116 FORTY-FOUR YEARS OP 



I stripped the skin from the legs of the bear, which 1 

 cut off close to the body ; and, tying the loose ends of the 

 skin together, I put my head and one arm through the 

 loop thus made, by which the bear was securely fastened 

 on my back. In this manner I could travel pretty well, 

 and continued on till I struck the road leading from Col. 

 Lynn's to Cumberland. It being then about twelve 

 o'clock, I proceeded up the road as fast as I could walk, 

 though I was frequently obliged to stop and rest, for my 

 load did not weigh less than from eighty to a hundred 

 pounds. The Colonel seeing me coming toward his house 

 with my load, met me at the stile, and called to a black 

 man to have his horse saddled by the time I had eaten my 

 dinner. 



I went in the house with my host, to whom I related 

 the details of my hunt, and of the disagreeable night I 

 had passed. He seemed to appreciate my sufferings, for 

 he had himself once been lost seven days in a dense wil- 

 derness. There was part of a roasted turkey on the table, 

 and Mrs. Lynn had the first joint of the leg cooked in 

 some way that I knew nothing of. She called it the tur- 

 key's devil, and asked me if I would have a piece of her 

 deviled turkey. Not knowing what it was, and thinking 

 that if I took it I might not be able to eat it, I refused it, 

 saying, " Mrs. Lynn, I had devil enough yesterday and 

 last night, and I don't want any more to-day." The two 

 old people enjoyed a hearty laugh at my expense, and I 

 got out of the scrape. 



By the time I had finished my meal, the horse was at 

 the stile ; when the old gentleman put my load on the ani- 

 mal's back, and we soon arrived at my own home. The 

 good old man, after hearing Mary relate her many fears 

 and conjectures, and enjoying our happy meeting, mounted 

 his liffhtfooted horse a«d rode off like the wind ; leaving 



