peeped out. There was Mister B'ar snoopin' about the yard, and
lookin' almost as big as one of the steers.

"He went a-sniffin' about the yard, smellin' of everything like
b'ars do when they're forragin', s'archin' for somethin' ter tempt
his appetite. Suddenly he stood stock still, raised his big head, and
sniffed the air keen-like. Then he growled and went straight for the
pig-pen.

"'Oh, the pigs! the pigs!' squealed one of the boys. 'The nice pigs!
He'll eat 'em all up!'

"And there was a good reason for their takin' on," said Jerry, "for
their next winter's meat was in that pen--a sow and five plump little
porkers.

"'Oh, Aunty Sally,' cries one of the bigger boys, 'What shall we do?
What'll father say when he comes back and finds the pigs killed?'

"Ye see," continued Long Jerry, shaking his head, "it was a tragedy
to them. You folks livin' in town don't understand what it means for
a farmer to lose his pigs. Old Bennett warn't no hunter, and wild
meat ain't like hog-meat, anyway. If the b'ar got those porkers them
young 'uns would go mighty hungry the next winter.

"Miss Sally, she knew that, all right, and when the boy says: 'What
shall we do?' she made up her mind pretty quick that she'd got to
_try_ ter do sumpin'--yes, sir-ree! She run for her brother's rifle
that hung over the other door.