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Show ill ,iii mi imiiiiunn.wmum'anraecsinniiUMu i n 'lima T0EY AND THE BEAE-, A MANEUVER OVER WHICH THE WISE OLD NATIVES DIFFERED. Toby Was tho Smartest Bear Dos In All tho Woods, and Ills Oxrnor Wouldn't Have Sold Him For SlOO, bat Ho Wasn't Cut Out For nn Acrobat. "I had a dog named Toby when waa living up in tho Pennsylvania lumber lum-ber woods, " said George W. Reynolds of the National Lumber company. "H was a boar dog. Bears, as every one knows who ever lived among them, hats dogs beyond everything else, two legged or four legged, and will frequently give up a good chance to escape from a pur-euing pur-euing hunter just for the satisfaction oi waiting for tho dog that is yelping behind be-hind him and taking a fall out of him tvheu ho comes up, a fall that usually onds the dog's career, especially if it ii a deg not especially trained to hunt the bear. "This dog Toby of mino was famou? all through these woods. Ho was ao-knowlodged ao-knowlodged to be the most accomplished accomplish-ed dog when it came to getting tho besi of bear that had ever been in that country, coun-try, and if any banter didn't catch s bear when Toby was along it wasn't the dog's fault. Onco Toby was borrowed by a man named Crowley, who knew whore a couple of bears were hanging out. Tho dog routed them out and drove them plumb to Crowloy, who could easily eas-ily havo shot them both, but instead, when ho saw them coming, he cut and ran. Tim Bull, who had gone along with Crowley on the hunt, said that Toby just stood still and gazed in amazement amaze-ment after tho flying hunter. Crowley, seeing that tho bears had got away, sow camo hack. Tho dog showed his opinio: of Crowley by bristling up and growl ing savagely and threatoningly at hin for a few seconds. Then he quit and went home. Ever after that Toby would snap and growl at Crowloy whenever h saw him. "Ono day I was looking over a logging log-ging job I had contracted for and discovered discov-ered signs of bear along tho creek. Next day Toby and I went out to see what wo could do with the bear. We sooii struck tho trail, and Toby located the bear in a small patch of laurels, from which ho soon routed bruin. He brought the bear to bay in a little open space in a piece of c! strmt timber. There was no necessity u ao bear turning at bay, but he evidently wantod to gnt a whack at Toby. I could have easily scut a bul-lot bul-lot through tho bear, but having the utmost ut-most confidence in Toby's smartness, and seeing that the boar was anxious tc put his smartness against the dog's, concluded to lot him have tho ohance and to enjoy tho sport of a few minutes' maneuvering between the two. "It was fun. Toby worried tho already al-ready ugly old chap with tricks and quick movemonts until tho bear waa wild with rage. Do what ho might, he couldn't get a blow or a bite in on Toby, while Toby got a nip at xho boar at almost al-most every turn. This amusing dance lasted I. r ten minntes, and I felt so proud of my dog that I declared there and then that it would take a good deal more than a $100 bill to buy him. "Some wise old natives of those woods assured mo afterward that what this bear finally did was a premeditated ace, deliberately and successfully carried out as planned. Others deolared that it wag an afterthoncht of tho boar's. I mysoli held and hold yt that it was entirely an accident, because I will not admit that there ever was a bear smart enough to get tho better of Toby by design. "After sparring and rushing fruitlessly fruitless-ly at the dog for ten minutes the beat put Lis baok against a tree and breathed hard for at least a minute. Then it sud-denly sud-denly dropped to all fours and hurried toward another treo a rod or so away. Toby followed, and as tho bear started to climb the treo seized it by ono of ita hams. Although tho dog must have set his teeth deep in tho flesh, the bear did not stop on his way, but climbed on as if nothing wa3 worrying him. Tho dog held on and was lifted from tho ground es the bear climbed. Tho higher tho beat went tho tight ir Toby appeared to hang on to its roar, and presently he waa swinging in the air 15 feet from the ground. "The sight was so funny that I jnsi tumbled on the ground and roared. The bear stopped wher about 15 feet up the trunk of tho tree, clung there for a moment, mo-ment, and then lee loose. He came dowr like a pile driver. When he struck a tho bottom of tho tree, Toby was between be-tween him and the ground. There was a faint yelp, and that waa all. Three hundred pounds of bear had flattened 40 pounds of dog out of all kind oi shape. The catastrophe was so sudden and unexpected that before I could recover re-cover from tho painful surprise it gave me the bear had disappeared in the laurels. lau-rels. There never was a smarter beai dog than Toby, but he wasn't cut oui for an acrobat. Thero is whore ho made his mistake. Thero never was a smartej dog than Toby, nor was thco ever a deader ono when that bear &ot off of biin." New York Sun. |