"We must buy this fellow off, Smith," said the Doctor, "we must buy
him off. He's an old hunter, known as such, and he'll take to himself
all the glory; and what is worse, the world will believe him. He'll
spread himself beyond all bounds. He'll shine beyond endurance upon
the strength of this bear. We must buy him off. It is against all
conscience, but there is no help for it. We must buy him off. There's
an impudence in this claim which reminds me of an anecdote related
by Noah."

"By Noah?" asked Smith, interrupting him, "Noah who?"

"What ignorance there is in this world, even in these days of
educational enlightenment!" remarked the Doctor to Spalding and
myself. "Now, here is a decently informed gentleman, claiming to be a
Christian man, to have studied the Bible, and don't know who Noah was.
Such an instance of human ignorance in these times, is shocking."

"Oh! I understand now," said Smith, "he was the gentleman who built
the ark. Well, go on with your anecdote."

"Well, as I was saying," the Doctor resumed, "this claim of H----'s
to a share of the glory of slaying the bear, reminds me of an
anecdote related by Noah soon after the subsidence of the flood, and
it shows that impudence is, at least, not post-deluvian in its origin.
It seems that there were in the world before, as well as after the
flood, some very meddling impudent fellows, who were always
interfering with other people's business, claiming a share of other
people's credit, trying to make the world believe that they were great
things, and persuading everybody that whatever remarkable achievement
was accomplished, occurred through their counsel and advice, and as a