Uncle Dick and Lisa's Old Time Animal Tales

     On Monday, April 20th, a young man named John Bidwell, aged 19 years, a resident of Baylston, N. Y., went into the woods, about four miles from home, to gather spruce gum. He was accompanied by his father, a one-armed man. They carried no arms, and only a hatchet, a dirk-knife, and a long handled chisel for cutting the gum from the trees. After proceeding into the woods a little distance, a bear’s track was discovered, and as it was followed up, they soon found the den of bruin. Curious to see what was inside, the boy advanced to the door, when, by a unlucky step he was thrown almost into the den of bears. The old bear was close upon him and he had barely time to recover his foothold, when the bear sprang upon him. Three blows from the hatchet, however, laid her dead at his feet. At this moment a nearly grown cub came out and joined in the fight, but was killed by the same weapon. Hardly had this cub joined its mother in the land where the good bears go when the third came out and fell from the blows of the “little hatchet.” That boy didn’t care for gum that day.