326 FORTY-FOUR YEARS OP 



up, Haw a bear breaking off the limbs, and throwing them 

 to the ground, with the intention of coming down and 

 eating the nuts, when he had enough for a full meal. 



I stepped toward the tree very cautiously, and had got 

 within shooting distance, when the wind shifted from me. 

 The bear proved to be a female, with three cubs, which 

 were eating the nuts under the tree, as their dam threw 

 them down. The moment the old one caught my scent, 

 she came down on the off side of the tree, ran away 

 through the bushes with her cubs after her, and was out 

 of sight in a few moments, leaving me the lot of chestnuts 

 as the only consolation for being so completely outwitted. 

 I sat down, and gathered the old lady bear's nuts without 

 the least remorse of conscience for robbing the widow 

 and orphans of the food which had been collected with 

 such care. 



In my next hunt I had to depend on myself alone, hav- 

 ing neither my dog nor my own gun, as, the lock having 

 given way, I had sent it to the gunsmith's to be repaired. 

 John McMullen, Mary's brother, had left a small gun with 

 me until he wished to use it, which I took, and went into 

 the hunting ground of the Glades, on a mountain called 

 the Roman Nose. The day turned out to be cold, with 

 snow falling slowly ; and as I knew the deer were all hid 

 in the thickets, I got on the windward side of the moun- 

 tain, in a patch of high weeds, and was standing there, 

 looking carefully about me, when I saw the tall weeds 

 shaking, and something approaching me. I kept my place 

 until I saw a bear running at full gallop, and as he was 

 passing me, I called to him to stop. He obeyed the call, 

 and did stop at a good distance, say sixty or eighty steps, 

 when I fired, and off he ran at full speed. 



Going to his tracks, I saw blood after him, and there- 

 fore followed him until I arrived at the steep side of the 

 mountain, down which he went. Having on a strong pair 



