eatures he knew fled at his
first approach, and it was with difficulty that he got near them; but
this queer animal ambled along as slowly as if he had not the slightest
concern.

He did not look or smell like anything that Black Bruin had ever
observed before. The odd thing about him was that he was covered with
small sharp points sticking out in every direction, which gave him a
very bristling appearance.

As the bear came up, he merely squatted upon the ground and drew
himself into a rotund shape. What a strange creature! Black Bruin
reached his nose closer to get a better whiff of the body scent, and if
possible to discover what the animal was.

Quick as a flash the porcupine's tail struck upward and three of the
longest, sharpest quills in this queer body were firmly planted in the
hunter's nose.

With a growl of pain and rage the bear dealt this strange enemy a
crushing blow. The porcupine's back was broken, but the conqueror
carried off four more quills in his paw.

[Illustration: BLACK BRUIN DEALT THE PORCUPINE A CRUSHING BLOW]

It was not much like a conqueror that he went, for he limped off on
three legs, and sitting down in a thicket, pulled the quills from his
paw as well as he could; but two were broken off and finally worked
through the foot, coming out a day or two later on the upper side.

The paw was so sore that he could not travel on it, and the afflicted
bear either went upon three legs, or kept quiet.

Two of the quills in his lower jaw he got rid of, but one stayed with
him for several days, and finally made its appearance in his cheek,
coming out near the ear.

The experience was a sorry one, and although several days afterward
Black Bruin saw the dead body of the porcupine lying where he had
crushed it, he would not go near it. This creature, like the skunk,
had a peculiar way of fighting which the bear could not understand, so
he would give the next porcupine that he met the entire road if he
wanted it.

Black Bruin's relations with man had been most peculiar up to the time
of his killing his cruel master and escape into the wild, and they did
not tend to make him wise in regard to this creature, which all normal
wild animals shun as their greatest danger.

He had been brought up in close companionship with men; had slept and
ate with them for the first three or four years of his life. He had
wrestled with the men cubs and had found in it nothing but sheer
delight. Children