Diary In America Volume II

We set off and before we reached the mill, we passed a hollow; the dog barked furiously, and I let him go. After a time I heard a noise in a bush. ‘Did you not hear? ’ said I to my neighbour. –‘Yes,’ replied he; ‘but I also heard a rustling on the bank this way. Do you look out sharp in that direction, whilst I look out in this.’ He had hardly said so, and I had not turned my head, when out came the old she-bear, in the direction where my neighbour had been watching, and sat upon her hind legs in a clear place. My friend levelled his gun; to my delight he had forgotten to cock it.