July s, 1902.^ 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
)*-e?5'b5r each told in HTrn to tfH^ at tlip. very first oppor^ 
liUTi'ty. r was raled as a blufliiig pretetulor. Some saict 
that if ever T got near enougli to a hoar to be i.-lciscd by 
it, it would not catcli mc in a hundred years. There were 
others who thought differently, holding that Iny condition 
of body would be so paralytical that I would be caught 
without any chase at all. A few exchanged winks and 
said nothing. All agreed upon the point that I was prop- 
. eriy built for sprinting or tree climbing, when in the right 
Miood, which would be at its best consequent to a certain 
incentive. I had some staunch friends who averred that 
a singed cat is better than it looks; that no one can tell 
how far a toad can jump by its mere shape. 
A train of circumstances brought about an opportunity 
to capture the bear's fleece. I at that time was a travel- 
ing salseman for a St. Louis firm. We had a customer 
in eastern Louisiana. He had defaulted three times in 
the payment of a note which had been twice liberally- 
extended. The firm thought that I could promote their 
interests by calling on him in their behalf. I journeyed 
thitherto. He proved to be the very pink of courtesy and 
chivalrous hospitality, which adornments I have found to 
be a trait of all true gentlemen everywhere, 
I presented to him my letter of introduction, which 
read as follows : 
St. Louis, Jan. 5. — M. Jean Mentcur, Tarantula Ridge, 
La. Honored Sir : This will serve to introduce to you 
our Major Reuben Lh-sussen, who, owing to delicate 
health, is visiting your section of country to sniff its fra- 
grant air and taste its limpid waters as the best of restora- 
tives. We requested him to favor you with a call for 
the purpose of talking over the trifle, $5,000, which we 
have the honor to carry on our books to your debit. Any 
attentions which you may extend to our Major Ursussen 
we will consider as being extended to us. Hoping that 
you will continue to esteem us as worthy of your con- 
sideration, we are, dear sir, 
Your humble servants, 
LIarry^ Willie, Eddie & Co. 
I arrived at the domicile of M. Menteur in the middle 
of ;i pleasant: afternoon, and was fortunate to find him at 
i-.omej or rather he was sitting on the gallery of hia 
Southern home, where the shade was thickest and the 
halmy breezes oftenest fanned his calm brow and tossed 
liis long locks. 
He read my letter with polite attention, rose, extended 
his hand in confirmation of his first welcome, and in- 
sisted that I must be his guest during my stay in that 
region. He observed that my disease must be grave, since 
[here were no external signs of it; it was therefore of 
ihe insidious and alarming kind- 
The more I protested my apnreciation of, and reluctance 
to, impo.se on his hospitality, the more I was assured that 
it was I who was conferring a favor. Finally, I accepted 
with tikasure. 
"Now," said M. Menteur, "we might as well discuss 
ind settle this little incident so tactfully mentioned by 
your firm. I know that, being now my guest, you would 
. feel some embarrassment in reverting again to the subject. 
Will vou be so good as to present your case to me at 
once?" 
"Why," I replied, "my firm advises me that you owe 
t hem $5,000, and that I am to collect it if you will deign 
to settle- It will take only a minute, as I plan it, to dose 
ihe whole indebtedness." 
"Major Rube," he rejoined. "I see that you are entirely 
ignorant of the time-honored traditions of this country. 
Do you know that the note, referring to what you are 
pleased to term an indebtedness, has been twice renewed, 
in this country, that circumstance is considered as being 
full}- equal to a receipt in full. You are now in this sec- 
tion of country, and whatever prejudices you may have, if 
any you have, against its customs or its traditions, 
while you are in our midst your own delicacy of judg- 
ment will prompt you to respect them. The incident is 
closed." 
We shook hands cordially, for we found that our hearts 
beat in unison as sportsmen, and from that moment began 
a friendship which time has not cured nor death ended. 
By such adventitious circumstances are warm friendships 
made among your true cosmopolites, sportsmen. 
"To-morrow, if your delicate state of health will per- 
•ir;it," continued M. Menteur, "we will go forth on a bear 
hunt. We will seek bruin (Ursus americamis lepus) in. 
ihe fastnesses of his lair. I am the champion bear hunter 
(of the world. I have killed more bears than all the rest of 
llie hunters added together. Last year I killed over four 
thousand, and in my lifetime I have killed bears enough 
t^o cover the pyramids of Egypt as a bushel of wheat 
would cover a hen's egg. After all, it is not any fun to 
kill the bear. The sport lies in chasing him." 
