They say bear is tastiest in late fall because the animals have been feeding for weeks on acorns,

but it was pelts my friends wanted. It was early morning when luck blessed us, a she bear in her

cubs at the edge of a swamp. We cut the canoe in sharply toward shore and muffled our paddles,

and not until we beach did the three of them run, the two cubs scrambling to the top of a tree

where they commenced to wine-like puppies. Mama grew and doubled back the moment she missed her

offspring and faced us. Partly rising on her hind legs, Swanson brought his rifle out of

his shoulder, and at the flash she fell where she'd stood. We went over and were looking at her

black coat. When suddenly instead of a dead bear we had a very live one, and the wage origin I got

out of reach was very rapid but ineligant. Swany fidgeted two long swanny huh? Yeah,

Swany. That name threw me off of it. That's not a real name. Swany fidgeted two with his long

gun, or so it seemed. Finally he fired, and she was ours for good. The boys began taking the

skin, and then George decided he also wanted a cub, both of whom were still cowering in the tree

top. A shot to the head brought one tumbling down. Seeing this gave Rusty bear fever, and he

declared he wanted the other cub alive. With some difficulty, they shook him out of the tree.

Once the mother bear was skinned, we took the live cub with us, but the little bear would not

sit still in the boat so we let him go. He seemed tame enough then, and I stroked him on the back

before he disappeared in the bushes. We floated down to Rainbow Lake, landed, and George soon had

a splendid trout dinner cooked. That night, when the fire was fading, old sturgis stopped by.

He must have been about 80, smoked along, church warden pipe, and owned property there about,

a local character. When we mentioned our encounter with the bear, and the cubs, he puffed thoughtfully

for a moment and said, it reminds me of an incident up here long ago. The four of us exchanged

glances. We were already in our sleeping bags and bone tired. No one was in the mood for one of

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