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maker was in perplexity. The year had been a hard one, as game was scarce; people could not purchase baskets, because a drought had so famished the earth that there was nothing to put in them; and Madame Herbel had just presented her lord with a daughter. "There is no meat in the house,' cried the mother-in-law, 'no meal, and the crout is nearly gone. These mouths must be fed, Henry; you must look to it, you and your lazy dogs.'

"Henry made no reply; but Watch, a keen-eyed brindle cur who had been sleeping on the hearth, rose up and looked wistfully at his master, as if he understood and felt the reproach. Yellow Dick stopped biting at the fleas, and pricked his attentive ears. Henry, moved by their looks, addressed some cabalistic words to his dumb companions, which we would not attempt to spell with our present alphabet, but which they seemed perfectly to comprehend, for they capered about with every demonstration of joy. He then took down his rifle, and buckling on his accoutrements, sallied forth to try his fortune once more in the woods. His dress consisted of a fustian cap, woolen pants, and an overcoat or jacket of oiled duck, such as is worn by sailors to keep out the weather. Besides the usual powder-horn and pouch, he carried in his belt a hunting-knife, a tomahawk, and a double-barreled pistol. With this formidable armament, and followed by his eager dogs, he trudged manfully through the snow, which lay about four inches deep, and was soon scaling the steep sides of the Cacapon Mountain.

"For several hours he wandered to and fro over the snow-covered mountain, seeking in vain for traces of game. At length, on the top of the ridge, he sat down to rest upon a decayed log, when he heard the dogs, at some distance off, barking furiously. Now,' said Henry, 'I will at least have a squirrel to make a nice broil for die gute Frau ;' and with pleased alacrity he trotted along to overtake the dogs. He found them running around an opening in a heap of rocks, very much excited, sometimes rushing toward the mouth of the cavern and then retreating precipitately. Their agitation induced him to believe they had found some unusual game; but he advanced boldly, and stepping over a fallen chestnut-tree, looked into the hole. A savage growl and a rustling of dry leaves indicated the presence of some large animal; of what species, however, the undaunted hunter was not able to decide. Again he approached his head to the cavity, and was again saluted with a growling and gnashing of teeth that might have shaken the firmest nerves. This time he saw distinctly two fiery eyes glaring at him from out of the

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darkness. Henry cocked his piece deliberately, but found that the proximity of the chestnut log prevented him from drawing a sight upon the animal. The dogs, dumb with the intensity of their excitement, stood by with bristles erect and tails as stiff as spikes. Henry got on his knees, and leaning back on the fallen tree leveled his gun as well as he could; the animal in the meanwhile tearing the leaves and making the rocks tremble with its furious cries. The glaring eyes seemed to approach the opening. There was a moment's pause. Then came the crash of the rifle-a terrific yell-and through the smoke a huge she-bear rushed out upon the hunter. He sprang to his feet, and made a vigorous but ineffectual push at her

with his gun. With one stroke of her paw she hurled the feeble weapon fifty feet into the air, and with another blow felled the stalwart Dutchman as if he had been a green weed. He fell with his back across the log, and before he could draw a weapon from his belt the tremendous beast was upon him. With her fore-paws she hugged him round the shoulders, pinning his arms to his sides; and, drawing up her hind-feet with repeated efforts, endeavored to rip him open. Fortunately the oiled jacket worn to keep out the water now served a better purpose. The tough duck foiled the claws of the bear, which, as often as she ripped, slipped over the smooth surface and spent their force upon the hunter's legs and boots. All this passed so rapidly that Henry had only time to gasp,

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'Ach, mein Gott-Vatch-Dick! zu hilf!' At these words the dogs rallied from their sudden amazement. Watch seized the bear by the ear at the same moment that Dick took hold of her hind-leg. Following that instinct which induces this animal always to assail the last offender, she released the half-squeezed Dutchman and turned her fury upon the dogs. Away they went, tumbling over the rocks, slippery with snow, and crashing through the tough undergrowth as if it had been dried grass, the wary curs, adroitly shunning the face of their ponderous enemy, and worrying her behind whenever the occasion offered.

