134 ACCESSIBLE FIELD SPORTS. 



weighed about two hundred and twenty pounds, and 

 was, in the vicinity where killed, deemed a very large 

 one. 



When in the State of Maine I was called from my 

 writing by the landlord of the small roadside hotel 

 at which I was residing. He informed me that a bear 

 had entered the clearing,* evidently with the intention 

 of attacking his drove of sheep. Seizing my unloaded 

 gun, and hastily charging both barrels with bullets, I 

 rushed down to join him, bootless as I had been sit- 

 ting. From an eminence a few yards from the house 

 we took a survey ; no bear could be seen ; but the timid 

 sheep were huddled in a fence corner, evidently having 

 suffered no ordinary fright. 



With anxious gaze we scanned the enclosure ; every 

 moment a blackened, charred stump, the memento 

 of some giant monarch of the forest, was mistaken for 

 the bear. Again and again our mistake was found out, 

 and a new object was metamorphosed into a Bruin. 

 Ten minutes were thus spent, the flock of sheep became, 

 if possible, more uneasy, when, with sudden energy, 

 they made a simultaneous dash and crossed to the far 

 side of the field ; still no bear was visible, but that he 

 was close at hand was now evident. Loss of time or 

 prolonged suspense began to make us careless ; an 



* Where the forest has "been cut away for cultivation. 



