"There wa'n't a railroad in the state, in those days. Whenever any of the farmers wanted to go down to Farmington, or Norridgewock, or to Portland, they had to go with their teams; and when making a trip to the latter place were often gone a week or ten days.
"Quite late in the fall my father and Mr. Wilber, our nearest neighbor, had gone to Portland in company. Always during their absence we boys used the time in fishing, gunning, and other sports such as boys delight in. They had been gone two days, when early the third morning after their departure Jed Wilber came running to our house, all excitement.
"'The bears have been killing our sheep!' he exclaimed. 'They came into the little pasture last night, killed the old four-year-old, and a lamb, dragged them out into the bushes, and there we found their pelts taken off and rolled up, as nice as a butcher could do it.'
"'Oh, you ought to have shut them up, Jed,' said grandmother.
"'I know it,' said Jed. 'Father told us to, every night. But we were playing last night, and forgot it.'
"'The bear'll be back, to-night,' said I.
"'Of course he will,' said Jed, 'and that's what I am over here for—I want to get your bear-trap. I know just how to set it,' he went on, seeing grandmother hesitate. 'I saw 'em set it last winter a dozen times.'
"'Well, you can have the trap,' said grandmother. 'But mind it don't spring, and catch your hands or feet.'
"Jed and I brought the trap from the woodhouse chamber. It was tremendously heavy—weighing sixty or seventy pounds. But between us we carried it up to the Wilbers', and with Sol's help (Sol was Jed's next younger brother) we took it to the pasture. Then, by using a crowbar we managed, after a deal of prying and holding, to press down the stiff springs, and so set it. This done, we chained it to a four-foot log of green spruce, and left it near the spot where the bear had killed the sheep. For a bait, we laid partially under it a sheep's head, from a sheep that had lately been slaughtered by Mr. Wilber.
"Perhaps some of the boys may wonder why the lads did not chain the trap to a stump, or a standing tree. Hunters never chain a bear-trap fast to the spot where they set it. They clog it, that is, fasten a heavy stick or log to it, for the bear to drag. If caught and held fast, at first, a large bear would demolish any trap. But if allowed to run with it, the clog will at length weary him so that he may be easily overtaken and shot.