A hunter's li 1 f k 229 



ttiid seemed to die away by degrees, until all was again 

 quiet. I supposed then, and yet think, that it was caused 

 by two old male panthers, which had met and got into a 

 fight ; and being of the cat si)ecies, they make a similar 

 noise, only much stronger and coarser. But I cannot say 

 for certain what animal made the noise, because, having 

 but one dog fit for action in the morning, and the place 

 where the fight occurred the previous night being in a 

 dense laurel thicket, I concluded to let the beasts alone, if 

 they would keep away from me ; so I did not attempt to 

 investigate the matter. 



My dog being still unable to stand, when I was ready 

 to start home for help, I ate my breakfast, and started ofi", 

 leaving him with the bear. He cried piteously when I 

 left him, which made me feel sorry for him ; but I walked 

 fast, and presently heard a turkey gobbler, when I imitated 

 the cackle of a hen turkey, and as he came running to finu 

 her, I shot him. As soon as I fired, the lame dog came 

 to where I was, but as he refused to follow me, I left him 

 again by himself, to do the best he could. 



I picked up the gobbler and went home, and in the 

 afternoon the dog returned. He was bitten from the loins 

 to the neck, and would have been killed had he not been 

 very fat ; for when the bear tried to bite him, the hide and 

 fat would slip from between his tusks, and they would pass 

 over the back-bone without injuring it. In that way he 

 escaped being killed. It was a full mouth before he could 

 hunt again, by which time my attention was directed en- 

 tirely to the deer. 



In those days I lived some eight or ten miles from the 

 Green Glades, the grass of which I used to cut and make 

 into hay on the g»v/dnd, take my cattle to it in the fail, 

 and leave them there until spring, by which time they 

 would be in good order ; and the cutting and curing of the 

 hay afforded i s a fine frolic. I used to take two sons with 

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