Part 3 (1/2)
”I see him!” he shouted at last; and bits of bark, leaves, and rotten twigs ca dohile the loud whacks of his stick reached our ears Presently there was a ”flop;” the raccoon had been coave chase; and I, torch in hand, followed thes, and found the creature at bay, its eyes flashi+ng fire, while it bravely faced the pack, which, with gnashi+ng growls and savage yells, were about to dash upon it, though each see to receive the first bite fro the voices of their e, and in another instant had the poor ani vainly in theirdown, to finish its sufferings, and prevent the its skin to pieces
Such was one of several raccoon-hunts in which I took part
The raccoon is about the size of a spaniel, and its colour is a blackish grey Its tail is short and bushy, and is round When the animal walks slowly, or sits, it plants the soles of its feet upon the ground; but when in a hurry it runs along on the tips of its toes It hunts for its prey chiefly at night, when it devours any small anietable diet; and, indeed, its teeth show that it is capable of feeding on both descriptions of food
I once caught a young raccoon, which soon beca It possessed, however, a habit of which I could not cure it; that of seizing any fowls it set eyes on, and biting off their heads It having treated two or three of Aunt Hannah's in this way, I was compelled to carry it into the forest and set it at liberty
It enjoyed its freedom but a short time, however, as it was soon afterwards hunted and killed by soot so far from ho in addition to the unfortunate anihtered Mike, too, announced to us that he had seen a brown bear at a spot a little further on; so it was at once agreed that we should ”knock up the quarters of Mr Bruin”
It was necessary to proceed with caution; for though the ” unless first assaulted, our friend, if uncereood-hus kept at our heels, but the other curs went yelping away through the forest; nor could theirthem back We feared, therefore, that they would rouse up the bear, and thus give it ti
”Faix, though, I aentleman keep quiet in his den,” observed Mike ”He will be after saying to his wife, 'Sure, ould be the use, Molly, of turning out to go hunting thi and quiet till they coh to axe thio on; and at length Pop, Snap, and Yelp gave signs of uneasiness, and showed a decided inclination to rush forward
”Let deo!” exclaimed Quas darted on, barking furiously, until they stopped before the decayed trunk of a huge tree, round which several srown up--a well-selected natural fortification As the light of our torches fell on it, we fully expected to see Mr Bruin stalk forth and inquire anted
Quahbourhood, so that, did our eneht be better able to attack him and defend ourselves We followed the black's advice; but still nothing appeared The dogs, however, showed they were convinced that some anirowing i sticks into the hollow, feeling about in every direction
”I a soft!” I exclairowl reached our ears A dark body next appeared for an instant a the hollow trunk, and then out rushed a bear through an opening which we had not perceived
The dogs gave chase, and so did we Bruin had but a short start; and although heall i already co at his hind feet This was tooround, he struck two or three of the to a distance As he did so the glare of our torches dazzled his eyes, and so perplexed hi only he ht; and, brave bear as he was, he sat up on his hind legs and prepared to receive us
Mike fired, but only wounded hier to a pitch of fury, and, with a growl like thunder, he dashed forward at his opponent Mike, however, nimbly skipped on one side, and the bear's eye fell on Quambo, who had lifted his rifle to fire But scarcely had he pulled the trigger when the bear was upon hiht that the black was killed, but his voice shouting to us to drag off the bear reassured -knife quickly finished the anionies of death Happily, his teeth had only torn Qua away the dead body the black sprang to his feet
”Berry good sport,” he observed, shaking himself ”I'se wonder wedder Mrs Bear not remain behind! and piccaninny bears too, perhaps! We look as we go by Howeber,en'leman to carry hoether, and hung the ani near Then having placed it on their shoulders, with short pieces at right angles at either end to prevent it slipping, they announced that they were ready to set off; so, while they led the ith our prize, we commenced our homeward journey
Whether Mrs Bruin had occupied part of the trunk, we could not positively ascertain Quambo expressed his belief that she had been there, but had taken the opportunity, while ent in chase of her spouse, to ht have found her; but, with her young to defend, she would have proved a dangerous foe, and, as our torches were almost burnt out, we should have had to encounter her in the dark We therefore considered it prudent to proceed on our way
I remained at the hut while the rest of the party went back to the settlement Aunt Hannah ell pleased to obtain so valuable a prize; and she sent us, some weeks afterwards, a sive but a very brief account of the adventures of those days; indeed, so which I was hard at ithout inter in one or other of the ”bees” got up for various purposes--ent to help others, as our neighbours, when required, came to help us
So bee,” which I may explain thus:--When a new hut was to be erected, we and others united to drag the logs out of the forest, and to hew theths to forht, but horizontally, one above another The length of the outside walls is first deter is let a little way into the earth, and a groove is cut on the upper side with a deep notch at each end The next log is placed on the top of it, each end being so cut as to dovetail into the others at right angles; thus one log is placed upon another until the destined height of the wall is reached Doors and s are afterwards sawed out; and the rafters are fixed on in the usual fashi+on
The roof is forles; the interstices being filled up with clay A big iron stove, the flues running frohly warm in winter; while the thickness of the walls causes it to be cool in sue houses of this description; but stores, and buildings where warmth was not of so much consequence, had their walls merely of planks nailed on to the fras raised on a platfor to it, and a broad verandah in front It contained a sitting-roo painted a bright green, with stripes of pink, while the -frames and doors were yellow I used to think it a beautiful mansion, but perhaps that was on account of those who lived within The abode of Lily was of necessity, to
The autu its close There is in North America, at that period of the year, what is called the ”Indian summer” The air is balhtful; a light gauze-likethe rays of the sun, bea over-oppressive Already the forest has assumed its particoloured tints The maple has put on a dress of every hue,--of yellow, red, pink, and green The leaves of the beeches becoe, and those of the oak appear as if turned into bronze, while numerous creepers present the richest reds
We settlers, however, had but little time in which to admire the beauties of Nature, for we knew that every day was rapidly bringing us to the period when all agricultural labour round would be covered with a sheet of snow Not that ere then doomed to idleness, however, for we had abundance of out-of-door work during the winter, in felling trees; and, as soon as the snow had hardened, dragging thee heaps, where they could be burned, or to be placed in the spots where they were required for putting up buildings or fences
Uncle Stephen having engaged so fresh froo further into the forest,--allowed Mike and Quambo to come to us We therefore put up a room for them next to our own, and which could be heated in winter by the saet on round Mike, indeed, was a great acquisition to our party; for, besides singing a good Irish song, he had learned to play the fiddle,--and, of course, he had brought his ”Creuiled the long winter evenings withSoreat fun to see Qua the ”double shuffle”--bounding up and down, and whirling round and round, snapping his fingers and sta his feet, until the perspiration strea his head, h keeping his countenance, and looking as grave as a judge while listening to the counsel for a prisoner