"Pardon me," I ventured, "you do not mean to say 
that you chase bear. I have always been led to believe 
that the bear did the chasing. I cannot imagine a picture- 
of a bear scudding across country with a man afoot in 
hot pursuit. However, it may be merely a ruse of the 
bear to get the man away from a tree or cave, so that he 
can turn on him at a proper time and place to devour 
him at his leisure." 
My host laughed in a politely modulated key, but there 
were several verses to his merriment. "Major Rube," 
said he, as he viewed me compassionately, "if bears acted 
in the way you thought, there would be very few bear 
hunters, for one of the chief charms of a modern bear 
hunt lies in its entire safet}-. When I bragged so frankly 
of having killed so many bears, I was simply bragging: 
of my industry in sport, as one might brag of chasing 
more foxes in a year than any one else had chased. One 
bear hunter of long ago, facing a grizzly after the old-time 
niethods, incurred more danger than all the bear hunters, 
of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya bottoms individually 
and collectively ever did from the beginning of the world, 
to the present time. There are differences in bears and 
bear hunting as there are in everything else. Bear hunt- 
ing as the public knows it is of the old-time variety. The 
mlse en scene is composed of a bear which weighs a ton; 
a lithe., plucky hunter armed with rifle and knife ; a forest 
of giant groAvth interspersed with fallen logs and dense 
thickets-. It is a duel in which rifle and knife and craft- 
are pitted against giant strength and devilish courage. 
It is a man, one man, against a bear. One stroke of the 
mammoth's forepaw, one hug, one disemboweling scrape 
with the hind foot, and the man is dead. On the other 
hand, the grizzly may be shot or stabbed and he lives ore 
itulefitiitely. Shot throltgli the hcAd Ahd Hertft, Ik> rfSflty 
die. in a siuirt lime or a long tiine, :lccoi-diiig to the <'xi- 
gencics of the story, the amount of sjiacc to be tilled, oi- 
the avidity of the readers in swallowing hook, line aikl 
sinker. Those were bear fights. Ours arc bear chases. 
Our bears are cowardly little black bears which weigh 
from 200 to 400 pounds, so timorous of nature that they 
.seek the densest covers of the river bottoms for purposes 
of safety. The miles of switchcane, almost impenetrable 
to man, is their favorite haunt. Of man they have an 
agonizing dread. Only at night will they invade the sec- 
tions which he most frequents. They are impelled to do 
so then only by the need of food. 
"To the public, however, a bear chase is a bear fight; 
all bears are bears, and all bears are grizzlies ; and also 
to the public, who.se knowledge is fiction, a bear fight is 
about the most dangerous scrjmmage known to mortal 
man. 
"To-morrow, early, before the sun pops up at the east- 
ern edge of the world, you will have an opportunity to 
learn the difference between a bear hunt and a bear fight; 
between an ancient bear fight and a modern case wherein 
a bear could not fight even if it so desired; and between a 
modern champion bear killer and a champion potato 
grower, concerning which there is only a very slight 
difference, since in each instance the principals are largely 
indebted to the work of menials. Do yon ever get 
thirsty?" he suddenly asked. 
I nodded feelingly in reply. 
"Come within where the sideboard stands," he suavely 
said, and I came. When the time for retiring had long 
passed, wc were something more than friends; we wei'e as 
two long-lost brothers Avho had met. Poets have sung 
of many things, but of the lot not one has ever stmg in 
full the praises justly due to corn, vehicle of joys and 
headaches. 
When I gazed around my chamber the next morning by 
the rays of a lamp put in action by a sloppy-looking negro 
boy, I had a feeling of comfort and contentment. The 
room was large enough for four rooms. The bedstead 
was a work of quantity and of art. The posts were high 
and rotund; an immense canopy projected from front to 
foot close to the ceiling, and there were ornamentations 
in the way of carving and satin linings so marvelous in 
iheir beauty as to almost distract one from sleeping. 
Shortly afterward the negro boy brought to me a cup of 
hot, strong coffee, and told me that the horses and dogs 
were all ready, and the boss in waiting to start on the 
bear hunt. 
Hurriedly joining my host, I" found a number of young 
men with him, whom he introduced to me as his sons, 
Christian, Felix, Victor, Pierr£. Jaques and Louis. Each 
was armed either with a lo-lwre' shotgun, loaded with 
lieavy loads of buckshot, or a short rifle of .44 caliber. 
My host asked me if I was a good shot with the rifle, 
and on my not answering strictly in the aflirmative. with- 
out more ado he handed me a shotgun and a half-dozen 
cartridges, Avhich were to be kept in pocket till such times 
as they were needed. 
