FOREST LIFE. 57 



ployed dance to the tune of " Midget's meadow-hay jig ;" and 

 when no longer able to resist the earnest invitation to rub and 

 scratch, which their irritating bite holds out, down drop the poles, 

 hay and all ! Ah ! let him who has experienced the irritation, 

 and the relief of furious friction, tldnk — I'm sure he may not 

 pen it. 



But, notwithstanding the labor and annoyances of meadow life, 

 there are pastimes and adventures to be met with. A shot now 

 and then at some stray deer who may chance to stroll upon the 

 meadow to graze ; the hooking of beautiful trout, pickerel, and 

 other delicious pan-fish, afford agreeable relief from ennui; while 

 the spoils of the forest and the brook afford most agreeable changes 

 of diet. Here, also, very frequently are skirmishes had with the 

 common black bear. If Bruin is not intentionally pugnacious, 

 he is really meddlesome ; nay, more, a downright trespasser — a 

 regular thief — an out-and-out "no-government" animal, who, 

 though neither profane nor yet immoral, still, without apostolic- 

 al piety, would have " all things common." These peculiar traits 

 of character secure to him the especial attention of mankind, and 

 ever make him the object of attack. Though formidable as an 

 enemy, it is hard to allow him to pass, even if he be civilly in- 

 clined, without direct assault. On one occasion, while two men 

 were crossing a small lake in a skiff, on their return from the 

 meadows, where they had been putting up hay, they discovered 

 a bear swimming from a point of land for the opposite Bhore. 

 As usual in such cases, temptation silenced prudential remon- 

 strance ; so, changing their course, they gave chase. The craft 

 being Light, they gained last upon the bear, who exerted himself 

 to the utmost to gain the shore. But, finding himself an une- 

 qual match in the race, he turned upon his pursuers and swam 

 to meet them. One of the men, a short, thick-set, dare-devil 

 sort of a fellow, seized an ax. and the moment, the hear came up, 

 inflicted a Mow upon his head which seemed to make but a 



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