THE BLACK BEAK. 267 



have the negroes who accompanied him show their axes to 

 old Kate. It was enough; she was seen no more until she 

 had treed the ' Possum or ' Coon. Did he want to hunt tur- 

 keys, of which there were numerous flocks in the surround- 

 ing hills, he had only to show Kate a turkey before leaving 

 the house, take neither horn nor any other dog along, and 

 he would be assured Kate ran nothing but a wild turkey 

 that day. 



Our party were all smokers. Volumes of smoke were issu- 

 ing from the door of the tent as one after another related 

 past experiences in Bear-hunting, and thus we whiled away 

 the greater part of the night. Little John was an eloquent 

 preacher, who loved to hunt as well as he did to preach; 

 Taylor was beginning to study for the ministry; Phillips 

 was, I believe, a member of the church, while the only sinner 

 in the party was myself. Prayers were finally said, and we 

 had just lain down to sleep, when the sky darkened, the 

 wind roared, and a perfect Texas ' ' norther ' ' set in. Rain 

 fell in big drops; then it turned to snowing and sleeting. A 

 more sudden change I never witnessed. The shivering dogs 

 crawled into the tents, and piled or cuddled on the bed- 

 clothes, in spite of all our efforts to keep them out. 



At no period of my life do I remember a colder and more 

 disagreeable night. As to sleeping, it was out of the ques- 

 tion until tired nature gave way, and we sank into fitful 

 and unrestful naps. 



About the break of day we were roused by the whining 

 of old Kate. After we found it impossible to keep out the 

 dogs, they had been allowed to stay in the tent, and the 

 flap had been pinned down too tight for them to get out. 

 Howell got up, and remarked: "Some varmint must be 

 passing by, from the signs old Kate is making, and I believe 

 it is a Bear." 



Opening the flap of the tent, he let her out, and gave her 

 a stirring "hie on. 1 ' But she 'needed none, for, with a 

 bound and a note that told us plainly it was a Bear, she 

 rushed down the road, with all the pack at her heels. Not 

 a hundred yards out, the whole pack gave tongue. It was an 



