152 CEUISINGS UN THE CASCADES. 



my gun, but he didn't stir. An' when I found he 

 was real dead I took my knife and cut off one of his 

 claws, an' then I went back to camp, the biggest 

 feelin' old cuss you ever seed. 



4 'Well, arter while the other fellers they all come 

 in, lookin' mighty blue, for they hadn't any of 'em 

 killed a thing, an' when I told 'em I'd killed a bear, 

 they wouldn' t believe it till I showed 'em the claw. 

 An' then they wouldn' t believe it, neither, for they 

 thought I' d bought the claw of some Injin. And they 

 wouldn't believe it at all till they went out with me 

 and seed the bear and helped skin 'im, and cut 'im 

 up, and pack 'im into camp. An' they was the dog- 

 gondest, disappointedest lot of fellers you ever seed, 

 for we hunted five days longer, an' nary one of 'em 

 got to kill a bear nor even see one. They thought I 

 was the poorest hunter and the biggest coward in the 

 lot, but I was the only one that killed a bear that 

 clip." 



