EVERYDAY ADVENTURES 7 



that made them suspect a coon. The boy with the 

 stick poked it in as far as possible until he felt some- 

 thing soft. 



"I think there's something here," he remarked, 

 poking with all his might. 



He was quite right. The next moment the whole 

 bank of frozen snow suddenly caved out, and there 

 stood a cross and hungry bear, prodded out of his 

 winter sleep by that stick. The boys were up against 

 a bad proposition. The snow was too deep for run- 

 ning, and when it came to climbing — that was Mr. 

 Bear's pet specialty. So they did the only thing left 

 for them to do: they waited. The little one with the 

 stick got behind the big one with the gun, which 

 weapon wavered unsteadily. 



"Now, don't you miss," he said, " 'cause this stick 

 ain't very sharp. " 



Sometimes an attacking bear will run at a man like 

 a biting dog. More often it rises on its haunches and 

 depends on the smashing blows of its mighty arms 

 and steel-shod paws. So it happened in this case. 

 Just before the bear reached the boys, he lifted his 

 head and started to rise. The first boy, not six feet 

 away, aimed at the white spot which most black 

 bears have under their chin, and pulled the trigger. 

 At that close range the heavy charge of number six 

 shot crashed through the animal's throat, making a 

 single round hole like a big bullet, cutting the jugu- 

 lar vein, and piercing the neck vertebrae beyond. 

 The great beast fell forward with hardly a struggle, 

 so close to the boys that its blood splashed on their 



