THE BLACK BEAR. 91 



lost in the river, and I hastened to secure it with the ut- 

 most celerity. I next essayed to reach the shore ; but the 

 branches were so closely entwined that a passage Avas ren- 

 dered almost impossible, and I had to take to the water to 

 pass them, holding myself against the current by clinging 

 to the trunks and boughs, and pushing myself forward with 

 one hand at a time, as I was desirous of keeping my gun 

 from getting wet. 



After a toilsome and tedious effort I secured a foothold 

 on the bottom, and crawled out on the bank, shivering, and 

 as exhausted as a half-drowned rat. Undressing promptly, 

 I wrung my clothes as dry as I could, and, after taking sev- 

 eral good runs in the forest to dispel the chill from which 

 I was suffering, I rehabilitated myself and started toward 

 camp, as I did not know where to seek for other members 

 of the party, not hearing sounds in any direction ; and, to 

 be candid, my dripping garments took away all the ardor 

 of the chase. Scurrying along as fast as the matted shrub- 

 bery would permit me, I was lost to everything but seeking 

 my quarters, when a sudden series of yelps a little to my 

 right startled me into the liveliest state of activity, and into 

 the most intense desire to kill something, if it were only 

 a hare, to appease my disgust at the contretemps that had 

 befallen me. The canine cries began to approach me grad- 

 ually; and knowing by their tones that some large game 

 was afoot, I dodged behind a tree and put myself in readi- 

 ness to give it an unhealthy reception. I was in position 

 only a short time before a large black bear, with mouth 

 open, as if it were suffering from a wound, came teai-ing 

 through the bushes to leeward ; but, catching my wind, it 

 halted abruptly, sniffed the air for a moment or two, then 

 turned to flee, but before it could disappear I put a bul- 

 let into its thigh, and it fell on the ground in a heap, and 

 growling terribly. Before I could fire a second time, a 

 small army of Indian curs were waltzing, grinning, growl- 

 ing, and barking about it, and nipping it on the flanks; but 

 after every successful bite they retreated backward rapidly, 

 or turned tail and bounded away for a short distance. 



