“A bear!” shrieked Bumpus, struggling to his knees; “and he shoved me around like I was a bundle of hay! Did you ever hear of such nerve?”
“Think what he did to me?” cried Step Hen entering through the partly open door; “I was just pokin’ my nose out, to get a whiff of fresh air, for I couldn’t hardly breathe in here; when he sent me a flyin’, just like you’d kick for goal on the gridiron. Guess I covered all of ten feet, and landed in them bushes out there. Look here! See what I got off’n the old beast.”
He opened his clenched hand, and exhibited a bunch of long black hairs. Undoubtedly Step Hen must have involuntarily clutched at the bear as they came in contact, and had managed to hold on to these tokens of the collision.
Thad was laughing and shaking all over, so were Eli and Jim; and Allan joined in. Presently the whole of them began to see the ludicrous side of the adventure, and even Sebattis was noticed to be grinning. Nobody had ever known him to emit a genuine laugh.
“And just to think how near we came to having bear steak for breakfast, instead of that old tough moose meat,” remarked Giraffe.
“Well, that’s all right,” Step Hen took occasion to say; “but if a feller c’n judge from the way he kicked me, that bear was some tough too. My! I’d sure hate to put on the gloves with him in a bout. I just had time to turn and look around, when I heard that big bump; then he jumped me, and out we both went. Mebbe I ain’t glad now I didn’t keep right on going up that ladder when I started. Just think what a time I’d had up there with him!”
“Wow, and again I say, wow!” snapped Giraffe. “Things seem to be happening right thick and fast now, fellers. This sure is the big game country, all right, and to the good.”
They were all of one opinion with respect to that. To get one night a lordly moose bull, and by the romantic way of calling, too; and then the very next to run across a big burly bear, was as fine a piece of good luck as any of them could wish for.
“Wonder what’s coming along next in line?” remarked Bumpus, nervously, as he made sure to get close to the fire, and away from the open door.
“Say, you don’t think that old bear’d have the nerve to come back here on second thoughts, and try to clean out the whole bunch?” Step Hen queried; “because I’ve seen all I want of him. They say three times and out; but I reckon it was only once with me; and I went, too.”