A NEW YEAR'S CALL. 



E. H. BLOOD. 



A ranchman living in a lonely cabin in 

 North Park, Colorado, had just returned 

 from over the range, bringing with him his 

 winter's supplies, and after storing them 

 carefully away in his cabin he went to visit 

 a friend who lived some miles down the 

 valley. He celebrated the New Year with 

 his fellow ranchman, and again returned 

 home. 



As he rode up to the house he noticed 

 large tracks in the snow. The door, which 

 he had securely closed, stood wide open, 

 and there was a general air of life about 

 the place. Approaching cautiously he heard 

 loud growling and snarling, coming from 

 within the cabin. Suddenly there appeared 

 in the doorway a full grown cinnamon bear. 

 In an instant another, though smaller one, 

 stood beside it, and from the noise in the 

 cabin there seemed to be a family gather- 

 ing. The ranchman's horse became unman- 

 ageable with fright, and the owner with- 

 drew some distance, where he stonned to 

 think what he should do. His guns were in 

 the house, and he dared not approach too 

 near, so he decided to return to his neigh- 

 bor's for help. 



When the men returned, some hours 

 later, armed, and accompanied by 2 dogs, 

 the bears had gone. From an examination 

 of their tracks it was found that there were 

 2 full grown bears and 3 cubs. 



Entering the cabin, the men beheld a sight 

 both tragic and humorous. A cyclone could 

 scarcely have caused more destruction. The 

 bears had evidently expected refreshments, 

 and finding none set out for them, decided 

 to help themselves. A sack of flour which 



had stood in one corner of the room had 

 first attracted their attention. Tearing it 

 open they had frolicked and rolled in the 

 flour until it was strewn all over the place. 

 Rice, tea, coffee, potatoes and sugar were 

 mixed and scattered about in an indescrib- 

 able manner. A side of bacon which had 

 been suspended from the rafters had been 

 torn down and partially devoured, and the 

 molasses jug was empty. 



On a rude bedstead in another part of 

 the room- had been the pride of the ranch- 

 man, a last relic of civilization, brought 

 with him from his home in the East — a 

 feather bed ; but it was no longer a feather 

 bed, for the feathers floated gayly about 

 the room, and the bears had apparently had 

 great sport with them. 



At last, however, they had found what 

 must have proved a rather painful surprise, 

 a bag of cayenne pepper. This was too 

 much for even a bear's sense of humor, and 

 doubtless ended the feast. 



As the owner of the cabin gazed about 

 him at the wholesale destruction of his win- 

 ter's supplies he determined to have some 

 bear meat, so he and his neighbor set out 

 with the dogs to follow the trail. They 

 finally found one of the old bears and 2 

 cubs, the others having wandered off in 

 another direction. 



The hunters succeeded in killing the old 

 bear and one of the cubs ; the other escaped. 



The dead bears presented an amusing ap- 

 pearance. In their fur still lingered a mix- 

 ture of molasses, feathers and flour ; enough, 

 the ranchman said, to last him the rest of 

 the winter. 



THE BEARS' PICNIC. 



GEO. A. WILLIAMS, M.D. 



Ole Mr. Bear, take off his coat, 

 Mighty glad he kotch dem shoat; 

 One shoat's big an' de odder one's little, 

 Ole Mis' Bear, git out yo' kittle. 



Young Mr. Bear, jes play dat tune, 

 Hop light Lou an' ole Zip Coon ; 

 All dem little bears a dancin', 

 Ole Mis' Bear she keep on prancin'. 



Swing you' pardners, raise yo' han', 

 Keep yo' eye on de Voodoo man; 

 Balance all an' take yo' fling, 

 Right shasay an' pigeon wing. 



Ole Mr. Fox he look so sly, 

 Brudder Rabbit wink his eye; 

 We done fool ole farmer Jones, 

 Steal dem shoat an' pick dem bones. 



De chipmunk whistle an' de blue jay sing, 

 Jes' bring yo' fiddle an' come agin ; 

 Ole Mr. Bear done make his call, 

 Bes' respec's an' good night all. 



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