SUMMER RETREAT IN ARKANSAS. 41 



this, seemed an age — the tiglit all the time souiuling 

 terrible, for every ^ow and then the bear evidently made 

 a rush at the dogs as they narrowed their circle, or came 

 individually, too near his person. 



Crawling through and over the cane-brake, was a 

 new thing to me, and in the prevailing excitement my 

 feet seemed tied together, and there was always a vine 

 directly under my chin to cripple my exertions. AVhile 

 thus struggling, I heard a suspicious cracking in my 

 ear, and looking round, I saw Bob Herring a foot taller 

 than usual, stalking over the cane like a colossus ; he 

 very much facilitated my progress by a shove in the 

 rear. 



" Come along, stranger," he shouted, his voice as 

 clear as a bell, ''come along; the bar and the dogs are 

 going it like a high-pressure political meeting, and I 

 must be thar to put in a word, sartain." 



Fortunately for my wind, I was nearer the contest 

 than I imagined, for Bob Herring stopped just ahead of 

 me, examined his rifle, with two or three other hunters 

 just arrived from the stands, and by peeping through 

 the undergrowth, we discovered within thirty yards of 

 us, the fierce raging fight. 



Nothing distinctly, however, was seen ; a confused 

 mass of legs, heads, and backs of dogs, flying about as 

 if attached to a ball, was all we could make out. On 

 still nearer approach, confusiou would clear ofl' for a 

 moment, and the head of the bear coidd be seen, his 



