BRUIN'S MISTAKE. 295 



the hull kit o' 'em at the shanty, which wur about a 

 quarter o' a mile or so away, as I expected to be back 

 in five minutes, not meanin' to go far. I guess the b'ar 

 seed how I wur sarcumstanced, fur he kem at me as 

 hard as he cud go. I hed heerd o' hunters foolin' b'ars 

 into a notion they wur dead, an' seein' as I wur jest as 

 good as dead m'self, I thort I'd try the trick. 'Twur as 

 good to be chawed lyin' down as standin' up, an' so I 

 fell stiff, 'ithout a kick or a stir, afore that b'ar's nose. 

 I expected to feel his claws or teeth tearin' me open 

 every second ; but, f ellurs, he didn't touch me hardly. 

 He sniffed round me ; an' through my eyelids, which I 

 had a'most closed, I cud see him a-sittin' up an' goin' 

 on so clumsy an' funny wi' his fore legs, that only it 

 wa'n't a larfin' matter I'd a larfed outright. Arter a 

 leetle bit o' dum play the varmint let hisself down on 

 his legs agin, an' caught a holt o' me by the shoulder, 

 carryin' me as easy as a feather. I wur took in this 

 way about a hundred yards, when the b'ar let me go, 

 an' scraped sand an' dirt over me till I wur covered a 

 foot deep. I thort I'd never be able to hold in fur 

 coughin' an' wheezin' when the crittur wur heapin' the 

 rubbish atop o' me. But I guess a fellur never knows 

 what he kin do till a grizzly's got a holt o' him. I lay 

 dead thur fur a full hour 'ithout darin' to stir hand or 

 foot. 0' coorse I cudn't see a bit, bein' covered up wi' 

 airth an' sand ; but at last I began to get tired o' the 

 bisness, an' took a heave, throwin' off the stuff. Thur 

 wa'n't a sight o' the b'ar to be seed ! I didn't stay thur 



