The bear was at the other side of the brush heap, John heard
the dry branches cracking, and he dodged into a hollow under a bush. The
bear passed, and was coursing along the sand but as he passed by where
John lay, bang went the gun. The bear was struck.
"'We saw him leap through the smoke to the very spot where we had last
seen John. We held our breath; but instead of the cry of agony we expected
to hear from John, bang went the gun again--John is not yet caught. Our
canoe rushed through the water--we might yet be in time; but my paddle
fell from my hand with joy, as I saw John pop his head above the bush, and
with a shout point to the side of the log on which he stood, 'There he
lies, dead enough.' We were thankful indeed to our Great Preserver.'
"Though fruit and vegetables seem to be the natural food of the bear, they
also devour flesh, and even fish--a fact of which the good Indian
missionary assures us, and which I shall tell you, Lady Mary, in his own
words:--
"'A few evenings after we left the _Rock_, while the men were before me
'tracking' (towing the canoe), by pulling her along by a rope from the
shore, I observed behind a rock in the river what I took to be a black
fox. I stole upon it as quietly as possible, hoping to get a shot; but the
animal saw me, and waded to the shore.
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