in search of deer;
but soon came upon a large wolf, which I wounded with the first shot; he,
however, sprang aside and was gone. On looking about for him I espied
another!--reloading my rifle, I fired, and he fell dead at my feet, while
my dog at the same time I heard barking furiously. Having dispatched this
second intruder, I saw that my dog had the first one, entangled in the
branches of a fallen tree. I searched for my balls, and was vexed to find
that I had left them at home. In this predicament I cut with my knife, a
knot from a beech limb, put it in my rifle, and took deadly aim at the
enraged wolf. The wooden ball struck him between the eyes and killed him
on the spot.

The two dead animals, with their skins, I sold for nine dollars and a
half,--making pretty good wages for a few hours labor.

Hunting was very generally pursued by the settlers, with great earnestness
and considerable skill. The forest abounded with deer, wolves, bears, and
other wild animals. Bears were plenty, and very troublesome because so
dangerously tame. One day, our children had built for themselves a
play-house, a few rods from the door, and were enjoying their play when
they were called in to dinner. A moment after, I observed one of the
settlers gazing intently at the play-house; I called to know what so
attracted his attention, and he informed me that an old bear, with three
cubs, had just then taken possession of the playhouse. And sure enough
there they were! knocking about among the dishes, and munching the crumbs
of bread which the children had left. The man was supplied with a loaded
rifle and urged to shoot them, but he begged to be excused from a pitched
battle with so many; and the bears leisurely took their departure for the
woods without molestation. The play-house, however, was soon deserted by
the children after these unbidden guests had made so free with it; and
we were ourselves somewhat alarmed for the safety of our children, who
were accustomed to roam in the edge of the forest, and make swings of the
luxuriant grape vines.

But such incidents are common in a new country, surrounded as we were by a
dense wilderness.

CHAPTER XXII.

NARROW ESCAPE OF A SMUGGLER.

From the time I first settled in Wilberforce, my house had ever been open
to travelers and strangers; but a conversation I happened to overhear,
led me to take a course different from what I had at first intended. I was
at a public house about twen