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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79271 ***
+
+
+                       BROWN EYES AND BROWN BEAR
+
+                      By Frank Richardson Pierce
+
+      Alaska—there’s bear and bear—but brown ones don’t come tame
+
+
+        [Note: This edition preserves the light punctuation of the
+        story’s original 1925 appearance in North•West Stories
+        magazine, including its sparing use of commas.]
+
+“For two cents, Dave, I’d knock your block off—honest I would!”
+
+“You ain’t man enough, Sam,” returned Dave Sloan with a cheerful grin.
+“However if you ain’t satisfied in your own mind, here’s two cents.”
+
+Dave handed his partner a nickel.
+
+“And keep the change!” he added, generously.
+
+Sam pocketed the nickel and flushed. This was followed by a period of
+silence.
+
+“Well,” suggested Dave, “here I am and there’re no fences around you!”
+
+Sam scratched his head doubtfully.
+
+“What’s eating you anyway,” demanded Dave. “I can tell by the gleam in
+your eye you are half fooling. If I thought you really meant it I’d have
+popped you one on the jaw five minutes ago. When you see trouble coming,
+wade in, is my motto. You’re lucky to find yourself altogether, so
+unbosom yourself.”
+
+“I always did hate women, that is I never liked ’em none, but I’m hanged
+if I’m going to see a woman deceived and lied to even if my best friend
+is doing it. Five years we’ve knocked about Alaska together and it’s the
+first time I ever knew of you lying to anybody.”
+
+Dave flushed, half-advanced.
+
+“If you are meaning that little tourist girl....”
+
+“I’m meaning her. You told her you were the best bear shot in Alaska and
+that once a man had hired you——”
+
+“Well....”
+
+“Well you never killed a bear in your life, but you told her among a lot
+of other things that once a girl friend wanted a bear skin the color of
+her eyes and you went out and got it. That was a lie! Bill Halsey was
+the one that done that!”
+
+“That was before I fell in love with her,” Dave replied, “then she was
+only a tourist and when tourists come to Alaska they expect to be lied
+to. If nobody lies to them they are disappointed with the country and
+the people and I’m an Alaska booster first last and all time. Later——”
+
+“You fell in love with her and now you’re engaged. Well, I don’t believe
+in mixing into other people’s affairs, but I don’t aim to have that
+little girl deceived. She’s told everybody with the light of pride
+shining in her eyes that you’re the greatest bear hunter in Alaska and
+nobody has the heart to deceive her. I’m going to tell her you’re the
+salt of the earth except in the matter of bears—in that respect you’re
+the biggest liar in Alaska and that’s putting it as strong as it’s
+possible.”
+
+“Listen, Sam, we’ve never had a word between us nor struck a blow, but
+if you get me in a mess you’ve got to get me out of it. If you don’t
+I’ll run you until your ankles melt even if you are running on ice.”
+
+With this half serious threat Dave Sloan departed.
+
+For several moments Sam was thoughtful.
+
+“It ain’t right,” he muttered. “It’s all right to lie if people know you
+are lying, but Mary Hanna thinks Dave is a god—which he pretty nearly
+is. Well ... here goes!”
+
+Sam slipped on his parka and snowshoes and broke trail to Mary’s home.
+Mary had fallen in love with Alaska and one of its sons and was doing
+very well teaching school despite her youth. She greeted Sam warmly for
+perhaps she sensed she was robbing him of his partner.
+
+Sam returned the greeting and summoned sufficient courage to look into
+her eyes. “My gosh!” he muttered, “her eyes are....”
+
+“What is the matter Sam are you ill?”
+
+“No, Mary, just kinda suffered a shock.” Sam was not one to beat about
+the bush. He plunged. “You know I’m the best friend, that is man-friend,
+Dave’s got?”
+
+“Yes, Sam!”
+
+“You know I swear by him and I’m for him!”
+
+“Yes, Sam!”
+
+“Then if I tell you he’s a liar you’ll understand I’m not knocking him!”
+
+“Hmmmm! I don’t know about that!”