Three negro men, who I learned later were famous 
hunters of bear, w-ildcat. rabbits, birds' nests, hogs of 
slightly indefinite ownership, or anything which savored 
not of manual labor, were of the paitj, and actually parti- 
cipated in the hunt, though subject to service for the 
party ii needed, and under orders always. Thpy were 
respectively named Mose. Pete and Hcni-j-. 
M. Menteur was mounted on an American horse, about 
sixteen hands high, which was famous for his speed and 
sureness of foot; his rider in turn was famous as the 
nnost daring horseman even in that country of desperate 
■riders, so that it was a byword of praise when one was 
said to ride like a Menteur. The rest of the party were 
mcrunted on Creole ponies. 
My host blew his horn, and immediately there was a 
tttvmult of dogs such as no man, to the manor unborn, 
could conceive. Some stood stolidly and bayed deep and 
king. Same reared and barked, up and down, furiously. 
Some stood uttering sharply yip, yip, yip, holding their 
forelegs stiffly and rising a half-inch from the ground 
with each yip. Some put their noses to the ground and 
.g-ave tongue wli-ife galloping in a short circle, as if on a 
true trail. Each had a dift'erent note; each gave the 
Imrdest mote he ha<S. .and all together they made a babel 
loT 'dog voices which would have driven me distracted but 
for the fact that I was eaijoying true sport. 
We at length sallied forth, a troop eleven strotig in 
men, and about 100 dogs — about iii all told, men and 
dogs, powerful enough to subdue a small insurrection, yet 
peacefully bent(Qn sport with a little bear. 
1 noticed itiiiat each of our party had a horn slung by 
Iiis side, -which on examination I found to be a common 
cow horn with the small end scooped out after the man- 
ner !of the mouthpiece of a cornet or trumpet, and which 
©m trial I found I could not blow at all, though all the 
others could do so with case. " 
After riding on tortuous long paths through the switch 
'cane, through tangles of vines, sheets of water and ford- 
ing bayotts, I was given a stand with Felix and cautioned 
to be alert and hold it with unfaltering fidelih^ till the 
party returned for us later, as it was the' best" stand in 
that whole region of Tarantula Ridge, and there was 
almost a certainty that I would get a shot and a bear 
skin. 
The patter of voices grew fainter and fainter. The 
babble of the dogs soon was out of earshot. I was in the 
country where the bears roamed at will. Suppose that 
■one should roam my way of his tiUm volition? Would 
that be sport for me, or would it be sport for the bear? 
Every little voice of the forest sounded ver}'^ loud to 
me, Earth, air and time seemed to me to be full of 
grave portend. I wondered what the loved ones at home 
were doing and whether they missed me much, me, ]\Iajor 
Ursussen ! 
I had M. Menteur's word that this was a bear chase 
and not a bear fight ; I also had his note of hand that he 
Avould pay a certain sum on a certain day. It was possible 
that he might be mistaken in this, or any other matter. It 
might be a bear chase, too, but which would be the 
chaser and the chased? 
The silence of the forest had in it for me nothing of 
reassurance, From any part of it a dreadful bear might 
pop out. 
But hark ! Is that a whispering whimper far aVvay in 
the distance? ]! strained my ears and listened. A. «lear^ 
faiiU note I his time. In a few moments the tones have 
multiplied into the distinguishable cry of the ftdl pack. 
Felix seemed to l)e dormant, so imperturbable was his 
pose. Nevertheless, I felt that he was furtively scrutiniz- 
ing me at timeSj altd seemed to be politely amused at 
something. 
The faint babble of dog voices grew apace into a frantic 
chorus of the pack in full cry. The long, bugle note of 
the hound blended with the staccato yip, yip of the cur; 
for the pack was of all kinds and degrees of mongrels, 
with a few ftill-blooded hounds to do the guiding truly as 
trailers. I was told that a dog which would charge in on 
the bear and stand his ground was sitre of death, so that 
the best bear dog was one which would keep close to the 
Ijear, yet always cut of reach of his forepaws and teeth, 
thus holding him at bay while the champions came up 
and riddled him with buckshot and bullets. 
The chase came nearer and nearer in full cry. I began 
to have a most unaccountable feeling of trepidation, and 
I lost confidence in myself. My feeling, as near as I 
can define it, Avas a combination of stage fright, buck 
fever and nervous prostration. My companion, neverthe- 
less, was as nonchalant as if seated in a flower garden on a 
June morning. This, if anything, added to my nen^eless 
condition. I wished the bear elsewhere. 
Out of a narrow opening, about 200 yards away from 
us, the bear broke cover. He seemed to be much in the 
same psj'chical and physical condition that I was myself. 
