BRUIN IN A CAVE. 163 



while the corners of his mouth looked more drawn 

 down than usual. His conversational powers, which 

 were always extremely limited, appeared to have 

 deserted him altogether ; and all his actions were 

 slow and measured. I verily believe that while one 

 of these fits was on him he would have walked into 

 the very jaws of death rather than renounce his 

 purpose, or admit himself to be in the smallest 

 degree wrong. 



I had already had some experience of the diffi- 

 culty of getting a bear out of a cave ; an adventure 

 which through the merest chance did not terminate 

 with the death of one of my friends engaged with 

 me in the undertaking. Bruin, when in the shelter of 

 his cavern-retreat, generally defies all attempts made 

 for his destruction, and often retaliates with fearful 

 interest upon his aggressors. Any lad who knows how 

 to handle a gun, and keep cool, may shoot a bear 

 in the open, but to grope your way into the dark 

 recesses of a cavern the height, width, surface, and 

 length of which you know nothing about and there 

 struggle to the death with an animal of almost 

 unequalled strength, is an act of rashness that nearly 

 amounts to madness. In such a case, a miss or 

 hang-fire must result in serious consequences to the 

 aggressor. I therefore sat down to wash out my gun, 

 and while preparing a limb of brush for 'a wash-rod, I 

 saw, as I cast an occasional furtive glance at my com- 

 panion, that my proceedings did not please him, and 

 that before long he would let his tongue loose. 



