ly on, and offered to meddle with nobody, till
Friday coming pretty near, calls to him, as if the bear could understand
him. "Hark ye, hark ye," says Friday, "me speakee with you." We
followed at a distance, for now being down on the Gascony side of the
mountains, we were entered a vast forest, where the country was plain and
pretty open, though it had many trees in it scattered here and there.
Friday, who had, as we say, the heels of the bear, came up with him
quickly, and took up a great stone, and threw it at him, and hit him just
on the head, but did him no more harm than if he had thrown it against a
wall; but it answered Friday's end, for the rogue was so void of fear
that he did it purely to make the bear follow him, and show us some laugh
as he called it. As soon as the bear felt the blow, and saw him, he
turns about and comes after him, taking very long strides, and shuffling
on at a strange rate, so as would have put a horse to a middling gallop;
away reins Friday, and takes his course as if he ran towards us for help;
so we all resolved to fire at once upon the bear, and deliver my man;
though I was angry at him for bringing the bear back upon us, when he was
going about his own business another way; and especially I was angry that
he had turned the bear upon us, and then ran away; and I called out, "You
dog! is this your making us laugh? Come away, and take your horse, that
we may shoot the creature." He heard me, and cried out, "No shoot, no
shoot; stand still, and you get much laugh:" and as the nimble creature
ran two feet for the bear's one, he turned on a sudden on one side of us,
and seeing a great oak-tree fit for his purpose, he beckoned to us to
follow; and doubling his pace, he got nimbly up the tree, laying his gun
down upon the ground, at about five or six yards from the bottom of the
tree. The bear soon came to the tree, and we followed at a distance: the
first thing he did he stopped at the gun, smelt at it, but let it lie,
and up he scrambles into the tree, climbing like a cat, though so
monstrous heavy. I was amazed at the folly, as I thought it, of my man,
and could not for my life see anything to laugh at, till seeing the bear
get up the tree, we all rode near to him.

When we came to the tree, there was Friday got out to the small end of a
large branch, and the bear got about half-way to him. As soon as the
bear got out to that part where the limb of the tree was weaker, "Ha!"
says