276 BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA. 



the dogs, but both barrels of his gun missed fire, and before 

 he could pick powder into the tubes and recap, the Bear 

 made off; that he succeeded again in cutting it off from 

 going up the river, and got a shot, but his horse was so 

 frightened by the sudden appearance of the Bear that he 

 missed. However, he accomijlished his object, and drove 

 the Bear back toward the Ouachita, where it was met by 

 Littlejohn, whose shot broke a fore leg. 



"Tell us, Parson," I said to Littlejohn, " why did you 

 and Taylor cross the river before going down as far as the 

 ford?" 



"Oh, that was because we heard the pack fighting on 

 the opposite bank, and supposing the Bear was at bay, 

 Howell and I could not stand it, but were compelled to go 

 to the relief of the dogs. By the time we crossed, the Bear 

 had moved on, and we followed on the tracks, as fast as we 

 could, through the big cane-brake. While I was making 

 my way through it, I came across a fresh track of a large 

 Bear, and following it a short distance, I saw its bed, where 

 it had bedded for the winter. It was a much larger track 

 than that of the one we have killed." 



"That is glorious news," remarked Phillips. " We will 

 kill that Bear to-morrow, in less than half an hour after we 

 start it. As certain as we are alive this night, that Bear 

 will return to its bed. It has only been frightened by the 

 dogs, and, I doubt not, it did not go a quarter of a mile be- 

 fore it stopped, and finding the dogs had gone out of hearing, 

 it has returned, and is at this moment sucking its paws and 

 thanking its stars that the dogs did not get after it." 



As Phillips was our leader on this hunt, we resolved to 

 follow his plan the next morning, which was to send the 

 wagon and negroes to the Camden road, and direct them 

 to go to Nix's place, near the Cypress Creek bottom; for 



Colonel A to go with them, and to get Nix to show him 



the hollow leading from the road to the Ouachita bottom, 

 and for both to take stands on the run Bears usually made 

 in crossing from the Ouachita across the hills to the junc- 

 tion of Big Tulip and the Cypress Creek. 



