Alabama	~2-.	18~

sh& wanted dat little bear. He ain‘t seed me a—settln‘ ~ so I snuck up real cautiou~ like, an~ afore he knowed it I had dat little debil a-.squealin‘ in ~ about to start home wid him, when I hears a rustlin‘ in de bushes an‘ afore I went • ten feets, here come a big, black bear a-lopin‘ aIon~ r1~ht outen dem willow trees. I drop ctat little critter ~aze I knowed dat wu~~iis mammy ~n‘ she was ravin‘ mad. When I let de little feller
~Lk~t~
fall it mustt‘hurt him sotnp‘n awful gaze he how1~ie4 dan eber, an‘

went a limpin‘ up to his mammy. Well, suh, dat oie woman she got
	.	~1~)L~?	~~I/

so mad shé made ~e4 me ~l~~~‘two bolts of iightnin‘1~ut dese here feets of mine be~1n a-~doin‘ dere stuff. I knowed she was a~gainin‘ on me so I lets out a whoop for help. S‘he chased rne~c~oss dat empty fiels an‘ ‘bout dat time I seen big Jim a—eo~nin‘ through a
	~	4P~1~	ir‘
row of ~ “Hurry Big Jim, ‚ I calls, ‘a bear is ~4‘e~ met‘ Big ~im was de biggest nigger on our place. He must have weighed as uuc~1 as a half a bale of cotton. ~ was jus‘ ‘bout gittin‘ to de
	~	‘2O-7~MJ	“~II ~
a~• of de ~e€ivn when dat bear ~ me. He give nie a slap wid.
.	~


his paw an ‚ I goes down wid. ray ~	i‘ up de dus ‚ . L~y back felt like somebod~y done put~ a. hot iron on it. Dat bear was a mean one. I was expectin‘ her to ehaw rae up an‘ I drawed my body up in a knot and. kivered. my haid wid. my hands an‘ waited. But dat bear neber touch me ~ . ~I kinda snuck my eye aroun ‚ an ‚ I saw big Jim havin‘ it out wid her. Jim, he had a long knife an‘ dey was a—tumblin‘ an‘ a—rollln‘ in de dust, while I sot dere wid my eyes apoppin‘ outen my h~id. an‘ my back feelin‘ like it was broke. Jim he wrap hi s less un‘ dat bear an‘ 1fore you knowed it he had. done stuck dat oie critter a dozen times wid. dat knife.

“About fifteen minutes later me an‘ Jim was a~walkin‘ back