"What is that?"

"_A bear._"

"Do you know whether there are any in the woods?"

"There is one, and I think more. My husband has seen it twice, and he
took the gun with him when going to work, in the hope of gaining a
chance to shoot it; but, when I caught sight of it on the edge of the
clearing, he thought it best to leave the rifle for me to use."

"Why are you so anxious to shoot the bear?" asked Sam.

"Well, it isn't a very pleasant neighbor, and I have to keep little
Tommy in the house all the time for fear the brute will seize him. Then,
beside that, the bear has carried off some of Mr. Bailey's (that's the
man my husband works for) pigs, and has so frightened his family that
Mr. Bailey said he would give us twenty dollars for the hide of every
bear we brought him."

"I hope it may be your fortune to shoot all in the woods," said Sam, as
he bade her good-day again, and passed out and across the clearing into
the forest.

"That's about the bravest woman I ever saw," said the lad to himself, as
he moved thoughtfully in the direction of the limestone-rock, where it
was agreed the three should meet to spend the night; "she ought to win,
and if this crowd of bear hunters succeed in bagging the old fellow we
will present him to her."