NEWFOUNDLAND IN THE 'SEVENTIES 227 



for a second to see what was the matter, away 

 went " Mouin " down the mountain side at a 

 most surprising pace. " Come on," yelled Joe. 

 " Try and head him off ; if he once gets down 

 into the timber he is gone sure." And away we 

 went after him as hard as we could tear. How 

 Joe jumped and bounded and yelled, and how the 

 bear did put out down that hill-side ! He seemed 

 to go twice as fast on three legs as any other 

 animal ever went on four. Sometimes Joe would 

 head the bear and turn him, sometimes the bear 

 would make a drive at Joe and turn him, which 

 would give me time to get up ; and so we went 

 on yelling and whooping and plunging through the 

 tangled matted junipers, the bear doubling and 

 twisting, and sometimes charging us, but always 

 struggling gallantly to gain the shelter of the 

 woods. We had the best of Bruin as long as we 

 were on the bare ground near the top, but when 

 we got among the junipers growing horizontally 

 like creepers along the ground, not rising more 

 than three or four feet above the surface, but with 

 stems as thick as your leg, and interlacing branches 

 as hard and springy as steel, then the bear got so 

 much the best of us, that we feared we should 

 lose him. Now and then I would get a shot, but 



