THE BLACK BEAR. 
725 
SACKING A LUMBER CAMP. 
always proved successful. It is unpleasant, on 
returning from a journey, to find your house 
surrounded by the neighbors armed with old 
muskets and pitchforks, the windows broken, 
the gardens trodden down, your family impris- 
oned in the dining-room, and to be told by 
your man-servant, who has prudently kept 
outside of the house, that the pet bear, in a 
state of ferocity, is in possession. Neverthe- 
less, if one is willing to endure that sort of 
thing, a vast amount of amusement can be 
got out of a tame bear. 
I really think that Bruin possesses the sense 
of humor; at all events his actions point 
that way, and there is no doubt that he is 
extremely cunning and observing. I once 
had an English friend visiting me, who 
played the flute. He was in the habit of 
marching up and down, while playing, near 
a tame bear I had at the time. The bear 
had a piece of stick about two feet long, 
which he tossed about for amusement. After 
a time, he came to handle the stick very 
much as my fiiend did his flute. This an- 
noyed my sensitive friend, and in revenge he 
teased the bear with uncouth noises. Bruin 
sniffed and whined, and waited his oppor- 
tunity for delivering a tremendous blow with 
his paw at his enemy, whose tall hat was 
knocked completely over his eyes. He es- 
caped being scalped by dropping flat and 
rolling out of the reach of the bear. This 
bear spent much of his time in the tree to 
which he was chained, and when climbing 
usually got his chain twisted over and under 
the branches in a most intricate manner, but 
never failed to take out every turn as he 
descended. A friend who owned a tame bear 
told me that, for a long time, he could not 
account for the mysterious way in which the 
poultry disappeared. Observing, at different 
times, a good many feathers around Bruin's 
pole, he began to suspect that the bear was 
the culprit. Close watching confirmed his sus- 
picions. When Bruin thought he was unob- 
served, he would seize any unfortunate hen or 
chicken within his reach and devour it ; but if 
any one approached before he could complete 
the meal, he would sit upon his prey until the 
danger of discovery had passed. He was 
betrayed, at last, by the cackling of an old 
hen, that he had failed to silence. 
