The commonwealth., 1904-09-03

TO limb. was a eatamount-an sii.s,sm,
min tremendous big and ugly one-witn
a little bear cub in each claw, glarin'
down at me and the bear.
The catamount had stole the bears
CUBS and skited up the tree with em. The
tree vas too small for the bear To climb
and the eatamount didn't dast come
down, KNOWN that the bear d make
short work Of it-and the poor mother
pear wanted me to rescue them Young
uns o her'n.
mat was the hull sitiwation, as
hsgereu II out III jiffy. Ifergot all about
'he nam was so fetched by the longin'
the poor mother bear, and so all'per-
Saoln mad at the kidnappin catamount
l throwed off my coat, and up that
saplln Skinned. wasn't long gettin'
10 where the catamount was croucbip,
slarin at me as come. and spittin' and
sroWiln enough to skeer red Injin, but
noidln on to the whinin bear cubs like
grim death
The yarmint couldn't climb any
hlgher, an seem she couldn't skeer ma
PACK, she thought she d do better to take
the chances tor jump than to cit into
my clutch, and she aimed fer a branch
Oh tree OF to one side O. the one we was
IN and away she went. The jump was
more than she could land, and down she
went, stlll clutchln the cubs, kerplunk
on the ground.
Before | could git down out o the
tree the old bear had shattered the cata.
mount into shoestrings, ana was Jest
more than tickled over gittin her cubs
back.
She didn't have to have the gift Of
9ao TO thank me, She looked it more
tnan words could tell it,
When got to the ground | thunk
about that ham | was needin', and kin
see the sorrowin' look on that old bear $
lace now when | cussed the luck and
hollered.
Il never kin Eetch that wagon now!
Never! And | won't have nothin to eat
fer a week."
l steaked it for the turnpike, any
how, hopln | mowt ketch the wagon,
but when | got there heered it rumblin'
down the road, half a mile beyend any
kind o hearin. come back here mad
and tired and hungry and cussed bears
and eatamounts all night.
:" was foolin' round in here this fore
noon, when heerd a scratchin SORT of q
knock come to the door. opened it, and
| most fell in faint when see Lat old
she bear standin there with that doe
over her shoulder.
" As soon as she seen me she laid the
doe down, give me a look that there
want no mistakin' and trotted off into
the woods, | was fetched to the heart,
" Gratitude! saysI, .'Sorrowin' be-
cause she had knocked me out O gittin
my meat and swellin' with gratitude
cause l saved her cubs fer her she has
gone and run down nice fat doe and
brung it to me 'arthstone!" says,
And | drug the doc in and was mus
in on the tetchin circumstance as |
skinned it out, and now to think she stole
it! Me supposin' she had run it down
herself and brung it to me, and now to
think she stole it!
This is heart breakin'! Where DO
you s'pose she stole it, Sam?'
Where do you s'pose she could a,
Dick? says Sam,
1.-The unblushin' critter! says Dick.
She knows!' says he
"'Yes,' says Sam, And Jerry, says he,
the thing fer you to do is to whisper in
her ear that unless she lugs that doe
back and hangs it on the peg where she
snaked it from there'll be more than
kidnappin catamounts prowlin' round
and pouncn' in these woods!' says he.
Then Sam and Dick went in the woods
to see how the signs fer game was keepin'
up, and when they got back to their cabin
along in the afternoon, 10 and behold
ye! there the doe hung!
dick, says Sam what amazin'
things bears does do!' says he.
'Amazin est kind! says Dick.
And poor Jerry was weighted down
so under the heft O. woe that disapp mt
in she bear had give him that he throwea
up his peelin' contract and went to ralI-
in up on the headwaters, N. Y. sun