A hunter's lifb. 205 



CHAPTER VIII. 



•"ahrH up Land — Difficulty about Titles — Hunts on Meadow Mountain for Bears — 

 Kills two Bears and a Panther — Exciting Fight with a Bear — Finds a Deer, killed 

 by a Panther — Pursues, and, after a long chase, kills him. in the act of springing 

 on the Hunters— Kating opossums for Ducks — Takes a Hunt with two compa- 

 nions — Breaks his IJifle. but kills a Buar and a Buck with the broken gun — Sends 

 the meat home — Finds tracks of four Bears — Kills three of them — Four friends 

 come to Hunt — Off to the Woods — Pair off. leaving Meshach to liunt alone — 

 They select their own ground — Browning finds Bears playing — Kills two — Hunts 

 on, and kills three more; making five Bears in about three hours — The company 

 ■)tay three days longer, and kill no Bears, and but little other game. 



My mill being in full operation, and having grain and 

 many other things for sale, I amassed a considerable sum 

 of money, and began to buy land adjoining my little farm. 

 There was a fine block of soldiers' lots that were liable to 

 an escheat warrant, on one of which lived a man by the 

 name of Henry Lewis, who, hearing that I was going to 

 Annapolis, came to me to know if I intended to take those 

 lots. I told him that I did. He then asked me to loan 

 him the money to secure one hundred acres. I told him 

 that I could not lend him the money, but thai I would wil- 

 lingly do anything I could to help him to secure the land. 



" Then," said he, "you take all the land, and I will buy 

 one hundred acres from you." 



"What will you give me," I asked, "if I take it, pay 

 for it, take out the patent, and make you such a deed as 1 

 have ? " 



He replied, " I will give you two hundred dollars." 



"Lewis," said I, "that is more than I will ask. You 

 shall have a hundred acres for fifty dollars ; and that will 

 18 



