whom he had hired to help him
in "turning his field," for he wished to be alone.

Months elapsed, and his crop of corn promised an abundant harvest; but
he cared not. He would take his rifle and remain sometimes for a month
in the woods, brooding over his loss. The season was far advanced,
when, one day returning home, he perceived that the bears, the
squirrels, and the deer had made rather free with the golden ears of his
corn. The remainder he resolved to save for the use of his horse, and
as he wished to begin harvest next morning, he slept that night in the
cabin, on his solitary pallet. The heat was intense, and, as usual in
these countries during summer, he had left his door wide open.

It was about midnight, when he heard something tumbling in the room; he
rose in a moment, and, hearing a short and heavy breathing, he asked who
it was, for the darkness was such, that he could not see two yards
before him. No answer being given, except a kind of half-smothered
grunt, he advanced, and, putting out his hand, he seized the shaggy coat
of a bear. Surprise rendered him motionless, and the animal giving him
a blow in the chest with his terrible paw, threw him down outside the
door. Boone could have escaped, but, maddened with the pain of his
fall, he only thought of vengeance, and, seizing his knife and tomahawk,
which were fortunately within his reach, he darted furiously at the
beast, dealing blows at random. Great as was his strength, his tomahawk
could not penetrate through the thick coat of the animal, which, having
encircled the body of his assailant with his paws, was pressing him in
one of those deadly embraces which could only have been resisted by a
giant like Boone. Fortunately, the black bear, unlike the grizzly, very
seldom uses his claws and teeth in fighting, contenting himself with
smothering his victim. Boone disentangled his left arm, and with his
knife dealt a furious blow upon the snout of the animal, which, smarting
with pain, released his hold. The snout is the only vulnerable part in
an old black bear. Even at forty yards, the ball of a rifle will
flatten against his skull, and if in any other part of the body, it will
scarcely produce any serious effect.

Boone, aware of this, and not daring to risk another hug, darted away
from the cabin. The bear, now quite angry, followed and overtook him
near the fence. Fortunately the clouds were clearing away, and the moon
threw light suffi