258 A SHOT IN THE DUSK. 



bushes in a dark corner of the thicket, with the intention of 

 there patiently watching, in the hope that the bear might 

 show himself on open ground if he chanced to shift his 

 quarters. By this plan, too, I thought we should be better 

 able to see him against the light outside. The success of our 

 stratagem seemed doubtful, but we could lose nothing by 

 giving it a trial. 



For some time the sounds of cracking branches and rustling 

 leaves were continued at intervals, as each moment the waning 

 light became fainter, until at length I could scarcely discern 

 the sights on the rifle. The fossil, not seeming to care much 

 about such close proximity to Bruin in the gathering dark- 

 ness, was just suggesting the propriety of a stealthy retreat, 

 when we detected the object of his solicitude shambling to- 

 wards us along the outskirts of the thicket. In the dusky 

 gloaming the huge brute loomed even larger than he really 

 was, when he suddenly pulled up within some fifteen yards 

 of us, as if to listen, thereby adding considerably to the dis- 

 quietude of the crouching fossil, who, in smothered whispers, 

 began saying his prayers, interlarding them with ejaculatory 

 suggestions to me to shoot. The brute was so close that 

 he could hardly be missed, even in so bad a light. On re- 

 ceiving the shot he fell flat in his tracks, gave two or three 

 convulsive sobs, and expired. The satisfaction of the fossil 

 was very great as he now proceeded to relieve his pent-up 

 feelings by calling the defunct animal every shocking bad 

 name he could think of, in a manner that was highly enter- 

 taining. 



We left the bear, a very large brown one, as he lay, until 

 next morning, when my companion, who was a medico, made 

 a post-mortem of the carcass with a view to ascertaining the 

 effect of the shell. The results, in this instance, chanced to 

 be so thoroughly effective as to give me a misplaced confi- 

 dence in the infallibility of its destructive powers. The 

 beast's vitals had been literally blown to pieces. 



