CHAPTER XVII
LONG JERRY'S STORY
"Ol' man Bennett," began Jerry Todd, "warn't a native of this necko' woods. He come up from Jarsey, or some such place, and bringed hisfam'bly with him, and Sally Bennett. She was his sister, and as hewas a pretty upstandin' man, so was she a tall, well-built gal. Shesartain made a hit up here around Scarboro and along Rollin' River.
"But she wasn't backwoods bred, and the other girls said she wastimid and afraid of her shadder," chuckled Long Jerry. "She warn'tafraid of the boys, and mebbe that's why the other gals said sharpthings about her," pursued the philosophical backwoodsman. "Youmisses know more about that than I do--sure!
"Howsomever, come the second spring the Bennetts had been up here,Mis' Bennett, old Bill's wife, was called down to see her ma, thatwas sick, they said, and that left Miss Sally to keep house. Come thefirst Saturday thereafter and Bennett, _he_ had to go to Scarboroto mill.
"You know jest how lonesome it is up here now; 'twas a whole sightwuss in them days. There warn't no telephone, and it was more than'two hoots and a holler,' as the feller said, betwixt neighbors.
"But Old Bill's going to mill left only Miss Sally and the threelittle boys at home. Bennett had cleared a piece around the house,scratched him a few hills of corn betwixt the stumps the year before,and this spring was tryin' to tear out the roots and small stumpswith a pair o' steers and a tam-harrer.
"So, from the door of the cabin he'd built, Sally could see thevirgin forest all about her, while she was a-movin' about the roomgetting dinner for the young 'uns. While she was at work the littlestfeller, Johnny, who was building a cobhouse on the floor, yelps uplike a terrier:
"'Aunt Sally! Aunt Sally! Looker that big dog!"
"Miss Sally, she turns around, an' what does she see but a big brownbear--oh, a whackin' big feller!--with his very nose at the open door."
"Oh!" squealed Helen.
"How awful!" cried Belle Tingley.
"A mighty onexpected visitor," chuckled Jerry. "But, if she wasscar't, she warn't plumb stunned in her tracks--no, sir! She gave aleap for the door and she swung it shut right against Mr. B'ar'snose. And then she barred it."
"Brave girl," said Mrs. Murchiston.
"I reckon so, ma'am," agreed the guide. "And then she rememberedthat Tom and Charlie, the other two boys, were gone down the hill toa spring for a bucket of fresh water.
"There were two doors to the cabin, directly opposite each other,and they'd both been open. The spring was reached from the other doorand Miss Sally flew to it and saw the boys just comin' up the hill.
"'Run, boys, run!' she screams. 'Never mind the water! Drop it andrun! There's a b'ar in the yard! Run! Run!'
"And them boys _did_ run, but they held fast to their bucketand brought most of the water inter the house with 'em. Then MissSally barred that door, too, and they all went to the winder andpeeped out. There was Mister B'ar snoopin' about the yard, andlookin' almost as big as one of the steers.
"He went a-sniffin' about the yard, smellin' of everything likeb'ars do when they're forragin', s'archin' for somethin' ter tempthis appetite. Suddenly he stood stock still, raised his big head, andsniffed the air keen-like. Then he growled and went straight for thepig-pen.
"'Oh, the pigs! the pigs!' squealed one of the boys. 'The nice pigs!He'll eat 'em all up!'
"And there was a good reason for their takin' on," said Jerry, "fortheir next winter's meat was in that pen--a sow and five plump littleporkers.
"'Oh, Aunty Sally,' cries one of the bigger boys, 'What shall we do?What'll father say when he comes back and finds the pigs killed?'
"Ye see," continued Long Jerry, shaking his head, "it was a tragedyto them. You folks livin' in town don't understand what it means fora farmer to lose his pigs. Old Bennett warn't no hunter, and wildmeat ain't like hog-meat, anyway. If the b'ar got those porkers themyoung 'uns would go mighty hungry the next winter.
"Miss Sally, she knew that, all right, and when the boy says: 'Whatshall we do?' she made up her mind pretty quick that she'd got to_try_ ter do sumpin'--yes, sir-ree! She run for her brother's riflethat hung over the other door.
"'I'm goin' to try and shoot that b'ar, boys,' says she, jest asfirm as she could speak.
"'Oh, Aunt Sally! you can't,' says Tom, the oldest.
"'I don't know whether I can or not till I try,' says she. She feltlike Miss Ruthie did--eh?" and the long guide chuckled. "No tellin'whether you kin do a thing, or not, till you have a whack at it.
"'Don't you try it, Aunt Sally,' says Charlie. 'He might kill you.'
"'I won't give him a chance at me,' says she. 'Now boys, let me outand mind jest what I say. If anything _does_ happen to me, don'tyou dars't come out, but go in and bar the door again, and stay tillyour father comes back. Now, promise me!'
"She made 'em promise before she ventured out of the door, and thenshe left 'em at the open door, jest about breathless with suspenseand terror, while Miss Sally sped across the yard toward the pig-pen.Mister Ba'r, he'd torn down some of the pine slabs at one corner andgot into the pen. The old sow was singin' out like all Kildee, andthe little fellers was a-squealin' to the top o' their bent. The b'arsmacked one o' the juicy little fellers and begun to lunch off'n himjest as Miss Sally come to the other end o' the pen.
"His back was towards her and he didn't notice nothin' but his porkvittles," pursued Long Jerry. "She crept up beside him, poked thebarrel of the Winchester through the bars of the pen, rested it onone bar, and pulled the trigger. The ball went clear through the oldfeller's head!
"But it takes more'n one lucky shot to kill a full grown brownb'ar," Jerry said, shaking his head. "He turned like a flash, andwith a horrid roar, made at her, dropping the pig. His huge carcasssmashing against the pen fence, snapped a white-oak post right off atthe ground, and felled two lengths of the fence.
"But Miss Sally didn't give up. She backed away, but she keptshootin' until she had put three more balls into his big carcass. Hesprung through the broke-down fence to get at her; but jest as he gotoutside, the blood spouted out of his mouth, and he fell down,coughing and dying. 'Twas all over in ten seconds, then."
"My goodness!" gasped Jennie Stone. "How dreadful."
"But wasn't she a brave girl?" cried Helen.
"Not a bit braver than Ruthie," said her twin, stoutly.
"I could almost forgive you for spoiling our taffy after that,Master Tom," declared Helen. "Is that all the story, Mr. Todd?" sheadded, as the long guide rose up to go.
"Pretty near all, I reckon, Missy," he returned. "Nobody didn'tnever say Sally Bennett was afraid, after she'd saved Bill's meat forhim. And that ol' b'ar pelt was a coverin' on her bed till she wasmarried, I reckon. But things like that don't happen around herenow-a-days. B'ars ain't so common--and mebbe gals ain't so brave,"and he went away, chuckling.