+
+“Well, Mary, he’s honest except about bears. You might say he’s got a
+bear complex. The cuss never killed a bear in his life!”
+
+“Oh, Sam!” She was dismayed. “I don’t believe that. In fact I don’t want
+to believe it. That was one of the first things that made me like Dave.
+He seemed so brave in the face of wounded bears charging him. Now there
+are a million things I like about him.”
+
+“Here, too!” Sam felt uncomfortable. “But I figured somebody should tell
+you.”
+
+“Thanks, Sam, it was very thoughtful of you—but I don’t believe it. You
+are mistaken!”
+
+“Well I won’t argue the point, but I’ve done my duty. Maybe some day
+Dave will be the best bear hunter in Alaska, he’s pretty good at
+everything else.”
+
+“Just a moment Sam before you go. Did you ever kill a bear?”
+
+“I started to once, but he happened to be coming my way and I sort of
+lost the hankering when I saw how big he was. Well, good bye, and no
+hard feelings.” Sam sauntered away.
+
+Dave met his partner a hundred yards from Mary’s home.
+
+“Well, Sam I can see by your eye you did your duty. That’s all right but
+if you’ve gotten me into a mess, I’ll be around!”
+
+                *        *        *        *        *
+
+Mary Hanna was too clever to put Dave Sloan into a position from which
+escape was difficult. Instead she was diplomatic. She placed her hands
+on Dave’s broad shoulders and vamped him. “Dave, you remember the story
+you told about getting a bear rug to match your little girl friend’s
+eyes?”
+
+“She wasn’t much of a friend!” replied Dave, hastily.
+
+“Now that we are engaged it will be quite all right for me to ask a
+favor?”
+
+“Sure,” he replied, “shoot! It’s granted before it is even asked!”
+
+“Thanks, Dave, I knew you would do as much for me! I want a rug the
+exact shade of my eyes!”
+
+Dave’s heart skipped a beat, then he looked searchingly into the depths
+of those upturned eyes. No, he simply could not refuse anything she
+asked, but he was entitled to groan even as Sam had mentally groaned
+when he had looked into Mary’s eyes. “Sufferin’ malemutes. Your eyes are
+brown!”
+
+“And her eyes?”
+
+“Were black!”
+
+“What is the difference?”
+
+When a man lies he must stick to it. Dave was game.
+
+“The difference between a brown bear and a black bear!” he answered.
+
+“A bear is a bear!” she suggested.
+
+“Not in this country! A black bear is a friendly sort of a chap, but a
+brown bear is a rip-snorting, fire-eating mixture of muscle, bone, bad
+temper and claw!”
+
+“But you’ve killed them many times before and so there is no danger. You
+know how?”
+
+“Sure,” he answered weakly. “I’ll wait until the skin is prime then I’ll
+get a rug for you!”
+
+“Sam said the skins are at their best this time of the year!”
+
+“Sam talks too much, but he’s correct. I’ll go out in a day or two. I’ll
+have to get pretty well organized. I always believe in organization when
+it comes to brown bear. Let me look into your eyes again. Yep, I won’t
+forget the color now!” Dave kissed his fiancée and departed. Back in his
+mind he wondered if it was a farewell kiss. The story he had related
+many times to tourists came back to him. It was the story that impressed
+Mary Hanna with his greatness:
+
+    “... Well I had emptied my rifle and every shot had gone
+    home, and yet he came on, snarling and biting out chunks
+    of fur. There was nothing left to do but run and I ran for
+    the nearest tree. When you hunt bear you have to take into
+    consideration everything. I saw a pond ahead frozen over
+    and crossed it. As I figured, the bear broke through and
+    while he was getting out I had time to gain a bit. He came
+    on and the nearest tree was a half a mile away. Presently
+    I could feel his hot breath and I knew I had to do something.
+    Queer, but I must have taken him by surprise, for I pulled a
+    stunt I’ve seen the bull fighters in Mexico do. I let him
+    charge, side-stepped and drove my hunting knife into his
+    heart as he passed. That settled him. Finest skin I ever
+    saw. Got it in my cabin now. Mighty close shave, but that
+    was nothing to the time I was unarmed and being followed
+    by a grizzly and threw a skunk at him. That time....”
