A hunter's life. 291 



it was opened, in rnslicd the dog, and he and the beai 

 came rolling out directly towards Wable ; who was taken 

 so unexpectedly that he had no time to think what to do ; 

 but, seizing a big laurel that had been burnt half off, and 

 which was barely strong enough to hold him up off the 

 ground, up it he went, and, after succeeding in getting out 

 of reach of the bear, was just beginning to see the fight, 

 as the dog and the bear both rose upon their hind-feet, and 

 accidentally fell against the bush upon which Wable was 

 perched ; when down it came, and the dog, the bear, and 

 the man were all mixed up together among the laurel. 

 Such screams as Wable uttered I never before heard ; and 

 such a frightened bear 1 never saw. The dog, hearing 

 the horrible sounds, let the bear out of his grip; when 

 off the latter ran, at full speed. 



I gazed on Wable until the bear entered the thick laurel, 

 and got out of sight. The dog, in following his track, 

 ran with such force that he struck the blind side of his 

 head against a tree, and as he fell he turned a somerset. 

 He attempted to run back ; but, quickly discovering his 

 error, he took the track, and scampered out of sight. 



Wable, by this time, had become more quiet ; but con- 

 tinued pouring out curses on the bear and the laurel-bush. 

 He cursed the bear for being too strong, and for breaking 

 the bush ; he cursed the bush because it did not grow big- 

 ger ; and he cursed the fire, which had burned the bush, 



and made it so weak that the bear was able to 



break it down. He examined the burnt place, and then 

 put whole blame on the fire, which had dei)rived him of 

 the opportunity of seeing so much fun. 



"But," said he, this is the last time any man shall see 



me in such a scrape as this ; and those who like 



this kin« of fun may freely have it all to themselves ; for 

 I want m more of it." 



