"'I'm goin' to try and shoot that b'ar, boys,' says she, jest as
firm as she could speak.

"'Oh, Aunt Sally! you can't,' says Tom, the oldest.

"'I don't know whether I can or not till I try,' says she. She felt
like Miss Ruthie did--eh?" and the long guide chuckled. "No tellin'
whether you kin do a thing, or not, till you have a whack at it.

"'Don't you try it, Aunt Sally,' says Charlie. 'He might kill you.'

"'I won't give him a chance at me,' says she. 'Now boys, let me out
and mind jest what I say. If anything _does_ happen to me, don't
you dars't come out, but go in and bar the door again, and stay till
your father comes back. Now, promise me!'

"She made 'em promise before she ventured out of the door, and then
she left 'em at the open door, jest about breathless with suspense
and terror, while Miss Sally sped across the yard toward the pig-pen.
Mister Ba'r, he'd torn down some of the pine slabs at one corner and
got into the pen. The old sow was singin' out like all Kildee, and
the little fellers was a-squealin' to the top o' their bent. The b'ar
smacked one o' the juicy little fellers and begun to lunch off'n him
jest as Miss Sally come to the other end o' the pen.

"His back was towards her and he didn't notice nothin' but his pork
vittles," pursued Long Jerry. "She crept up beside him, poked the
barrel of the Winchester through the bars of the pen, rested it on
one bar, and pulled the trigger. The ball went clear through the old
feller's head!