"Henry quickly regained his feet, and unmindful of his hurts and the blood that trickled from his face and legs, ran to recover his gun. He found the piece entirely useless, the muzzle filled with snow, and the ramrod missing. Quick as thought he drew his pistol and rushed to the scene of action. Both barrels snapped. Just then the bear made a savage rush at Watch; the struggling animals rolled together over a ledge of rock and disappeared from sight. 'Gott im Himmel! Vatch will be umgebracht!' screamed the halffrantic hunter. Dashing the uncertain pistol on the ground, he drew the hatchet from his belt and leaped over the ledge into the thick of the fight. The beast again left the dog, and turned fiercely upon her human foe. Henry seized her by the nape of the neck and struck a determined blow at her forehead. As she turned to bite his arm, the weapon glanced and nearly cut off one of her ears. She turned again to the side where she felt the wound. The next moment the vengeful hatchet was buried deep in her brain, and she sunk at the victor's feet without a struggle or a groan. After a brief but fervent ejaculation of thanksgiving, Henry's first movement was to embrace his faithful allies and examine their wounds. To his great relief he found these to be mere scratches, and then seating himself, had time to consider the body of his late antagonist more calmly. She was an animal of the largest size, very fat, and covered with a coat of the glossiest black in most admirable condition. The rifle-shot had passed through her muzzle about an inch below her eyes, inflicting a wound which served rather to enrage than disable her. From appearances he also concluded that she was a mother; and after a short repose gathered up his scattered weapons and returned to the den. On approaching the spot he heard faint cries from within, which gave assurance that he had not been mistaken in his conjectures.

"With a spirit untamed by the desperate encounter from which

he had just escaped with his life, he did not hesitate to engage in what then seemed to him a new peril. Unsheathing his knife he held it behind him like a dog's tail, and backed himself down into the den, at the risk of meeting the he-bear on his way. Luckily for Henry the old gentleman was absent, and he got to the bottom of the den without opposition. There he found two young ones carefully covered up with dry leaves and moss; so well concealed that if they had kept quiet it would have been difficult to find them.

"The cubs were blind, like young puppies, and as their eyes were not opened for five days after, it is supposed they were not more than three or four days old at the time of their capture. Although handled with the greatest tenderness, these little wretches, whose eyes had never seen the light, with a wonderful and unerring instinct quickly discriminated between the touch of a stranger and that of their dam. No sooner were they taken up than they uttered the most atrocious cries, and fought with surprising energy.

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As our hero brought these new trophies to the light, he saw a mountaineer approaching who had been attracted to the spot by the sound of the gun and the barking of the dogs. The new-comer cheerfully lent his assistance in transporting the prize to the Dutchman's cabin. Then, when his blood cooled, Henry for the first time took note of his own hurts, which were by no means trifling. His face had received some slight scratches, and his legs and knees were badly torn with wounds that cost time and trouble to heal. But what of that? The bear had fat upon her shoulders full three inches deep, and netted a hundred and sixty pounds of good meat. Besides keeping wherewithal to grease his own griddle, he sold enough to the neighbors to keep his family comfortable for two months. That day's work brought Henry both meat and honor. The fame of his achievement was noised abroad in the land, and none knew better how to appreciate it than the mountaineers among whom he dwelt. The fury of a she-bear with cubs is proverbial, and the boldest hunter shakes his head doubtfully when there is a question of meeting one under those circumstances."

The writer shortly after this adventure visited Henry at his cabin. "The hero was temporarily absent, but his spouse was within suckling the younger babe, while the other occupied a cradle at her side conjointly with the young bears. One of these amused himself sucking the infant's thumb, while the other seemed to prefer his big toe. Occasionally the little savages became so earnest in this sport that the heir of Herbel was fain to express his displeasure by

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