Laying down the book on his desk, he said: “I myself once had an adventure with a bear, which I will narrate for your entertainment.”
Mr. Slocum’s stories were always listened to with close attention, in the confident expectation that they would be found to redound greatly to his credit. So the boys looked up, and exhibited a gratifying interest on the part of the class.
“You must know,” said the teacher, “that we have extensive forests in Maine, in some of which wild animals{147} are to be found. One day, when a mere boy, I wandered into the woods with some of my school companions. We were hunting for squirrels. All at once an immense bear walked around from behind a tree, and faced us, not more than fifty feet away. Most of the boys were frightened, for we had no guns with us. We knew that if we climbed the trees the bear could climb after us. So, as they looked upon me as a leader, they turned to me, and said, ‘Theophilus, what shall we do? The bear will kill us,’ and one of the smallest boys began to cry. But I was not frightened,” continued Mr. Slocum, impressively. “I was always noted for my presence of mind even as a boy.
“‘Don’t be frightened, boys,’ I said, ‘I will save you.’
“I had heard that nearly all beasts are afraid of the human eye. So I advanced slowly toward the savage beast, fixing my eye sternly upon him all the while.”
Here Mr. Slocum glared upon the boys, by way of illustrating the manner in which he regarded the bear.
“The result was what I expected. The bear tried to sustain my steady gaze, but in vain. Slowly he turned, and sought the solitudes of the forest, leaving us in safety. When my companions found that they were saved, they crowded around me, and said, with tears in their eyes, ‘Theophilus, you have saved our lives!’ When we returned home,” Mr. Slocum added, complacently, “the fame of my bravery got about, and the{148} parents of the boys clubbed together, and bought a gold medal, which they presented to me out of gratitude for what I had done.”
“Have you got it with you, sir?” asked one of the class.
“I am sorry to say that I have not,” answered the teacher. “I was afraid I might lose it, and so I left it on deposit in a bank, before I left Maine for the West.”
“Do you believe that bear story, John?” asked Julius, of John Sandford, when they were walking home from school together.