A BEAR IN DIFFICULTY. 309 



one arm, and dropping the other into it, and then into 

 his mouth, like a little negro on a molasses barrel. But 

 this mode of getting at the contents did not seem suffi- 

 ciently expeditious to Little Tommy Horner, who, pre- 

 sently getting up on his feet, inserted his nose in the bar- 

 rel, and then his head. Now a bear's nose is very sharp, 

 and goes through a small place very easily, but does not 

 have the same facility for coming out, owing to the hair 

 and ears being set backward, and the heavy folds of skiii 

 that hang around the neck. In this instance Bruin made 

 the discovery of this difference, and, like the weasel in 

 the flour barrel, soon gave symptoms that he was fast. 

 He began to pull back, but as he pulled the barrel came 

 with hun, until he rolled over on his back, pawing ineffec- 

 tually with his hands at the convex sides of the barrel, 

 which revolved around his head as on a pivot, but would 

 not come off. Mike smiled out aloud, and the negro 

 yelled with laughter. The bear, hearing the sound of 

 our voices, probably increased by the reverberations in 

 the hollow barrel, took fright and ran for the woods, 

 making directly to where we were lying, and carry- 

 ing the cask on his head like a helmet. We could not 

 have shot at that half-barrel, even had we been able to 

 fire our guns, which we were not, from laughter, and 

 therefore scattered right and left as the animal rushed up 

 the hill ; as he crossed the conical peak he lost his foot- 

 hold, and rolled head over heels in our midst. Then picking 

 himself up, he started in the direction he happened to be 

 when he regained his feet, and ran directly into the sea. 



