BEARDING GRIZZLY. 281 



the road split, one passage goin' straight on an' 

 t'other 'n goin' off to one side. 



" 'Twur hard to tell which way to take ; but arter a 

 leetle speculation I concluded to foller right ahead an' 

 right that wur, I reckon ! In two minutes more, in 

 scroogin' round a corner, I kem bang upon an all-fired 

 big b'ar 'ithin three feet o' Plumcentre's muzzle ! 

 Boyees, I seed at half a glimp that b'ar wur a grizzly ! 



" At fust the varmint wur dozin' sound enuff; but he 

 wur rolled up in sich a tangle that 'twur hard to say 

 which wur head an' which wur tail. Anyways, afore 

 I hed much time to find out, the b'ar he riz up his 

 head, an' you'd better bleeve the start he gev wur a 

 caution. 



" His leetle peepers wur blinded wi' the light, an' he 

 kep' blinkin' an' starin' while I sot down the candle an' 

 got Plumcentre ready. 



" 'Twa'n't a long shot, you bet ! But when I pulled the 

 trigger I thort all creation busted up all round ! The 

 n'ize wur dreadful in sich a confined place; but it 

 'twa'n't that skeert this coon. I hed hardly heerd 

 the report when the b'ar wi' a roar med at me. The 

 candle wur out, an' the varmint tore over me, a'most 

 squeezin' my innards out, as thur wa'n't room fur two 

 in the passage. Wai, fellurs, I felt as ef every bone in 

 my body wur broke ; an' as fur my old phisog, I thort 

 it wur clean ground off me agin the bottom o' the cave. 

 The b'ar wur somewhur behint me, as I cud hear him 

 snortm like all creation; but I wur fortunate,! guess, that 