+
+Dave did not care to think of his famous bear stories, related so many
+times he was beginning to believe them himself. He followed the trail
+left by his partner to their cabin. Sam was expecting him and his manner
+was that of a man expecting physical combat. “We go bear hunting!”
+announced Sam.
+
+“We?”
+
+“Yes, we!”
+
+“No, you mean you,” answered Sam. “I looked into your girl’s eyes and
+they’re brown and it takes a large bear, one weighing close to a ton to
+match that shade of brown.”
+
+“What business you got looking into my girl’s eyes?” growled Dave.
+
+“I wanted to see what sort of a bear you had to hunt. Her eyes might
+have been blue or green....”
+
+“We take the trail in the morning,” Dave announced, “better oil up your
+rifle and get some grub ready. The Alaska Road Commission reports bear
+on Bear Creek which is the first Bear Creek I ever heard of that
+actually had bear near it. The Commission invites us to use their tents
+up there. That’ll save us packing our own tents. While you are getting
+the stuff together I’m going to talk to a couple of trappers and learn
+how to shoot bear.”
+
+Though reluctant to go, Sam decided all things considered he was getting
+off easy and agreed with enthusiasm, outwardly. He packed grub for the
+trail and examined dog sled and harness. It was dark when Dave Sloan
+returned. His mental state was very bad. He did not know it, but the
+trappers had lied to him very thoroughly and gotten away with it. Dave
+gathered from their accounts a hunter had less than a fifty-fifty chance
+with a bear in the open.
+
+                *        *        *        *        *
+
+It was late the following day that the pair made camp in one of the Road
+Commission’s grading camps. They stirred up a batch of sour dough, dried
+out the tent and made themselves at home. While Dave prepared the
+evening meal in the cook tent Sam overhauled two bunks in a structure
+serving in Summer as a bunk house.
+
+They ate the meal in silence and turned in immediately afterwards. The
+music of the river moving lazily between banks of snow lulled Sam to
+sleep, but Dave turned over frequently and counted sheep in an effort to
+slumber. His thoughts turned to bear.
+
+Down in his heart he knew there was more than a gentle request in her
+mind when Mary Hanna asked for a bear rug the color of her eyes. Perhaps
+there was even the faintest bit of jealousy, but Dave never thought of
+that. He knew that it was a plea to justify her faith in his prowess,
+and it was this desire to make good that was driving him forward
+mercilessly.
+
+Sam was snoring! At any other time Dave could have slept despite Sam’s
+snores, but now it was impossible. “Turn over on your side!” he growled,
+“and cut out that snoring!”
+
+Sam turned sleepily, there was silence, then he flopped back again. The
+snoring was resumed. Dave looked at his watch. Eleven o’clock. What a
+night! He was almost asleep after an eternity when Sam put on another
+record and snored louder than ever. Dave gathered up his blankets and
+made a bed on the floor of the cook tent. Presently he slept.
+
+It was not quite dawn that a three-year-old brown bear, rather large for
+his age, a hundred percent baby by conservative judging, emerged from a
+timbered ridge and made his way toward the river. Frequently he sniffed.
+Once in his life he had tasted bacon scraps left by a prospector and he
+had never forgotten either the taste nor the scent. As he came nearer
+the river the scent became stronger.
+
+He eyed the tents with interest and noted the presence of mankind, but
+being a brown bear he advanced rather than retreated. His keen nose led
+him to the cook tent. He entered and the flap fell behind him. His paws
+knocked over a coffee pot and two kettles in his efforts to reach the
+slab of bacon swinging just above. The rattle of the pot aroused the
+sleeper.
+
+“Getting breakfast, Sam? Had a devil of a night, on account of your
+snoring. Make that coffee strong!”
+
+The reply was a growl of deeper tones than Sam gave even in his grouchy
+moods. It was a sort of rumble as if the tones were being dragged over a
+washboard.
