t in his mouth? Well, such was the look of
that bear, as he peered out first on one side, then on the other of
the great limbs between which he was sitting, secure, as he supposed,
from danger. But he was never more mistaken in his life. In watching
the dogs he had failed to discover us. We agreed that three should
fire upon him at once, reserving the fourth charge for whatever
contingency might happen. Smith, the Doctor, and Spalding sighted him
carefully, each with his rifle resting against the side of a tree, and
blazed away, their guns sounding almost together. It was pitiful the
scream of agony that bear sent up. It was almost human in its anguish.
It went ringing through the woods, dying away at last almost in a
human groan. After struggling and clasping his arms for a moment
around the great branch of the tree, his hold relaxed, he reeled from
side to side, and then fell heavily to the ground, with three balls
within an inch of each other, right through his vitals. He was larger
than a medium sized animal of his species, and in excellent case.

The next thing in order was to transport him to our boats. This was
done by tying his feet together, then running a long pole, cut for the
purpose, between them, and lifting each end upon the shoulder of a
boatman, he was "strung up," as Allen expressed it, clear from the
ground. They stumbled along as best they could, over the rough ground,
and through the tangle brush, towards the river. It was a heavy load
considering the unevenness of the path, and the men were compelled to
halt every few rods to breathe. We got him safely to the landing at
last, and tumbling him into the bottom of one of the boats, started
down stream towards our shanty. A proud trio were Spalding, Smith, and
the Doctor that afternoon, returning with their game across the lake;
and they certainly had some occasion to congratulate themselves, for
this was the first wild, uncaged bear either of us had ever seen, and
him they had succeeded in capturing.

We dined that afternoon on a roasted sirloin of bear, stewed jerked
venison, fried trout, and pork. I cannot say that I altogether
relished the roast, though some of our company took to it hugely. The
truth is, that with some of them venison and trout were beginning to
be somewhat stale dishes, they did not relish fat pork, and a change
therefore to roasted bear meat was peculiarly acceptable.

"Gentlemen," said Smith to the Doctor and Spalding, as we