Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1904-10-26
CAMPFIRE TALES.
GLEASON L. ARCHER.


There sat the old guide IN his usua
again.t the touRh og wal, and the lest OF
his u"gain person bestowed ss near az
| possible upon tie "deacon seat", which
extended beneath and before him. His
knees, well up toward hts range OF vision,
formed convenient re-ting acs for his
two uneasy arms that lsy crossed at the
wrists and dangling at the DIS. 1t was
his end OF the deacon sea-" that be occu-
pied; Is was his c,rner, just in front Of
his berth AID not far from the d um 81 ove
Twas C sy win or esening IN the old
logging emp The crew had indulge
In their usual pastimes; but the drowsy
hour had fallen as | came In from the
cook room, and p eliminary qnitt was
preparing the men for bed. The old
goice had. as usual, vapquished his oppo-
nent at checkers, and was now, as we have
seen, Withdrawn f,om the others, AID
silent and psnsive In his corner. 1 crossed
over and spoke to him.
"Come, Uncle Henry" for the whole
crew in our logging camp called him
ohSi0, bhin as JuSt tiuit iOr u Story.
My camp work Is finished, and / know WI
are all anxious to hear one of your adven-
lures before we turn To-"
chorus of voices seconded my appeal,
and the men crowded up and pulled their
benches along. The old guide unlim bered
himself and cgme back earth with his
usual excuse: $40! Lord, can't tell
story
But such q storm OF contradiction
assalled him that h dared not repeat he
offense. O,e foot d opped down from the
descoD seat; he ruffled his whitening
locks; his gray eye lighted up; and be tell
to stroklng hi, grizzled mustache as IL to
concsI the gratified smile that worked
beneath it. These we're all favorable
symptoms. He cleai ed his throst, got up,
stretched him elf, went to the door and
spat into the logg ing road. l was sure of
him.
what Is the strangest adventure you
ever had in ne woods?" I asked insinuat-
ingly as he settled down again into a
story tie ling attitude.
"Wel,i well! tad, dunno as l can just
place it. I've had too many for that But
I'll tell you some hing that happened once
" hen was co okipg in the woods same as
you be-"
Zone night after the crew had turned
in, and was just hanging up my apron,
bout ready to lay myself horizontal, !
heard an all fired scratching and clawirg
on the 81 of the camp. Say to myself,
that must be bear.' And sure enough
it was a bear and a big one, too, for he
elm up onto the roof, and he was that
heavy tnst the ribs OF the camp creaked
and buckled fit to break.
"He cum clear up to the smoke hole
twas fireplace camp you see-and looked
down at me and said reai hungry-like:
Got sny beans down there?' And l says:
Yes, l heg, but they're cold. II you'll
stay where you air l warm 'em up for We,
and hand 'em up
"He said: All right and poked his
head down he hole little further, and
asked me real confidential how many men
there was in the crew. | told him there
was twenty, not including me and the
teamsters, last knew; but there might be
one or two less than that, now, specially
il any OF 'em had been down the logging
road star gazing that evenin'
Then, when the bear was lookin' over
into the hunks to count 'em, l took good
aim and let ny with basin OF hot water,
and he fetched yell and jumped beck
that quick that he scrsped an ear clean off
the ridge pole of the camp. He slid off
that roof mighty lively, l tell vel"
"What did you do with that carr" 1
asked, when our merrimeht had subsidized.
20, that carr" unused the story teller,
scratching his head meditatively, 81 guess
l hove it in the fire, so the crew wouldn't
know about it. Yes, recollect, there was
Teller in the crowd who was most awful
scarf of bears, and l was afraid he'd leave
~ he kuowed thew was so thick -