ong us boys to see old Lion coming back, We took care of him
and he got well again.

"It was good sport to see the dogs when we were hunting a bear with
them. Bears are good runners, and when dogs get after them, there is
great skirmishing. They nip the bear behind, and when they turn, the
dogs run like mad, for a hug from a bear means sure death to a dog. If
they got a slap from his paws, over they'd go. Dogs new to the business
were often killed by the bears."

"Were there many bears near your home, Mr. Wood?" asked Mr. Maxwell.

"Lots of them. More than we wanted. They used to bother us fearfully
about our sheep and cattle. I've often had to get up in the night, and
run out to the cattle. The bears would come out of the woods, and jump
on to the young heifers and cows, and strike them and beat them down and
the cattle would roar as if the evil one had them. If the cattle were
too far away from the house for us to hear them, the bears would worry
them till they were dead.

"As for the sheep, they never made any resistance. They'd meekly run in
a corner when they saw a bear coming, and huddle together, and he'd
strike at them, and scratch them with his claws, and perhaps wound a
dozen before he got one firmly. Then he'd seize it in his paws, and walk
off on his hind legs over fences and anything else that came in his way,
till he came to a nice, retired spot, and there he' d sit down and skin
that sheep just like a butcher. He'd gorge himself with the meat, and in
the morning we'd find the other sheep that he'd torn, and we'd vow
vengeance against that bear. He'd be almost sure to come back for more,
so for a while after that we always put the sheep in the barn at nights
and set a trap by the remains of the one he had eaten.

"Everybody hated bears, and hadn't much pity for them; still they were
only getting their meat as other wild animals do, and we'd no right to
set such cruel traps for them as the steel ones. They had a clog
attached to them, and had long, sharp teeth. We put them on the ground
and strewed leaves over them, and hung up some of the carcass left by
the bear near by. When he attempted to get this meat, he would tread on
the trap, and the teeth would spring together, and catch him by the leg.
They always fought to get free. I once saw a bear that had been making a
desperate effort to get away. His leg was broken, the skin and flesh
were all torn away, and he was held by the tendons. It was a forele