In the cane and timber further away, the dogs were fol- 
lowing in fierce ci-y, and the voices of the riders sup- 
ported them in yet fiercer though distant encourage- 
ment. My companion gave me a nudge and a signal to 
get ready, for so enthralled was I with .the beauties of 
the chase that I had forgotten that I had a gun. I quaked 
violently. I rose as the bear was passing about thirty 
yards away, aimed quickly, and fired, bang. bang. The 
bear spurted still more swiftly, and quickly disappeared 
in a wilderness of switch cane. 
"He's hit hard," I exclaimed to Felix. 
"Monsieur is jesting," he replied. "Monsieur- did not 
care to end the sport so early. There is where your first 
barrel tore iip the ground, and there is where the other 
cut off the high limb of a tree." 
Looking in the direction he pointed, I' saw that the 
earth and tree marks bore silent witness to the truth of 
his statement. At this moment the pack of nondescript 
dogs burst by, hot in their galloping fury for gore. 
"We might as well mount now and follow," Felix re- 
marked, without the slightest show of vexation. 
After riding after the pack a few nainutes, the cry of 
■pursuit changed to one of baying. 
"They have the bear treed," said Felix. He spurred 
toward them. Following him with the greatest difficulty, 
though out of courtesy he restrained his speed to accom- 
modate mine, we came to the closing scene of the bear's 
life, and the commencement of my fame as a bear fighter. 
The bear had taken refuge in the fork of a tree about 
thirty feet from the ground. He seemed to be very rest- 
Itss at OUT appearance, and I thought that he meditated 
a jump and a run as a means to escape. 
Soon we were joined by the rest of our party, and we 
had the bear so snrroimded that he could not then flee 
without rneeUng one or the other of them, M, Menteur 
Irtoked at nie, and I confess that I was fairly quaking 
again. "I think that wc will all shoot together," he said, 
"ai-id then we will not know exactly who did or didn't 
kill the bear, so that under these circum,stances any one 
then can claim the honor who cares for it. When I say 
'Ready, fire,* all fife in a volley at once. Now, Ready, 
fire." 
There were flashes and toars of guns. The bear f«ll 
from the tree stone dead. It required the most vigorous 
exertions of father and sons to save, the skin from the 
fangs of the infuriated dogs. 
The bear looked almost as large as a steamboat when he 
ran by me at the stand, and I feel that my impressions 
then are sufficient grounds to warrant my solemn averment 
that the bear was a monster of his kind. 
"Eheu !" exclaimed Pierre, who Avas skinning the bear. 
"This is the Demon Bear of Tarantula Ridge," All the 
party gathered around him excitedly as he held up to view 
one of the bear's forepaws. One of the outer toes was 
gone. 
"That foot Avas caught in a trap years ago," Pierre con- 
tinued. "We have hunted him many, many times, yet 
such was his almost human craft that never before to-day 
have Ave been able to capture him. I think that Monsieur 
Ursussen is the mascot and himter of the party, and to him 
Ave owe all for our great success.'^ 
"Three cheers for ]Major LIrsussen!*' exclaimed .Victor; 
and three cheers Avere giji'en Avith a heartj' good Avill. 
I scrutinized the bear closety. He seemed to have 
shrunken into an insignificant size as compared Avith the 
size I had in mind when I first saw him galloping near 
me, and I felt that the honors were conferred on estimates 
made ante mortem. 
"Major LTrsussen,'' said M. Menteur, "yett have been 
in a modern bear fight, and have acquitted yourself with 
average A^alor. Rest assured that being my gtlest I feel 
proud in the belief that at some future time I may have 
the honor to testify to your coolness of nerve and stead- 
fastness of behaA'ior in this terrible bear fight. Of course 
you will not fail to proclaim that I am champion, for 
you haA'e been a witness to it. AVe Avill noAV return to the 
house, and there while aAvay an hour or two in libant 
dalliance." 
In the parlor of my home is a stuft'ed bear skin, life 
size, so realistic in outline and pose that one has to reason 
one's self out of the belief that it is a real bear. My 
friends admire it much and often. Close examination re- 
veals manj^ perforations in the skin. On the stand on 
Avhich it is mounted is a sih^er tablet, bearing the follow- 
ing legend : 
"The Demon Bear of Tarantula Ridge, a trophy of 
Major Reuben Ursussen's bear hunt in Louisiana, Jan. 6. 
. Sixty bullet holes in the skin Avere put there before 
the bear died, and they testify to his frightful vitality. 
The skin in drying shrank to a mvtch less size than Avhen 
it Avas green on the bear." 
At home I am accepted as a bear hunter vi'hts has been 
tried by fire and proA-en true. When discussing me pri- 
vately, my male friends say : "Ursussen was dead gamq 
