JAUNTS IN THE JUNGLE. 33 



of the firm in a very asthmatical state ; another, 

 rather worse, soon follows; till the old dowager, 

 finding her offspring getting smaller and smaller by 

 degrees, condescends to look after them, and affords 

 us a chance of avenging the indignity of the 

 morning. 



She no sooner perceives her intruders at such close 

 quarters, than she is on her hind legs in an instant, 

 dancing for all the world like a man in that execrable 

 " pas seul" in " La Pastorale," and making straight 

 up to the nearest person, which I will suppose is your- 

 self, fortunate reader ! she is soon within four or five 

 feet of your gun's muzzle. 



Now put in your " one, two," as Mr. Jackson 

 would have said. 



Bravo ! right through the heart ! and a noble 

 animal to boot ; six feet from stem to stern. 



Reader, that skin is yours. The next time we go 

 on a bear excursion together, let me have a chance. 



