Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1900-05-10


t ana tender nnrs r- H ag
p. * bear. hat We were g. king for.
AKIN gal horne /, 81, ainkS
i'm ID myself about ~ w.N that old
L.ar hal played ii on me- II VAS by
using his brains when ! WAS bungling
;.nead with 4 dog and gun that en-
abled him 10 beat me. Ii brought
my own top piece into action ought
to get ahead OF a bear, even Il he
was the slyest old codrer that ever
meandered around tile hills Of Pike
county So kept thinking over the
Weaknesses Of bears and men. and all
Of a sudden ii occurred 10 me how
fond bear is of honey. just like SOME
men with liquor. and that gave me an
idea Surprising could get that
bear good and drunk, | thought to
myself. there wouldn't be any diff
Guilty in catching him and avenging
my numerous injuries. So | took
bic lump OF honey and soaked it in APP
pIeiack. When | got the job finished
there was enough liquor IN that lump
of honey to get a family OF bears
drunk md the delicious taste ef 1t
was such that l certainly hated to
feed it to the bear.
Just about dayhreak heard
noise like something tumblin@ about
in the shed where l kept my hon
Mr.. Bear has found that appia *
and is making merry over IT., avs
to my wife"but there's no hurry. /
know the power of that a2plejack.
III lust wait couple Of hours until
1t gets in its paralyzing ciiects. That
bear will be dead to the world then.
And a little while later after his in
terview with Uncle Jabez, he'll be
dead for good
so | waited couple of hours, and
then, having loaded my gun. went
down to the hives, confidently expect
ing to see one big bear stretched out
there dead drunk. But instead OF
this it was a pathetic sight that met
nv eyes. My hives were overturned
and all my good honey gone, while
the floor was Uttered with bees. A
lot more were sticking 70 the. apple
lack honey, while here and there was
a bee TRYING to walk or lily, and fall
inc to the floor in a staggering way.
1t was plain enough what had hap
pened Ny bees had been attracted
by the fragrant smell of that apple
lack honey. They, had flown over TO
it during the night and filled them
selves with it until not one disreputa-
Bile bee was able to move. Then when
the bees were helpless that unscrupu-
lous old bear wandered in, and, with
out paving any attention to the apple
lack honey, marched straight to the
hives, overturned them and gorged
himself What made me maddest was
to think he had gotten away without
a sting, while my bees were lying
there drunk.
eff | had been content to let 1t
wa, that mSn face ,WeuldIn,tt t.! look ok. so
lessness of the bees as / was at the
bear If they had been content to
stay in their hives, perhaps my plan
would have worked all right and the
bear have eaten the applejacl1 honey.
So instead of letting my bees sleep
their jag off, l started to rouse them
By throwing cold water on them. No
intoxicated bees that fill themselves
up on honey meant for black BEARS"
! said, ARE going to be allowed to
sleep all day. not while they belong
10 Uncle Jabez. Those bees have got
to get right up and start in repairing
the damage due to their carelessness.'
Now, | had known those bees all
their lives. and it never occurred to
me that they would sting me. But in
she first place that applejack had
aroused the same bad temper in them
that il does in some men. Then The
I thrown on them bit more than a
man who is sleeping off drunk likes
10 be thrown into pond.
"'As | kept throwing the water on
those bees they got more and more
awake, and the hvelier they got the
madden they We're. Finally most of
those who had been lying on the floor
were fully awake and began to buzz
around the shed. All of sudden one
bee that was evidently feAing espe-
cially ugly few at me. Then all the
bees seemed to think | was the author
of their misery, and the whole swarm
settled down to the job of making me
unhappy. They succeeded right up to
the limit, too for by the time | es-
capped from that shed | was stung in
had been reused up by the water |
had thrown on them, were feeling too
languid to chase me. | hunted for
the water bucket. When | finally
lifted my face out of pt and had
opened my bunged-up eyes with con
siderable difficulty, l saw sight
which added pang to my misery.
There on the edge of the clearing was
that old bear. He was sitting on his
launches. fairly hugging himself with
his front paws and chuckling to him
self at the fix 1 was in. My gun was
over by the she'd BY the time l could
get it the bear was gone, and all that
was left for me was my mournful
thoughts.
That blamed old bear, said Uncle
.IabeZ CONCLUDING his sad story has 1