“An’ how were that?” asked Bob.

“‘Twere one winter an’ I were tendin’ my trail.  I stops at noon t’ boil th’ kettle, an’ just has th’ fire goin’ fine an’ th’ water over when all t’ a sudden I hears a noise behind me and turnin’ sees a black bear right handy t’ me—­th’ biggest black bear I ever seen—­an’ makin’ fer me.  I jumps up an’ grabs my gun an’ lets un have it, but wi’ th’ suddenness on it I misses, an’ away I starts an’ ’twere lucky I has my racquets on.”

“Were this in winter?” asked Dick.

“It were in winter.”

“Th’ bears as I knows don’t travel in winter.  They sleeps then, leastways all but white bears.”

“Well, this were in winter an’ this bear weren’t sleepin’ much.  As I was sayin’——­”

“An’ he took after ye without bein’ provoked?”

“An’ he did an’ right smart.”

“Well he were a queer bear—­a queer un—­th’ queerest I ever hear tell about.  Awake in winter an’ takin’ after folks without bein’ provoked.  ‘Tis th’ first black bear I ever heard tell about that done that.  I knows bears pretty well an’ they alus takes tother way about as fast as their legs ’ll carry un.”

“Now, if you wants me t’ tell about this bear ye’ll ha’ t’ stop interruptin’.”

“No one said as they wanted ye to.”

“Now I’m goin’ t’ tell un whatever.”

“As I were sayin’, th’ bear he takes after me wi’ his best licks an’ I takes off an’ tries t’ load my gun as I runs.  I drops in a han’ful o’ powder an’ then finds I gone an’ left my ball pouch at th’ fire.  It were pretty hard runnin’ wi’ my racquets sinkin’ in th’ snow, which were new an’ soft an’ I were losin’ ground an’ gettin’ winded an’ ‘twere lookin’ like un’s goin’ t’ cotch me sure.  All t’ onct I see a place where the snow’s drifted up three fathoms deep agin a ledge an’ even wi’ th’ top of un.  I makes for un an’ runs right over th’ upper side an’ th’ bear he comes too, but he has no racquets and th’ snow’s soft, bein’ fresh drift an’ down he goes sinkin’ most out o’ sight an’ th’ more un wallers th’ worse off un is.”

“An’ what does you do?” asks Bob.

“What does I do?  I stops an’ laughs at un a bit.  Then I lashes my sheath knife on th’ end o’ a pole spear-like, an’ sticks th’ bear back o’ th’ fore leg an’ kills un, an’ then I has bear’s meat wi’ my tea, an’ in th’ spring gets four dollars from th’ company for the skin.”

In twenty minutes they had the pelt removed from the bear and Dick generously insisted upon Bob taking it as the first-fruits of his inland hunt, saying:  “Ye earned he wi’ yer runnin’.”

The best of the meat was cut from the carcass, and that night thick, luscious steaks were broiled for supper, and the remainder packed for future use on the journey.