“Did you ever see a b’ar?”
“Not a wild one.”
“Nor a painter nuther?”
Oscar replied in the negative.
“What do ye reckon ye’d do if ye should see one o’ them varmints?” asked the scout.
“I am sure I don’t know,” was the honest reply.
“Wa-al, I kin tell ye. Ye’d take to yer heels an’ leave me to shoot him. I’ve been huntin’ with a heap of fellows from the States, an’ that’s what they all do.”
“I know one fellow from the States who will not take to his heels at the sight of a bear or a panther,” said Oscar to himself.
He did not speak the words aloud, for, being no boaster, he preferred to be judged by his actions.
Before many weeks had passed over his head he had an opportunity to show what he was made of, and then Big Thompson found that he had been sadly mistaken in the boy.