CHAPTER II. 



BKUIN THE BEAK. 



"As regards Bears, you can teach 'em to do interestin' things; but 

 they're onreliable." ARTEMTJS WARD. 



NCE only have I dreamed of hunt- 

 ing the uncouth bear. I was 

 proceeding from New Orleans 

 to Washington and stayed for 

 a day or two en route in the 

 heart of the Alleghany moun- 

 tains. It was winter, and a 

 thin mantle of snow on the 

 ground served to enhance 

 the beauty of the mountain 

 scenery. Our quarters were 

 of the roughest; but sitting 

 with our pipes and glasses 

 before a stove, heated almost 

 to redness, my companion and I forgot the bitter cold 

 without. 



Two Americans joined us in our chat, and one of them, 

 a wiry little hunter, discoursed of the buffalo he had shot 

 on the open prairie, and of marvellous adventures with 

 the bear. He spoke of lean and savage rangers, who. 



