large trees as T advanced. When I peeked around the tree I was 
hiding behind, T could see all three bears plainly. 1 picked out the 
largest one. I steadied Uncle Adam’s rifle by the side of the tree 
and. taking good aim I fired. When the gun cracked all three bears 
fell as though they were shot; two of them ran and the one T had 
shot was turning summersaults in the leaves. 
T was not surprised when all three bears turned all holds loose 
and fell to the ground, at the crack of my gun, as I had many times 
heard old hunters tell how they would sail when hearing an unex¬ 
pected shot. 
The. next thing was to skin and dress the bear, which was no 
simple job. After I had dressed it, I went after old Beck and led 
her to where I had dressed the bear. She began to snort and shy, 
and the longer I held her and tried to pacify her, the more frightened 
she became. T tried to place a quarter of the bear on her back— 
she pulled and rared and had the tie rope been weaker, she surely 
would have broken it. Finally I decided about the only thing to do 
was to blindfold her, so I took off my vest and tied it over her eyes. 
She would snort and prance like a young mule, but I finally got the 
bear tied on with a diamond hitch T learned from Bill Parrish, my 
Cherokee Indian friend. I petted old Beck and let her smell of my 
blood-stained hands until finally she quieted down and I took my 
vest off of her eyes. She snorted a little but I could see she was well 
over her fright. I released the rope and led her home, a distance of 
about three miles. 
When I arrived it was about night and all the niggers on the 
farm had come in from picking cotton and as the killing of a bear 
was not a common occurence, they all collected around old Beck and 
began to make nigger remarks. One nigger said, “When youse eat 
bear it makes youens fingers so limber youse can pick twice as much 
cotton”; and another said, “Dat ain’t all, youse can grease youse 
lips wid bar grease and youse can sing tike a mocking bird”; and 
still another said, “Yes, and dat ain’t all, youse take one of dese 
bear paws and lay it over your door and no nigger can hoodoo youse 
as long as youse let da bar paw stay over de door”; another remarked, 
“Youse can take dis bar skin and roll up in it and sleep among the 
wild hogs and dey. won’t come near youse.” One said, “Yes, nigger, 
if de bars had been runnin’ youse ever since youse were a kid, youse 
would not go dare neder.” Uncle Adam said, “Yes, you niggers can 
talk mighty big after de white folks has killed de bar. I has libbed 
a long time and Ise has never seen a bar a nigger kilt yet, but I had 
seen where a nigger has tore all his close and shoes off him runnin’ 
from de bar.” 
The good old time niggers took the mule and bear and attended 
to the rest. I shall always have a warm place in my heart for them 
for they knew their place. A great many who don’t know the negro 
as he is think the Southern people were cruel to them, but that is a 
mistake. The Southern man is the best friend which the negro has, 
and all sensible negroes know it to be a fact. When he behaves him- 
— 48 
