, without you're sure of killing," said Malachi. "The
creatures are very dangerous when wounded."

"Don't be afraid; I'll only fire in self-defense, Malachi; that is, when
I have no other chance left. I had rather trust to my heels than my
rifle. Were you ever hugged by a bear?"

"Well, I wasn't ever hugged; but once I was much closer to one than ever
I wish to be again."

"Oh! when was that? Do, pray, tell us," said Emma.

"It was when I was young, that one day I sounded a tree in the forest
with my ax, and I was certain that a bear was in it: but the animal did
not show itself, so I climbed up the tree to examine the hole at the
top, and see if the bear was at home; as, if so, I was determined to
have him out. Well, miss, I was on the top of the hollow trunk, and was
just putting my head down into the hole, when, all of a sudden, the edge
of the tree which I kneeled upon gave way, like so much tinder, and down
I went into the hollow; luckily for me I did not go down head foremost,
or there I should have remained till this time, for the hole in the
middle of the tree, as I found, was too narrow for me to have turned in,
and there I must have stuck. As it was, I went down with the dust and
crumbles smothering me almost, till I came right on the top of the bear,
who lay at the bottom, and I fell with such force, that I doubled his
head down so that he could not lay hold of me with his teeth, which
would not have been pleasant; indeed, the bear was quite as much, if not
more astonished than myself, and there he lay beneath me, very quiet,
till I could recover a little. Then I thought of getting out, as you may
suppose, fast enough, and the hollow of the tree, providentially, was
not so wide but that I could work up again with my back to one side and
my knees to the other. By this means I gradually got up again to the
hole that I fell in at, and perched myself across the timber to fetch my
breath. I had not been there more than a quarter of a minute, and I
intended to have remained much longer, when I perceived, all of a
sudden, the bear's head within a foot of me; he had climbed up after me,
and I saw that he was very angry, so in a moment I threw myself off my
perch, and down I went to the ground at the foot of the tree, a matter
of near twenty feet, even faster than I went down inside of it. I was
severely shaken with the fall, but no bones were broken; in fact, I was
more frightened than hurt; I lay quite still for