+
+Dave leaped from his blankets with a wild light in his eyes.
+
+“SAM!” he bellowed.
+
+Distant peaks echoed the word. The next moment Dave had hurled the
+table, dishes and all at the intruder. The rattle of tin was deafening.
+The bear plunged headlong into the tent wall and ropes. The tent
+collapsed and somewhere beneath the violent bulging a man and bear
+sought to escape.
+
+Sam leaped from his own tent and stood bare-footed in the snow with
+rifle in his hand. He did not know what to shoot at for bear and man
+made similar bulges in the wrecked tent.
+
+“Now’s your chance,” yelled Sam excitedly, “you’ll never have a better
+one. You always claimed when trouble came your way you waded in. Wade in
+and use your knife like you did in the story!”
+
+“He ain’t the right color!” screamed the desperate partner who somehow
+had gotten on the bottom with the table, minus legs on top and the bear
+on top of the table. Condensed milk trickled down his neck, the pepper
+box came open and the bear snorted. “Hurry Sam, he’s got me, I feel
+blood, my own cold blood trickling down my neck.”
+
+Sam leaped for the tent as the canvas was stained a deep red. The next
+instant he was sent sprawling as the seams parted and the bear emerged.
+Sam lifted his rifle and aimed. “Pink!” went the hammer as he pulled the
+trigger.
+
+“Dog gone! Forgot to slip a ca’tridge in after I cleaned it!”
+
+He jerked the lever, aimed and fired. The peaks echoed with the roar of
+the rifle, the bear dropped at the last shot and Sam stood with pink
+feet in the snow and empty rifle in his hands.
+
+“Just the color of her eyes, too!” he announced, trying to warm one foot
+against the calf of the other leg.
+
+The canvas parted and Dave Sloan emerged. In one hand he held the bread
+knife; his shirt was torn from his shoulders and across his chest were
+three furrows that only a bear’s claw could make. His back was covered
+with condensed milk, salt, pepper and butter, garnished with sugar. His
+brow and face were wet for he had perspired heavily during the brief
+interval of the bear’s arrival and departure.
+
+“I’m through!” he announced, “I’m through hunting bears and telling bear
+yarns. I’m going to throw myself on the mercy of the court. Never again
+do I claim to be the greatest bear hunter in Alaska. There are other
+honors a fellow can go after. Still, Sam, we may as well dress, go over
+and skin your bear!”
+
+“I aim to give it to her as a present if it ain’t too badly riddled with
+bullets!” He looked at his partner. “You sure had a swell chance to get
+him with that knife while he was clawing you.”
+
+Dave nodded.
+
+“Yep!” he admitted, “but I was trying to cut my way out. I did swing her
+at him a few times for luck, but mostly I was trying to cut my way out
+and when I did open a hole, the bear went through it.”
+
+                *        *        *        *        *
+
+Mary Hanna watched Sam spread a raw skin at her feet. It was a fine
+pelt, in prime condition.
+
+“Oh, Dave!” she cried, “let’s hear the story!”
+
+“I’m through telling bear yarns and now that I’ve had a real experience
+some of the lies I used to tell are better. Sam, if you feel like
+telling her this yarn go to it. I’ll back up anything you say!”
+
+Sam flushed!
+
+“I can’t make myself a hero and I ain’t going to try. Fact is on account
+of my snores Dave moved into the cook tent and the bear smelling bacon
+moved in too. Now I can’t tell you exactly what happened, nor can Dave
+because neither of us seen it.
+
+“Dave couldn’t see because he was too close for a good view and I
+couldn’t tell much by the bulges. Anyway the tent fell down and Dave
+and the bear went to it. Dave tackled him with a knife and stabbed him
+through the heart.”
+
+The girl seemed to freeze.
+
+“Dave and Sam, I am disappointed in you. You are fibbing to me again.
+The two trappers who told you a number of bear stories followed along to
+see the fun and they saw it. They tell me Sam emptied his rifle at the
+bear after he left the tent!”
+
+“Hah!” grunted Sam, “they told the truth; I did empty my rifle, but you
+see I must have been excited!”
