The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-12-20
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THE CABININ THECIEARING"
A TRUE STORY OF PIONEER LIFE IN BEAR STATE"
BY c. E. PLEAS. cHPLEY. FLA.


was soon sitting by CHEEKY pine knot
fire telling my brother of NY wonder
full adventures.
/ had surprised them as complete
ly as / did the pigs. for they were
not expecting me for a month.
And it was only nine O'Clock, but
that was the longest three miles and
a nalf ] have ever Travelled.
Pig Carried Away
One night in May, four years later,
was awakened in my own little.
cabin in the clearing" by my wife,
who was urging me TO get up quick,
there's pig fast in the fence.' You
all know how fast pig can squea1.
Well. this was the fastest pig ever
heard. We had two thirty-pounders
shut up in a small pen in a fence
corner about two rods from the back
door, for our next winters meat Get
ting to the back door, saw what APP
peared TO be the old SOW in the yard
and the pig trying to get through had
| gotten fast N a crack, as | thought.
Fearing the CID sow would kill it, as
| they sometime - = - ,.i1 gets
= hollered and hollered before I
could drive IL -. sic went
the pig went too. still squealing. That
seemed strange and stranger still,
when she got 10 the corner of the yard
she climbed over the fence, pig ard
/. all.
About this time put my thinking
cap on" and rushed fer the gun. The
.old sow" had turned into a bear, and
was making of witt our Little pcrker
| The gun was loaded with bird shot.
and while I was fumbling around in
the dark for the only bail that was
loaded and change loads she was get
| ting away. When | reached the door
again she was almost out OF sight,
ahont seventy-ive yards OF. going
west along the edge of the bluff.
fired as nearly in that direction as l
could, hoping at least to save the pig.
At this another bear went numbering
down from the hillside above, joining
the other on the BLUM The squealing
had now grown less distinct and We
supposed the bear had gone down be-
hind the bluff, and as the hollow was
six hundred feet deep werc soon out
of hearing. Next morning, however,
we found they had eaten the pig in
seventy-fve yards OF the door where
the second bear had joined the first
We found. also, by tracks i'll the
mud. that there were three signs of
| OCdIS the all Otu OIie anu
two sets of cubs, probably five in all.
The old bears tracks were ten
inches long, then there was a size sew
en- inches long and others not over
4 five inches.
| Old bear hunters say that whenever
or wherever the cubs overtake the
old bear with any prey, right there
they stop and eat it. This instance
seemed to verify the statement.
/ went to town and told about it,
and took an old bear hunter and his
dogs back with me, but we could not
find the bears, although We did find
their sumner quarters" and numer-
Gus signs OF their having killed hogs,
sheep, calves, etc. Their playground
covered some ten or fifteen acres OF
dogwood fiat, and smelled so bad from
portions OF uneaten carcaSeS that the
dogs could trail no further and after
epcircling the place we were glad to
| get away.
/ Back for the Other One
That evening / went 10 a neigh
boris a mile away and borrowed a
bear trap, arriving home after dark.
! We met me at the door with the re-
mark that I had better cover the pen
up before eating supper for fear the
bear came and got th- ,5<ner pig, So
went on out to the pen carrying a
plank as 1 went On looking up the
hillside saw some DARK uJJect stand
ing in the path just outside the fence
Our grown hogs, on fle range, were
in the habit of coming by often, but
not at night and for a single hog to
be standing there alone and quiet at
| this time was unusual Besides, it
looked too large for any hog, Md IL
1t had been one of our own, 1t, would
have come on down when went out.
/ went back and told my wife that
the bear was out there, and taking
the gun and four ball cartridges which
l had loaded | went back to the fence
to the stile which put me within two
panels of the bear. 1 could not make
out sure which was his head end, but
decided he would be standing with his
head towards me and the fence,
| fired half ounce of lead at it. 1t
whirled off up the hill and I follow
ed, when it stood up as il to come
at me. / fired again, and this time
il ran about two rods to the right and
stopped on all fours. fired my third
load at it broadside. and from the
commotion in the brush I thought it
was making at me. and only having
one more load and it not N the gun,
broke for the house.
/
down, turning it completely around, as
it headed off in the opposite direction
/ from that it was standing when j shot
1t made a circle of about rs yards
and went crashing on down the bluff
about where they ate fhc pig the
night before, breaking through fallen
tree tops and making as rauch noise
as blind horse would running at
full speed.
! It was painting loudly at every
Jump and could hear what sounded
/ like blood in its throat. The ball
must have passed through the lungs.
| This idea was borne out next morn
ing by the fact that in following the
trail we could see where the blood
had spurted out two to three feet on
the far side, showing the bah had
passed clear through the pocy at
least. Wherever there was cupped
leaf at these spurts it was full of
4 ~ ill 30 ID