Bear- Hunting in the South. 71 



of their leader ; but the track was cold, and every nose was busy 

 smelling among the leaves, trying to unravel its mystic wind- 

 ings. We rode slowly along ; old Beargrease made a circle, and 

 struck the trail farther ahead. The old dog seemed to know he 

 had solved the problem this time, for, sitting upon his haunches, 

 he raised his head, and uttered his prolonged cry — which was to 

 us a note of exquisite joy. Bravo, Granger, and twenty more 

 joined in the chorus, and slowly, but surely and steadily, they 

 moved along on the trail. " More sign ! " shouted old Asa, 

 presently ; " here's his stepping-path," and he pointed to a path 

 made by the bear as he passed to and fro from the canebrake. 

 Here he explained to Rogers that the path was made by a habit the 

 bear has of always putting his feet in precisely the same tracks ; this 

 habit is often taken advantage of, and a trap is set in his path, or a 

 gun is placed so as to kill or mortally wound him. 



"And this one, I can see by his signs, is a big fat old he," added 

 old Asa. 



" Now, look here, old fellow," replied Rogers, " don't test my 

 credulity too far. I would like to know how you can tell a fat bear 

 from a lean bear, or a he bear from a she bear, when you have 

 never seen it." 



" Little boy," replied Asa, while a benevolent expression mocked 

 the gay humor in his clear blue eye, "your education has been sadly 

 neglected ; book-1'arnin' may be very useful in town, but one grain 

 of common sense is worth a bushel of college diplomas in the swamps. 

 Now listen and l'arn wisdom ; I know this is a fat bar, because his 

 hind toe marks do not reach the fore ones ; had he been poor, they 

 would well-nigh have overlapped." 



" But how do you know it is a he bear, and a big he besides ? " 



" The Lord pity your ignorance, child ! don't you see whar he 

 writ it up on that hackberry ? " 



" Well," replied Roger, " you will have to interpret it ; I can see 

 nothing but meaningless scratches up there on the tree ; what do 

 you make of it ? " 



" Look close," replied Asa, '* and you will see the tallest marks 

 are the freshest; a young b'ar, feeling very large all by himself, 

 wrote his name thar first ; the way he does it, he places his back 

 ag'in' the tree and, turning his head, bites the bark as high as he can 