+
+He held up the bear skin.
+
+“Not a hole in it except a single knife thrust over the heart. Shooting
+is one thing and hitting is something else!”
+
+He held the pelt close and looked deep into the girl’s eyes.
+
+“By heck, the color is the same!” he exclaimed.
+
+
+[Transcriber’s Note: This story appeared in North•West Stories,
+August, 1925. It is believed to be in the public domain in the
+United States; copyright status may differ in other countries.]
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79271 ***
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+<title>Brown Eyes and Brown Bear | Project Gutenberg</title>
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+<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79271 ***</div>
+
+<figure style="text-align:center; width:70%; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto">
+<img src="images/illus-fpc.jpg" alt="" style="max-width:100%; height:auto" aria-hidden="true">
+</figure>
+
+<h1>BROWN EYES AND BROWN BEAR</h1>
+<div style='text-align:center;'>
+    <div style='font-size:1.2em;'>
+        By Frank Richardson Pierce
+    </div>
+    <div style='font-size:0.9em; font-style:italic; margin-bottom:1.4em;'>
+        Alaska—there’s bear and bear—but brown ones don’t come tame
+    </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='note'>
+Note: This edition preserves the light punctuation of the
+story’s original 1925 appearance in North•West Stories
+magazine, including its sparing use of commas.</p>
+
+<p class="ni">“For two cents, Dave, I’d knock your block off—honest I would!”</p>
+
+<p>“You ain’t man enough, Sam,” returned Dave Sloan with a cheerful grin.
+“However if you ain’t satisfied in your own mind, here’s two cents.”</p>
+
+<p>Dave handed his partner a nickel.</p>
+
+<p>“And keep the change!” he added, generously.</p>
+
+<p>Sam pocketed the nickel and flushed. This was followed by a period of
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>“Well,” suggested Dave, “here I am and there’re no fences around you!”</p>
+
+<p>Sam scratched his head doubtfully.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s eating you anyway,” demanded Dave. “I can tell by the gleam in
+your eye you are half fooling. If I thought you really meant it I’d have
+popped you one on the jaw five minutes ago. When you see trouble coming,
+wade in, is my motto. You’re lucky to find yourself altogether, so
+unbosom yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“I always did hate women, that is I never liked ’em none, but I’m hanged
+if I’m going to see a woman deceived and lied to even if my best friend
+is doing it. Five years we’ve knocked about Alaska together and it’s the
+first time I ever knew of you lying to anybody.”</p>
+
+<p>Dave flushed, half-advanced.</p>
+
+<p>“If you are meaning that little tourist girl....”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m meaning her. You told her you were the best bear shot in Alaska and
+that once a man had hired you——”</p>
+
+<p>“Well....”</p>
+
+<p>“Well you never killed a bear in your life, but you told her among a lot
+of other things that once a girl friend wanted a bear skin the color of
+her eyes and you went out and got it. That was a lie! Bill Halsey was
+the one that done that!”</p>
+
+<p>“That was before I fell in love with her,” Dave replied, “then she was
+only a tourist and when tourists come to Alaska they expect to be lied
+to. If nobody lies to them they are disappointed with the country and
+the people and I’m an Alaska booster first last and all time. Later——”</p>
+
+<p>“You fell in love with her and now you’re engaged. Well, I don’t believe
+in mixing into other people’s affairs, but I don’t aim to have that
+little girl deceived. She’s told everybody with the light of pride
+shining in her eyes that you’re the greatest bear hunter in Alaska and
+nobody has the heart to deceive her. I’m going to tell her you’re the
+salt of the earth except in the matter of bears—in that respect you’re
+the biggest liar in Alaska and that’s putting it as strong as it’s
+possible.”</p>
+
+<p>“Listen, Sam, we’ve never had a word between us nor struck a blow, but
+if you get me in a mess you’ve got to get me out of it. If you don’t
+I’ll run you until your ankles melt even if you are running on ice.”</p>
+
+<p>With this half serious threat Dave Sloan departed.</p>
+
+<p>For several moments Sam was thoughtful.</p>
+
+<p>“It ain’t right,” he muttered. “It’s all right to lie if people know you
+are lying, but Mary Hanna thinks Dave is a god—which he pretty nearly
+is. Well ... here goes!”</p>
+
+<p>Sam slipped on his parka and snowshoes and broke trail to Mary’s home.
