“It was not likely to be a difficult job. The tree, as I have said, was a hollow one; and near the ground its trunk was nothing but a mere shell, which we could easily cut through. So Cudjo went lustily to work with his axe; and the white sycamore chips were soon flying in every direction.
“He had hardly made a dozen strokes, when we were startled by a singular noise, that sounded something like a ‘cross’ between a growl and a snort!
“Cudjo immediately suspended his blows; and we all stood gazing at each other with looks that betokened surprise and terror. I say terror—for the noise had something terrible in it; and we knew it could have proceeded from nothing else than some large and fierce animal. Whence did it come?—from the woods? We looked anxiously around us, but no motion could be observed in the bramble. The underwood was thin, and we could have seen a large animal at some distance, had such been there.
“Again the horrid sound echoed in our ears. It appeared to issue out of the earth! No—it came out of the tree!
“‘Golly!’ exclaimed Cudjo, ‘it am a bar, Massa Roff! I know him growl.’
“‘A bear!’ I ejaculated, catching the thought at the same moment. ‘A bear in the bee-tree! Run, Mary! Run for the glade!’—and I hurried my wife and children from the spot. Harry and Frank both wished to remain with their rifles, and I could hardly get them off. I induced them to go, at length, by telling them that they must stay near their mother and the little ones, to guard them in case the animal should come that way. All this occupied but a few seconds of time, and then Cudjo and I were left to ourselves.
“It was evident that a bear was up the hollow of the tree, and hence the flurry among the bees. Cudjo’s axe had disturbed him—he was coming down!
“What was to be done? Could we not close up the hole? No—there was nothing—we should be too late!
“I seized my rifle, while Cudjo stood by with his axe. I cocked the piece, and made ready to fire the moment his head should appear. To our astonishment, instead of a head, a shapeless mass of shaggy, black hair made its appearance, which we saw was the rump and hind-quarters of the animal. He was coming down tail-foremost—although not a bit of tail was to be seen, for he had none.
“We did not stop to examine that. I fired as soon as his hips made their appearance, and almost at the same instant Cudjo dealt them a hearty blow with his axe. It was enough to have killed him, as we thought, but to our surprise the hind-quarters suddenly disappeared. He had gone up the tree again.