THE BLACK BEAR. 245 



tiling but an angry expression. Indeed, it looked 

 so tame, that I should have felt tempted to make its 

 acquaintance, if an accidental gape as it stretched 

 itself leisurely among the branches had not, by 

 exhibiting a fearful array of fangs, reminded me of 

 the desirability of ridding the neighbourhood of so 

 dangerous a foe. What was I to do ? A shot from 

 my rifle would bring the Red Skins back upon me, 

 and I dreaded them even more than I did the 

 panther. Altogether, I thought the most prudent 

 plan was to climb up still higher, so as to place 

 myself in such a position of vantage that I could 

 only be attacked from below, and would dominate 

 over my adversary. This I soon accomplished, and 

 took ni}' place among the upper branches of the oak, 

 where I was perfectly well hidden by the leafy 

 screen which surrounded me. 



As the neighbourhood of the panther grew very 

 embarrassing, I determined to try and get rid of its 

 presence at all risks, and I thought it best to begin 

 with gentle means. I took a buck shot out of my 

 game bag and threw it towards the animal. It 

 struck the leaves just over the panther's head and 

 made it look around with an expression of consider- 

 able surprise. It could not see me, however, and 

 had no suspicion of my presence. I took another 

 shot and pitched that towards the panther. This 

 time I hit the branch on which it was lying and 

 startled the creature again ; but still it could not see 