+Mary had fallen in love with Alaska and one of its sons and was doing
+very well teaching school despite her youth. She greeted Sam warmly for
+perhaps she sensed she was robbing him of his partner.</p>
+
+<p>Sam returned the greeting and summoned sufficient courage to look into
+her eyes. “My gosh!” he muttered, “her eyes are....”</p>
+
+<p>“What is the matter Sam are you ill?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, Mary, just kinda suffered a shock.” Sam was not one to beat about
+the bush. He plunged. “You know I’m the best friend, that is man-friend,
+Dave’s got?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, Sam!”</p>
+
+<p>“You know I swear by him and I’m for him!”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, Sam!”</p>
+
+<p>“Then if I tell you he’s a liar you’ll understand I’m not knocking him!”</p>
+
+<p>“Hmmmm! I don’t know about that!”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, Mary, he’s honest except about bears. You might say he’s got a
+bear complex. The cuss never killed a bear in his life!”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, Sam!” She was dismayed. “I don’t believe that. In fact I don’t want
+to believe it. That was one of the first things that made me like Dave.
+He seemed so brave in the face of wounded bears charging him. Now there
+are a million things I like about him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Here, too!” Sam felt uncomfortable. “But I figured somebody should tell
+you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thanks, Sam, it was very thoughtful of you—but I don’t believe it. You
+are mistaken!”</p>
+
+<p>“Well I won’t argue the point, but I’ve done my duty. Maybe some day
+Dave will be the best bear hunter in Alaska, he’s pretty good at
+everything else.”</p>
+
+<p>“Just a moment Sam before you go. Did you ever kill a bear?”</p>
+
+<p>“I started to once, but he happened to be coming my way and I sort of
+lost the hankering when I saw how big he was. Well, good bye, and no
+hard feelings.” Sam sauntered away.</p>
+
+<p>Dave met his partner a hundred yards from Mary’s home.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, Sam I can see by your eye you did your duty. That’s all right but
+if you’ve gotten me into a mess, I’ll be around!”</p>
+
+<hr class='tb'>
+
+<p>Mary Hanna was too clever to put Dave Sloan into a position from which
+escape was difficult. Instead she was diplomatic. She placed her hands
+on Dave’s broad shoulders and vamped him. “Dave, you remember the story
+you told about getting a bear rug to match your little girl friend’s
+eyes?”</p>
+
+<p>“She wasn’t much of a friend!” replied Dave, hastily.</p>
+
+<p>“Now that we are engaged it will be quite all right for me to ask a
+favor?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure,” he replied, “shoot! It’s granted before it is even asked!”</p>
+
+<p>“Thanks, Dave, I knew you would do as much for me! I want a rug the
+exact shade of my eyes!”</p>
+
+<p>Dave’s heart skipped a beat, then he looked searchingly into the depths
+of those upturned eyes. No, he simply could not refuse anything she
+asked, but he was entitled to groan even as Sam had mentally groaned
+when he had looked into Mary’s eyes. “Sufferin’ malemutes. Your eyes are
+brown!”</p>
+
+<p>“And her eyes?”</p>
+
+<p>“Were black!”</p>
+
+<p>“What is the difference?”</p>
+
+<p>When a man lies he must stick to it. Dave was game.</p>
+
+<p>“The difference between a brown bear and a black bear!” he answered.</p>
+
+<p>“A bear is a bear!” she suggested.</p>
+
+<p>“Not in this country! A black bear is a friendly sort of a chap, but a
+brown bear is a rip-snorting, fire-eating mixture of muscle, bone, bad
+temper and claw!”</p>
+
+<p>“But you’ve killed them many times before and so there is no danger. You
+know how?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sure,” he answered weakly. “I’ll wait until the skin is prime then I’ll
+get a rug for you!”</p>
+
+<p>“Sam said the skins are at their best this time of the year!”</p>
+
+<p>“Sam talks too much, but he’s correct. I’ll go out in a day or two. I’ll
+have to get pretty well organized. I always believe in organization when
+it comes to brown bear. Let me look into your eyes again. Yep, I won’t
+forget the color now!” Dave kissed his fiancée and departed. Back in his
+mind he wondered if it was a farewell kiss. The story he had related
+many times to tourists came back to him. It was the story that impressed
