102 NEIGHBORS WITH CLAWS AND HOOFS. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

 HOW I KILLED A BEAR 



1. So many conflicting accounts have appeared about 

 my casual encounter with an Adirondack bear, last sum- 

 mer, that, in justice to the public, to myself, and to the 

 bear, it is necessary to make a plain statement of the facts. 

 Besides, it is so seldom I have occasion to kill a bear, that 

 the celebration of the exploit may be excused. 



2. The encounter was accidental on both sides. I was 



The Slack Sear. 



not hunting for a bear, and I have no reason to suppose 

 that a bear was looking for me. The fact is, that we were 

 both out blackberrying, and met by chance the usual 

 way. There is among the Adirondack visitors always a 

 great deal of conversation about bears a general expres- 



