Show Bet in i Death Chamer Splerss lea has been cutting up all kinds of capers and unless he is captured cap-tured I soon or seeks other fields oC adventure ad-venture the good housewives hereabout i here-about will be driven Into nervous prostration pros-tration t The farmers themselves admit ad-mit to feeling Jest n hectic mite nar votis and most of them now go about armed s Inl I The bear that has been frightening the inhabitants is the t one found two j weeks ago taking his long slitter sleep I In the KHltngtdn house barn atop the highest peak In the State The discovery I dis-covery wn mode by Austin J Spiers I I of Oswego who was so badly l scared I that he left for home the ne = t day 1 vowing he would never return A few I days later the animal was taken alive by a party of hunters who attempted ito i-to snake him to civilization on his I back He escaped while all but one I o the hunters left to chop town n bee tree I was generally believed that Bruin would strike for the inaccessibly caves all ho Deers Leap as he was last seen heading in that direction with a rope dangling about his neck and spent the remainder of the cold season sea-son snoozing and sucking his claws From reports he seems to have Invaded the lowland now clear of snow and I taken extraordinary means to get warm Bears lee house cats dislike cold and love warmth but never before In local history has a wild animal gone to such tnhcard of lengths to toast his noe by flickering fires When Deacon Jcdiah Moore came in from Jlendori Monday and told how the bear with remnants of the rope still about his neck had been found tim ta morning warming I himself by the dying embers In his maple sugar house the story was set down as resulting from law the liberalities of the new liquor lawT T callate thet th deacons been a lookln In t th fiowln howl an thets where he scon th baal said Zcke Tllcrrltt who was the first I to hear the tale Ye know they do say he takes a hectic tu much when he feels th need f gittin hot up he added to his wife ft reckon responded Marlar with some vehemence Ihct tha deacons teacon cousin onct removed 1runi Ananias I oncE never hiOV sot much store by Tedlnhs truthfulness sense he was ketched lost feel adancln f L th caounty fair and saId he did because he seen by th New York papers thct twas n good thing for lh health IT he aint related re-lated t Ananias lies kin t Sophiry his wife In relating the Incident n the sugarhouse sugar-house Jedluh said that Bin Jim Tones hs hired man had come upon the bear Just as lie opened the door He had remained late the night before boiling down the Sunday run of sap and going borne left the lire burning and the house open to cool off the steel evaporator which inall good sugar camp Is now used In place of the oldtime kettles I was comparatively comparative-ly 1 dark Inside and Jim was almost up to the firebox when he heard a low bloodcurdling growl The hirer mans hair rose up and crowded his cap as a big black bear got up from in front of the fire and slunk out of the door The man was Sc o frightened that for a moment he stood rooted to the spot Then he rushed to the loor and looked out The bear hid c disappeared In the woods and Jim doubted bum own senses until I the deacon arrived and declared lie had seen the animal making for the mountains moun-tains Zeke and Marlar remained firmly convinced that the deacon was the allliredest liar that ever hlsted a milk yoke until the following day when Squire Amos Whlttaker came down from the Slash fOI sap pails Xeke was in the store whither he had gone to invest in a newlyadvertised cureall for Murlar who like most Vermont farmers wives Indulges in patent mudlcines Did ye hear bout Si Jackson carelessly inquired the Squire after inspecting I in-specting several pails Nuthin sense he ketched 1 sliver gray fox last week replied the storekeeper store-keeper l acting as spokesman for the crowd of loungers who scented 1 choce bit of gosssip I hope th haint nothing strous happened t him Waal ye might say th hex an then 3agln ye might say th haint volun terecl the Squire holding up a pail and taking r careful squint for holes These here buckets dont seem t be cs stanch as them I got last week he added Sis turrble onlucky volunteerd Josh Whitcomb by way of helping matters mat-ters along Yls yls so he Is mostlj admitted the Squire but t seems t me a he was tolrable lucky this time The circle narrowed and the audience became attentive Ye know Sis hired man died ot pneumony Sunday he went on still squinting for possible leaks Leaves him turrlble short for help Pete Wood allowed that they had heard the news N Th young fellers relasuions couldnt git over from Rutland onlll tday ands and-s Ms Jacksons a narvous critter Si said hed set up with lh remains I cnllate he didnt like tIm job overmuch over-much but he got some apples an begun be-gun watch after th folks bed gone f bed lie got mighty fidgety long bout midnight but ho stuck i out an in th momin after he had finished th chores he went t bed Si haint tapped tin so he could When t come along night Ms Jackson Jack-son offered t set in th iv > om next th corpse where she wouldnt hev t look at th coffin but Si said that wouldnt be arthldox an hed try 1 agin They lied 1tIi remains in tho parlor par-lor under th spare room an next t1 th setlinroom an th mice on lh inside an th moles outside grit on Sis narves till he cold hardly I set still There was a Ire in th settinroom where Ms Jackson hed left a little snack f eat t long In the night but th parlor was as cold as a barn an Sis teeth got t chatterin He wan jest athlnkin hed go out an1 git a bite when th clock struck Ian I-an lie heard ih dishes on th table rattlin Si says himself thet his hair rlz right up an his teeth come tgeLhpr 50 vllent bet he bit right hit his tongue Ha stood still an listened an bymby he heard siithln I movln round near th stove He looked at th hired mans remains an thought he almost seen his eyelids quiver Jest then a knllo fell an SI got numb all over There was more movin an sunlhin come up t I th parlor door an began t push it open Si was s scat that he couldnt hev tuck a step T lh hired mans corpse hell sot up In lh coffin for all f a suddenl he seen 1 baar poke his nose in th door an lake a look at him There was a rope round his neck an he looked sorted peeked The baar sniffed n while an then went out an sot down by lh stove But he kept an eye on Si He seemed t like th heat an kept rubbln his nose up an down on his paws Finally he lay down Si dastnt yell fer fear C scnrin Ms Jackson an he dnslnt move fem fear th baard make a mpal oft him er tim corpse So he stood still for most an hour At th end f thet time th lire went out an lh baar begun be-gun t shiver Finally the orltter went Int the 111011611 and out through th shed door I reckon Ill take about IhuLty C them pulls concluded th Squire and satherlwr them up he left Silas verified the story Wednesday and since there have been many reports re-ports of Bruins depredation Ho has frightened learns visited schoolhotises Invadcd church sheds and robbed rabbit rab-bit warrens Three timer dogs havo been plnced on his track but the bear has always made for the Deers Leap caves and escaped The last time he was scon he had rid himself of the rope but time fur has been worn nit around his nock and he will be a marked animal for months to come Pittslield Vl Cor New York World |