(S pioneer life; or, 



down the hole. In a short time a bear made his 

 appearance at the surface. The men drove it back, 

 but it still endeavored to force its way out as often 

 as they kicked it back. I heard their shouts, and 

 ran to them, leaving two others behind with the gun. 

 Soon after I arrived the bear retreated to his cave, 

 and we listened, expecting to hear a struggle between 

 him and the dogs. We were not disappointed, for 

 in about ten minutes we heard the barking of the 

 dogs, and soon one of them rushed out as fast as 

 possible. Very soon another followed, and then the 

 two others came bounding out. The bear stuck his 

 nose again out of the hole, and I jumped upon his 

 head with both feet, knocking him back, and called 

 to the men to give me a* club. While speaking I 

 observed that Francis had an axe upon his shoulder, 

 but was so much excited that he was not aware of it. 

 The bear once more made his appearance, and I 

 asked Francis to give the axe to me. But he called 

 to me to stand out of the way, and giving the bear a 

 glancing stroke, the axe slipped from his hands and 

 went rattling down the hole We then kicked the 

 bear back, and kept him there, until the rest of 

 the party came up with the gun. Upon trial I found 

 that it was wet, and would not go off. I dried the 

 pan and a second time attempted to shoot, but with 

 no better success. I then picked out the caked 

 powder, put some priming into the pan, and told the 

 men to stand back. The bear soon came to the top 

 of the hole, but paused upon seeing so many of us 

 in the vicinitv. I fired into his mouth, and the 