+Mary Hanna with his greatness:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<div>
+“... Well I had emptied my rifle and every shot had gone home, and yet
+he came on, snarling and biting out chunks of fur. There was nothing
+left to do but run and I ran for the nearest tree. When you hunt bear
+you have to take into consideration everything. I saw a pond ahead
+frozen over and crossed it. As I figured, the bear broke through and
+while he was getting out I had time to gain a bit. He came on and the
+nearest tree was a half a mile away. Presently I could feel his hot
+breath and I knew I had to do something. Queer, but I must have taken
+him by surprise, for I pulled a stunt I’ve seen the bull fighters in
+Mexico do. I let him charge, side-stepped and drove my hunting knife
+into his heart as he passed. That settled him. Finest skin I ever saw.
+Got it in my cabin now. Mighty close shave, but that was nothing to the
+time I was unarmed and being followed by a grizzly and threw a skunk at
+him. That time....”
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Dave did not care to think of his famous bear stories, related so many
+times he was beginning to believe them himself. He followed the trail
+left by his partner to their cabin. Sam was expecting him and his manner
+was that of a man expecting physical combat. “We go bear hunting!”
+announced Sam.</p>
+
+<p>“We?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, we!”</p>
+
+<p>“No, you mean you,” answered Sam. “I looked into your girl’s eyes and
+they’re brown and it takes a large bear, one weighing close to a ton to
+match that shade of brown.”</p>
+
+<p>“What business you got looking into my girl’s eyes?” growled Dave.</p>
+
+<p>“I wanted to see what sort of a bear you had to hunt. Her eyes might
+have been blue or green....”</p>
+
+<p>“We take the trail in the morning,” Dave announced, “better oil up your
+rifle and get some grub ready. The Alaska Road Commission reports bear
+on Bear Creek which is the first Bear Creek I ever heard of that
+actually had bear near it. The Commission invites us to use their tents
+up there. That’ll save us packing our own tents. While you are getting
+the stuff together I’m going to talk to a couple of trappers and learn
+how to shoot bear.”</p>
+
+<p>Though reluctant to go, Sam decided all things considered he was getting
+off easy and agreed with enthusiasm, outwardly. He packed grub for the
+trail and examined dog sled and harness. It was dark when Dave Sloan
+returned. His mental state was very bad. He did not know it, but the
+trappers had lied to him very thoroughly and gotten away with it. Dave
+gathered from their accounts a hunter had less than a fifty-fifty chance
+with a bear in the open.</p>
+
+<hr class='tb'>
+
+<p>It was late the following day that the pair made camp in one of the Road
+Commission’s grading camps. They stirred up a batch of sour dough, dried
+out the tent and made themselves at home. While Dave prepared the
+evening meal in the cook tent Sam overhauled two bunks in a structure
+serving in Summer as a bunk house.</p>
+
+<p>They ate the meal in silence and turned in immediately afterwards. The
+music of the river moving lazily between banks of snow lulled Sam to
+sleep, but Dave turned over frequently and counted sheep in an effort to
+slumber. His thoughts turned to bear.</p>
+
+<p>Down in his heart he knew there was more than a gentle request in her
+mind when Mary Hanna asked for a bear rug the color of her eyes. Perhaps
+there was even the faintest bit of jealousy, but Dave never thought of
+that. He knew that it was a plea to justify her faith in his prowess,
+and it was this desire to make good that was driving him forward
+mercilessly.</p>
+
+<p>Sam was snoring! At any other time Dave could have slept despite Sam’s
+snores, but now it was impossible. “Turn over on your side!” he growled,
+“and cut out that snoring!”</p>
+
+<p>Sam turned sleepily, there was silence, then he flopped back again. The
+snoring was resumed. Dave looked at his watch. Eleven o’clock. What a
+night! He was almost asleep after an eternity when Sam put on another
+record and snored louder than ever. Dave gathered up his blankets and
+made a bed on the floor of the cook tent. Presently he slept.</p>
+
+<p>It was not quite dawn that a three-year-old brown bear, rather large for
+his age, a hundred percent baby by conservative judging, emerged from a
+timbered ridge and made his way toward the river. Frequently he sniffed.
