AND OTHEB SKETCHES 259 



moment. Here was I within forty feet of my * ' Greener, ' ' 

 the left barrel loaded with a heavy charge of buckshot 

 and the right with Number 6, but I knew that the slightest 

 movement on my part would send the bear rushing into 

 the close cover which was within six feet of him, but in 

 less time than it takes to relate it I decided to make an 

 attempt, and with the utmost caution stretched my arm 

 towards the gun. Leaning as far over as possible I 

 finally got my fingers around the barrel and still not the 

 slightest sound by me had warned the bear of my pres- 

 ence, but just when I thought that bear meat and a splen- 

 did robe would crown my day's hunt, the butt of the gun 

 slipped an inch or two, but it made sufficient noise to 

 alarm wary Bruin who, with a grunt that could be heard 

 an acre away, dashed into the thick brush, and though 

 the contents of both barrels were sent after him, only a 

 few drops of blood showed that he had been touched. I 

 and a companion I shortly afterwards met took up the 

 trail, but approaching twilight and a neighboring thick 

 swamp satisfied us of the uselessness of continuing the 

 hunt. 



If it had been my good luck to have followed my usual 

 custom when resting to hold my gun across my knees I 

 could not have failed to score a brilliant wind-up to 

 what had been a disappointing day. 



In the deer hunting season from the first to the fifteenth 

 of November I for several years hunted through this 

 district, but though I and my friends had still-hunted, 

 rifle in hand, through the big woods and swamps for 

 miles around, we never had the good luck to meet Bruin 

 when thoroughly prepared to properly attend to him. 

 We often came across traces showing his presence only 

 a few hours before our arrival, but his cunning was 

 greater than ours, and he managed to keep out of our 

 way. I have often read stories of encounters with bears 

 and the pluck displayed by the hunters who killed them. 

 I accept these stories with many grains of allowance. My 

 own opinion, gained by many years of experience, is that 

 the bear found in Canadian woods is a cowardly brute 



