ense_ appeared to
stretch out almost to the crack of doom. I roared lustily for help,
but no aid came. The bear continued its course through the thicket;
in another instant I might be seized.

'Rather than suffer such a 'taking off' as this, which now seemed
inevitable, I should have welcomed as an easy death any method of
exit from life that I might hitherto have deprecated. Incited then
by the proximity of the beast, which so intensified the horror of
my situation, to a last desperate effort to avert this much dreaded
fate; and, concentrating nearly a superhuman strength upon one
impetuous bound, the _stubborn fabric burst_, and--joy possessed my
soul!

'Even greater than my recent misery was the ecstasy which succeeded
my liberation. The happy sense of relief imparted to me such a
feeling of buoyancy that I was enabled to extricate myself from
this 'slough of despond,' and I soon reached the swift current,
when a few strokes landed me in security on a jutting bar.

'Without unnecessary delay I sought out my comrades, to whom I told
the story of my escape. Their response was a hearty laugh, and
certain equivocal words which might imply doubt--not as to my
fright, for that was too plain--but concerning the identity of the
'grizzly.' I observed, however, that, as they rowed nearer to the
scene of my disaster, their display of levity lessened; and as we
came within sight of the suspicious locality, there was not the
'ghost of a joke' on board; but, on the contrary, thay both charged
me to 'keep a bright look out,' as well as to 'see that the arms
were all right,' thus showing a remarkable diminution of their
previous incredulity.

'While cautiously exploring the vicinity of my memorable flight, we
saw the bear in the distance, upon a piece of rising ground. It
moved off with a lumbering shuffle and probably a contented
stomach, for, on searching for my scattered game, we found but
little of it left besides sundry fragments and many feathers.'

* * * * *

In the old times people received queer names, and plenty of them. On
Long Island a Mr. Crabb named a child
'Through-much-tribulation-we-enter-into-the-kingdom-of-heaven Crabb.'
The child went by the name of _Tribby_. Scores of such names could be
cited. The practice of giving