THE BIG IlEAt; OK AFIKANSAS. 01 



'• • Uli, no,' said they, ' we only heard of sucli things 

 being rathci; common of late, but we don't believe one 

 word of it : oh, no,' — and then they would ride off. and 

 laugh like so many hyenas over a dead niggii . 



It was too much, and I determined to tateh that 

 bear, go to Texas, or die, — :nid I made my preparations 

 accord in'. 



" I had the pack shut up and rested. I took my 

 rifle to pieces, and iled it. 



" I put caps in every pocket about my person, fat- 

 fear of the lining. 



" I then told my neighbors, that on Monday morning 

 — naming the day — I would start that b(e)ar, and 

 bring him home with me, or they might divide my 

 settlement among them, the owner having disappeared. 



" Well, stranger, on the morning previous to the great 

 day of my hunting expedition, I went into the woods 

 near my house, taking my gun and Bowieknife along, 

 just from habit, and there sitting down, also from 

 habit, what should I see, getting over my fence, but the 

 bear ! Yes, the old varmint was within a hundred yards 

 of me, and the way he walked over that fence — stranger ; 

 he loomed up like a b/ack mist, he seemed so large, and 

 he walked right towards me. 



" I raised myself, took deliberate aim, and fired. 

 Instantly 'the varmint wheeled, gave a yell, and walked 

 through the fence, as easy as a failing tree would 

 through a cobweb. 



