ucceed in this, as
the keen noses of the hounds guide them to the right tree, where they
stand barking and howling until the hunters come up. These finding the
bear "treed," rarely fail to bring him down with their rifles. He will
then, if only wounded, fight fiercely both with dogs and hunters; but it
is only at such times that the black bear will contend with man; as,
when not attacked by the latter, he will never attack him. When
wounded, however, or assailed by the hunter, he becomes a dangerous
antagonist; and men have been dreadfully mutilated and torn on such
occasions, escaping only with their lives. Some there are who have been
nearly crushed to death by his "hug."

The black bear is often trapped and snared, in various ways--such as by
log-traps, nooses tied to bent saplings, dead-falls, and steel-traps--
and he is thus caught much more readily than either the lynx, the fox,
or the wolf.

It would be easy to fill a volume with anecdotes and adventures in which
the black bear figures as the hero. Many stories of his peculiar habits
are related in the back settlements of America, some of which are true,
while others partake largely of exaggeration. We have not room for
these, however; and I have given you only _facts_, such as will enable
you to form some idea of the general habits of this animal.

Most of these facts were communicated by Lucien to his brothers, while
they were engaged in preparing their breakfast; and, as all three were
very hungry, this was the first thing that occupied them after the bears
had been killed.

The breakfast consisted of part of a cub, which was cleared of the hair
by being singed, and then roasted. They knew that bear-meat, like pork,
is spoiled by skinning; and they followed the Indian fashion of
preparing it. They made a hearty meal, as the cub-meat proved both
tender and juicy--having a flavour something between young pork and
veal. Of course, Marengo had his breakfast as well, coming in for
refuse bits enough to have filled a large basket. The feet, however,
which would have fallen to his share, had it been a deer or a buffalo,
he did not get. Our young hunters had eaten bear-paws before; and, of
coarse, reserved these delicate morsels to themselves.

As soon as breakfast was finished, and their animals had been led to the
water, the brothers met together in a "council of three." It was
necessary to take into consideration how they should now act. Their
ci