3. "The poor animal was so completely surrounded by enemies, that he became bewildered. He raised himself upon his hind feet, standing almost erect, his mouth partly open, and from his protruding tongue the blood fell fast in drops. While in this position he received about six more balls, each of which made him reel. At last, as in complete desperation, he dashed into the water, and swam several yards with astonishing strength and agility, the guns cracking at him constantly.

4. "But he was not to proceed far. Just then Richardson, who had been absent, rode up, and fixing his deadly aim upon him, fired a ball into the back of his head, which killed him instantly. The strength of four men was required to drag the ferocious brute from the water, and upon examining his body he was found completely riddled; there did not appear to be four inches of his shaggy person, from the lips upwards, that had not received a ball.

5. "There must have been at least fifty shots made at him, and probably few missed him; yet such was his tenacity of life, that I have no doubt he would have succeeded in crossing the river, but for the last shot in the brain. He would probably weigh, at the least, six hundred pounds, and was about the height of an ordinary steer. The spread of the foot, laterally, was ten inches, and the claws measured seven inches in length. This animal was remarkably lean; when in good condition he would doubtless much exceed in weight the estimate I have given.

6. "At some other time one of our men had a somewhat perilous adventure with a grizzly bear. He saw the animal crouching his huge frame in some willows which skirted the river, and approaching him on horseback to within twenty yards, fired upon him. The bear was only slightly wounded by the shot, and, with a fierce growl of angry malignity, rushed from his cover, and gave chase.

7. "The horse happened to be a slow one, and for the

distance of half a mile the race was hard contested, the bear frequently approaching so near the terrified animal as to snap at his heels, while the equally terrified rider, who had lost his hat at the start, used whip and spur with the most frantic diligence, frequently looking behind, from an influence which he could not resist, at his rugged and determined foe, and shrieking in an agony of fear, 'shoot him! shoot him!'

8. "The man, when the race for life began, happened to be about a mile behind the main body, either from the indolence of his horse or his own carelessness; but as he approached the party in his front, about a dozen of them rode to his assistance, and soon succeeded in diverting the attention of his pertinacious foe. After he had received the contents of all the guns, he fell, and was soon despatched. The man rode in among his fellows, pale and haggard from overwrought feelings, and was probably effectually cured of a propensity for meddling with grizzly bears."

Audubon and Bachman.

CI.-A VILLAGE LAWSUIT.

plaint'-iff, the person who begins a law suit; Kläger.
in'-ter-val, a space between things; Zwischenraum.
de-fend'-ant, the person who is sued; der Verklagte.
hi-e-ro-glyph'-ic, picture-writing; Bilderschrift.
debt'-or, one who owes something to another; Schuldner.
re-cov'-er, to get again; wiedererlangen.

spar'-ring, a quarrel; Streit.

in-ter-fere ́, to intermeddle; sich einmengen.

ev'-i-dence, means of proof; Zeugnis; Beweis.

al-lege', to affirm; behaupten.

dun, to ask for payment; mahnen.

scru'-ti-nize, to search closely; untersuchen.

am'-i-ca-ble, friendly; freundlich.

ad-just-ment, settlement; Schlichtung.

ob'-vi-ous-ly, apparently; augenscheinlich.

1. The court was held at the house of the plaintiff, one

portion of which was used as a country store. the ceremonies were about to commence.

In this room

A few broad

2. There were no counters or desks. shelves, clumsily put up on one side, offered the only indication of the use to which the room was devoted.

3. On the shelves were scattered, at intervals, small bunches of hoes, bed-cords, and similar articles; while casks of nails, grindstones, quintals of dried salt fish, and the like, arranged round the room on the floor, made up the rest of the owner's merchandise.

4. The only table and chair were now occupied by the justice; the heads of casks, grindstones, or bunches of rakes serving for seats for the rest of the company.

5. On the left of the justice sat the defendant, whose composed look and knowing smile seemed to indicate his confidence in the strength of his defense. On the other side sat Bunker, the plaintiff in the suit.

6. The parties were now called and sworn, and Bunker proceeded at once to explain the merits of his case.

7. He produced and spread open his account-book, and then went on to show his manner of charging, which was wholly by hieroglyphics, generally designating the debtor by picturing him out at the top of the page with some peculiarity of his person or calling.

8. In the present case, the debtor, who was a cooper, was designated by the rude picture of a man in the act of hooping a barrel; and the article charged, there being but one item in the account, was placed immediately beneath, and was represented by a circular figure, which the plaintiff said was intended for a cheese that had been sold to the defendant some years before.

9. "Now, may it please your Honor," said Bunker, after explaining in a direct, off-hand manner his peculiar method of book-keeping, "now, the article here charged the

man had — I will, and do swear to it, for here it is in black and white. And I having demanded my pay, and he having not only refused it, but denied ever buying the article in question, I have brought this suit to recover my just due. And now I wish to see if he will get up here in court, and deny the charge. If he will, let him-but guilt will rest on his soul."

10. "Well, sir,” replied the defendant, promptly rising, "you shall not be kept from your wish one moment; for I here do declare that I never had a cheese of you in my life."

11. "Well, well," exclaimed Bunker, with looks of utter astonishment, "I would not have believed that there was a man in this county that would dare to do that."

12. Some sparring now took place between the parties. The justice, however, interfered: "Gentlemen," said he, "the complaint and the answer to the same are at complete issue; but, as the plaintiff has the evidence of the book on his side, I shall be compelled, in the present aspect of the case, to give the decision in his favor."

13. Upon this, the defendant called on two of his neighbors, who testified that he always made a sufficient supply of cheese for his family. They further testified that, within their knowledge, in the year of the alleged purchase the defendant, instead of buying, had actually sold a considerable quantity of the article.

14. This evidence seemed to settle the question in the mind of the justice, and he soon announced that he felt bound to give judgment to the defendant for his costs.

15. "Now, Mr. Bunker," said the defendant, after coolly pocketing his costs, "now, that it is all settled, I am just going to convince you that I am not the one that has made a false oath in this business."

16. "Well, we shall see," rejoined Bunker, eyeing his opponent with a look of mingled doubt and defiance.

17. "Yes, we shall see," responded the other in a determined manner; we shall see if we can not make you eat your own words. But I wish first to tell you where you missed it. When you dunned me, Bunker, for the pay for a cheese, and I said I never had one of you, you went off a little too quick: you called me a liar before giving me a chance to say another word. And then I thought I would let you take your own course, till you took that name back. If you had held on a minute without breaking out so upon me, I would have told you just how it was, and you would have got your pay on the spot; but-"

18. "Pay!" fiercely interrupted Bunker. "Then you admit you had the cheese, do you?"

19. "No, sir, I admit no such thing, for I still say I never had a cheese of you in the world. But I did have a small grindstone of you at the time, and at just the price you have charged for your supposed cheese; and here is your money for it, sir. Now, Bunker, what do you say to that?"

20. "Grindstone, cheese, cheese, grindstone!" muttered Bunker, now evidently puzzled and doubtful. He took a few rapid turns about the room, and occasionally stopped at the table to scrutinize anew his hieroglyphical charge.

21. "I must think this matter over again. Grindstone,— cheese, cheese,-grindstone,-ah! I have it! but may I be forgiven for what I have done! It was a grindstone, but I forgot to make a hole in the middle for a crank."

22. Upon this curious disclosure, the opposing parties were not long in effecting an amicable adjustment. In a short time the company broke up, all obviously as much gratified as amused at this singular but happy result of the lawsuit.

D. P. Thompson.