beeskip. What you
."Pfm raised himself up on his toes. craned
his long neck and gazed of toward a Held that
stretched away below tho house. Then he got
" Cit up, on the fence an you kin see it. said
he. Its Kind o. skittered about some, though.
Down yender in the turnip patch
chan up here in the yardf
The bear 'peared to think so,' replied PIN.
s'Bearf said Uncle Potts, as il surprised.
" Potts. said PIN. there's been the consarn-
dest commotion on these premises durin' the
nn2t few 0QYa that hara'a haan IL vyrhpra nanaa
Phuraoh's hosts was swamped in the Red Sea.
Ny wife 10 mebbe the peacefullest woman there
bekently, she wasn't 'spectin' trouble when she
took her tablecloth to the back door to shake 1t
s { Z en- ffdr sU hat 5as t L %ss it. f % t It: was ass a smsIli:t ahs
big bear, an IL was swaggerin' right t'ord her
from the lane yender, ,twixt the house an the
thefe is anywhere in the belt, but she was just
onpolite enough to slam the door almost plum
me. Benny bein' to school. My wife's got the
best lungs Of any woman 'twixt here an Little
though ! was in the buckwhit field, clean on
tother side o them woods yender.
pedalers." either as sne to hou mv s,Ts or Toll lise samsn rod
STRUCK, 1t lively for home. never thunE O.
hadn't no idea that the country was 50 fertyIe
IN bear. wasn't long in gittin, home. l could
ssStr t Ssm fasa thing SsIDiin zee v When f2 Z hove % th in s Tsyt
was a bear slandin' twlxt them two apple trees
yendsr., snifin' at the beeskip, which was
changed his mind about calm on Samantha
after she was SO onpolite as to bang the door in
dlppin' him, but he Jest seemed to like it. My
wlfe,s the sensiblest woman there Is from Pine
Creek TO the S~innamahone. and consistently
waen she see me comm she quit strainin' her
lungs. / didn't know then how the bear had
come on the premises. but as l had reasons for
thinkin' / had a better claim on the innards O.
that beeskip than he had. l picked up a lot O.
stones an begun bombardin' him, advancin' as
MY wife's got more grit than any other
woman on the Susquehannn spread O. waters,
an when she sec me advancin' on that bear an
charged on him like an army with banners.
She come at him armed with a milk pan, which
with the bees a. dippin' him, an the stones a
peltin' him. an the rumpus Samantha was max.
IN on the milk pan. that bear 'peared to me to
be hayln' wagon loads o. fun, the way he danced
an grinned, but no got tired of 1t by an by, an
pickin' up that beeskip under one, arm. away
turnip patch yender. My wife's the fur.seein.
est woman there is in all the bo-derin' counties,
+" '.Pimley,'' she says, 1--WE won't have no
honey fer our buckwhit cakes this winter" she
h'I knowed in my heart Samantha was right,
but bein' the ncommittin'es man myself
thore is twixt Dutch Forks an Biler's Crossin'
- Samantha ! says. mot bein' person.
ally, acquainted with bear an their natur'.
cali say, i says.
"'But tine bear KEEP right on, an me an Sa.
Inantha tollered him., screnadin' him with the
milk pan an chuckin' stones agin him. Wen
he got to the place in the field yonder that you
kin sec IT. you. stand on the fence. the bear
stopped. He sot down, an with a swat an a
sw 1op he scattered that beeskip to the winds.
and then he scoOped up the honey and went on
his way eatin' Of 1t an smackin' his lips till he
got into the woods down, yender, an we lost
him. My wife,s the philosophizinest woman
"'"Pimley," she says, .if we cant have honey
lnr mi hllrk whit nakaa ~ hin ha ua 1laaaaa VI
abe says.
"'Which there wasn't no denyin' of. anil bein'
the agreein'est man myself that ever voted for
the last man that asked him, l lays:
$50 we kin, Samantha" i says. 80 we
Samantha went back to ner housework, an
1,mogged for the buckwhit field. Next day al
dinner time l was washin' up an Benny he
est an nose-wtpin'est boy that ever 'peared tc
think that sleeves must a been made before
han'kerchiefs, IT was quite a spell fore he gol
out II was this:
"'"Pap,' says he, 'the bears come back, an
Is playin' mumble-je'peg with the turnips."
"I looked out o. the door, an sure enough
there was the bear down In the turnip field yen
IL. $50 AH. a--