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Show BOY HUNTER'S TOUGH LUCK. Found His Bear, but Did Not Uavo 1 as Huch Tun as Ha Ex pected. L W. Slack, a young hunter of Wll-llamrport. Wll-llamrport. Pa., has always wanted to meet a bear ln the woods, and, being a good shot with a gun and a,very successful suc-cessful bird hunter, had no doubt that when tha anticipated pleasure came to him ho would promptly dispatch bruin, and bo nblo to tell about It with tho other hunters when they congrogate and relate etorles threshed out of their season with the gun. His ambition was fully appeased this week. In such a thorough way that tho next time he meets a bear he will bo suro hat ho Is prepared to cope with h m " comes to close quarters with tho hu'ky animal Tho bear that youni, black met not only wan not the easy victim that ha had nlwajs Imagined that a black bear would be, but came very near being be-ing the victor ln tho fray As was his custom, Slock went sarly this week to tho home ot his friend, l a-kln, a-kln, nt Strawbridge, and from .there Btnrted across tho mountain to a hunting hunt-ing camp on foot, while Hdkln drove a wngon load of provisions around by way of the long road As they parted, Slack assured his friend that ho would meet him on tho other Bide ot the mountain with the bear skin that he had vv Ishcd for bo long He had covered half tho distance on foot and was beginning be-ginning to think that he was to have his usunl bad luck, w hen emerging from a thicket Into a little clenrlng, he saw a big bear coming shambling toward to-ward him , . Tho young hunter at onco threw his gun to his shoulder and filed two loads of blrdshot directly nt the animals head To his utter Burprlse the hear fell In his tracks Slack threw oft all caution and rdshed to his prey, without stopping to reload his gun. He had reached a point within n few' feet of the Blinggy black coat when an ominous grow 1 greeted his ears An Instant later the bear struggled to his feet rind in on awkward, lumbering way made fortbe m in who had fired the shot The hunter hunt-er made for n tree, closely followed by the Bear, but he succeeded In reaching a small chestnut and, still cllnslnr to his gun, climbed to a convenient limb, where ho sat and panted for breath. He felt considerably chagrined thdt his first experience with a bear should take so Inglorious a turn Hut tho excitement was not over. Druln reached tho bofoiri or tTTe treo and began to claw at the trunk Before long Slack wished that ho had tnken refuge ln a bigger tree Tho chestnut on which he had at first felt perfectly secure, swayed nnd groaned and threatened threat-ened every moment to shake hlln off. Tortunatcly, he had put several ball cnrttldges In his belt when he started . out and ho began to look for theso as the tree swayed But n peculiar circumstance cir-cumstance made the result ot his search useless. He had purchased and used In his first sholB shells that wero a qunr-ter qunr-ter of un Inch too long for hi' gun. The result was that tho paper shells stuck ln tho barrel, and his utmost effort failed to dislodge them. Then he thought of his dog, and whistled loud and long for him But the dog was off on a hunt ot his own. nnd did not know what big game his master had found. Tor n long time the hunter aat on his uncomfortabK r,trch, thinking as to the best course to rursue. Hi cry minute min-ute ho grew more tired holding1 on. Finally, however, the bear sat back on his haunches und growled at his victim This gavo Slack an opportunity to work with his gurr. He drew hlsknlfo aand carefully cut away the shells that stuck In tho barrel It was a tedious task, but finally was accomplished Overjoyed, tho joung man was nbout to load, when his dog came bounding Into view and nt once engaged the bear s attention The dog did not relish a battle bat-tle with this kind of a foe, and at once made off, tho bear following at an awkward, awk-ward, but fast pace, and before tho ball shells could be slipped Into tho gun, dog nnd bear had disappeared Into tho woods Tho hunter hurried down from tho tree, again calling frantically to tho dog, hut to no avail They wero gone, and with them the chance to get the bear, after suffering the Ignominy of being treed and held prlwncr for half an hour Philadelphia Publlo Lodger. |