s 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 sufficient to enable the hunter to strike with a more
certain aim: chance also favoured him; he found on the ground one of the
rails made of the blue ash, very heavy, and ten feet in length; he
dropped his knife and tomahawk, and seizing the rail, he renewed the
fight with caution, for it had now become a struggle for life or death.

Had it been a bull or a panther, they would have had their bones
shivered to pieces by the tremendous blows which Boone dealt upon his
adversary with all the strength of despair; but Bruin is by nature an
admirable fencer, and, in spite of his unwieldy shape, there is not in
the world an animal whose motions are more rapid in a close encounter.
Once or twice he was knocked down by the force of the blows, but
generally he would parry them with a wonderful agility. At last, he
succeeded in seizing the other end of the rail, and dragged it towards
him with irresistible force. Both man and beast fell, Boone rolling to
the place where he had dropped his arms, while the bear advanced upon
him; the moment was a critical one, but Boone was accustomed to look at
and brave death under every shape, and with a steady hand he buried his
tomahawk in the snout of his enemy, and, turning round, he rushed to his
cabin, believing he would have time to secure the door. He closed the
latch, and applied his shoulders to it; but it was of no avail, the
terrible brute dashed in head foremost, and tumbled in the room with
Boone and the fragments of the door. The two foes rose and stared at
each other; Boone had nothing left but his knife, but Bruin was
tottering and unsteady, and Boone felt that the match was more equal:
once more they closed.

A few hours after sunrise, Captain Finn, returning home from the
Legislature at Little Rock, called upon his friend, and, to his horror,
found him apparently lifeless on the floor, an