When our cows were let out in summer they would frequently go 
     
     to the meadows in the woods and swamp and wander away quite a 
     
     distance. In getting them home we often had narrow escapes from 
     
     bears. One day one of our cows got stuck in the deep mud in the 
     
     swamp. It was nearly night when my brother and I found her. We 
     
     had to get help to lift her out; by this time it was too dark to get her 
     
     home, so we pulled her up on a little island, or dry place, out in the 
     
     swamp, we fed her and left her there all night. When we went in 
     
     the morning to bring her home we saw the fresh tracks of a great bear 
     
     near the place. He had tried to get the cow but the mud was so 
     
     soft and deep he did not venture out. We were afraid he would 
     
     jump out of the thicket when we were getting the cow home. It was 
     
     no fun to meet a bear in the woods. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Jim’s Wild Race Past Bears 
     
    
   
   
    
     My brother, Jim, went into the woods one evening for the 
     
     cows. He could not find them and was returning when near the clear- 
     
     ing he saw a mother bear with cubs ahead of him on the side of the 
     
     road on which he was coming out. He could not get by them without 
     
     almost running into them. If he went off the road he would be in 
     
     the thick woods; that would be more dangerous; he saw his only chance 
     
     of escape was to get to the fence at the clearing or field, not far be- 
     
     yond the bears; they would not pursue him over and beyond the 
     
     fence. But how to get by the bears was the problem to be solved. 
     
     Whatever he did had to be done quickly, as it was near night. He 
     
     was a strong smart boy, or young man. He took off his boots and 
     
     with desperate determination started for the fence. It looked like 
     
     running almost into the bear’s jaws. It was a daring act but it proved 
     
     successful. He swept by the bears with such a rush that it startled 
     
     them for a moment and he was over the fence before they could start 
     
     after him. He cleared the fence with a jump and struck across the 
     
     field for home. He did not wait to look back to see whether or not 
     
     the bears were following. He was about exhausted when he reached 
     
     the house. It was a home run any baseball player might be proud of. 
     
    
   
   
    
     When I got big enough to carry a gun I often went alone into 
     
     the wood, hunting, and sometimes followed bears until their tracks in- 
     
    
   
   
    
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