A GREAT DAY FOR TALKING. 91 



" He sure fooled the old man." 



And so the changes were rung on all the exclama- 

 tions the crowd could think of. The talk continued 

 on this subject until dinner was .over, and then as a 

 fine, drizzling rain was falling, conversation drifted 

 into other channels, while the men crowded around 

 the big fireplace. Harvey started the ball by laughing 

 at Fly's hunt after a bear. 



" When you and Brown took those two big bears 

 out of the country and told of the eleven others you 

 had seen, these fellows up here thought you didn't 

 know a thing about hunting or you would have got 

 the whole lot. What they know about hunting bear 

 or anything else I don't know, but from the way they 

 talked you would have thought the woods were full 

 of bear-hunters. Fly, Beaty, Levette, and some others 

 got up a big bear-hunt, and from the preparations 

 they made one would have supposed they were going 

 to have all the game in the woods. They were each 

 going to have a bear-skin overcoat, and Rhea and 

 me were each going to have a skin apiece for rugs. 

 They borrowed every old shooting-iron on the place 

 except that old cap-and-ball pistol of mine and started 

 out. They wouldn't take provisions with them, for 

 they said it was a mighty poor hunter that couldn't 

 kill his own meat. They all 'lowed that the pro- 

 fessor was a good deer-hunter, but he didn't know a 

 little bit about bear. As they pulled out up the hill, 

 Fly he hollered back to Rhea and said: 'When you 

 see us coming down the mountain put the skillet on 

 with plenty of grease, for we'll have bear-liver for 

 supper. ' 



