THE GRAVE OF THE SILENT HUNTER. 203 



might be, neither of us could tell ; for Jabe, as it undoubtedly 

 was, must surely have been stretched upon the ground in 

 some hiding-place. I laughed heartily. 



" Why Charlie, that fellow is frightened out of his wits by 

 some ghost story, we must get along without him !" 



" More like the bear has scared him into a fit the spindle- 

 shanked hill-tyke !" growled Charlie, who was excessively 

 wroth for a few minutes, but whose risibles could not with- 

 stand the slightest allusion on my part to that dolorously timid 

 " too-oot ! toot !" We accordingly went to work, in despair 

 of any assistance from the redoubtable Jabe, and prepared 

 our meat for transportation homeward. We had reached our 

 horses, and while engaged in dividing the burden between 

 them, who should come crawling cautiously towards us, out 

 of the wood, but our gentleman of the asthmatic horn. As 

 soon as Charlie saw him, he staggered in convulsions of 

 laughter, and letting his burden fall, rolled over and over 

 upon the leaves, scarcely able to articulate more than a word 

 or two at a time. 



" Jabe ! Jabe ! the bear ! the bear ! run Jabe 

 the bear ! what'll uncle Jake say ! Jabe ! run Jabe ! 

 the bear!" 



Jabe, in the meantime, was very cooly examining the bear, 

 while his eyes fairly glistened at the sight of the fat, heavy 

 hams. 



" Gosh ! he's a whopper ! Killed jest sich a old 'un down 

 in the truck-patch back er uncle Jake's, 'bout this time last 

 winter. I was out choppin', and he com'd snuffin' at a hog- 

 bone I'd brung out for a bite, and didn't seem to mind me, 

 so I stood still, and he kinder come too close at last, and I let 

 him hev it across the nose ! one lick turned him up, sir, 

 sure as a gun !" 



I now remembered having heard uncle Jake refer to this feat 

 of Jabe' but it had been done incidentally, and in such a mat- 

 ter-of-course sort of a way, that I had not noticed it specially 