+Once in his life he had tasted bacon scraps left by a prospector and he
+had never forgotten either the taste nor the scent. As he came nearer
+the river the scent became stronger.</p>
+
+<p>He eyed the tents with interest and noted the presence of mankind, but
+being a brown bear he advanced rather than retreated. His keen nose led
+him to the cook tent. He entered and the flap fell behind him. His paws
+knocked over a coffee pot and two kettles in his efforts to reach the
+slab of bacon swinging just above. The rattle of the pot aroused the
+sleeper.</p>
+
+<p>“Getting breakfast, Sam? Had a devil of a night, on account of your
+snoring. Make that coffee strong!”</p>
+
+<p>The reply was a growl of deeper tones than Sam gave even in his grouchy
+moods. It was a sort of rumble as if the tones were being dragged over a
+washboard.</p>
+
+<p>Dave leaped from his blankets with a wild light in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>“SAM!” he bellowed.</p>
+
+<p>Distant peaks echoed the word. The next moment Dave had hurled the
+table, dishes and all at the intruder. The rattle of tin was deafening.
+The bear plunged headlong into the tent wall and ropes. The tent
+collapsed and somewhere beneath the violent bulging a man and bear
+sought to escape.</p>
+
+<p>Sam leaped from his own tent and stood bare-footed in the snow with
+rifle in his hand. He did not know what to shoot at for bear and man
+made similar bulges in the wrecked tent.</p>
+
+<p>“Now’s your chance,” yelled Sam excitedly, “you’ll never have a better
+one. You always claimed when trouble came your way you waded in. Wade in
+and use your knife like you did in the story!”</p>
+
+<p>“He ain’t the right color!” screamed the desperate partner who somehow
+had gotten on the bottom with the table, minus legs on top and the bear
+on top of the table. Condensed milk trickled down his neck, the pepper
+box came open and the bear snorted. “Hurry Sam, he’s got me, I feel
+blood, my own cold blood trickling down my neck.”</p>
+
+<p>Sam leaped for the tent as the canvas was stained a deep red. The next
+instant he was sent sprawling as the seams parted and the bear emerged.
+Sam lifted his rifle and aimed. “Pink!” went the hammer as he pulled the
+trigger.</p>
+
+<p>“Dog gone! Forgot to slip a ca’tridge in after I cleaned it!”</p>
+
+<p>He jerked the lever, aimed and fired. The peaks echoed with the roar of
+the rifle, the bear dropped at the last shot and Sam stood with pink
+feet in the snow and empty rifle in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>“Just the color of her eyes, too!” he announced, trying to warm one foot
+against the calf of the other leg.</p>
+
+<p>The canvas parted and Dave Sloan emerged. In one hand he held the bread
+knife; his shirt was torn from his shoulders and across his chest were
+three furrows that only a bear’s claw could make. His back was covered
+with condensed milk, salt, pepper and butter, garnished with sugar. His
+brow and face were wet for he had perspired heavily during the brief
+interval of the bear’s arrival and departure.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m through!” he announced, “I’m through hunting bears and telling bear
+yarns. I’m going to throw myself on the mercy of the court. Never again
+do I claim to be the greatest bear hunter in Alaska. There are other
+honors a fellow can go after. Still, Sam, we may as well dress, go over
+and skin your bear!”</p>
+
+<p>“I aim to give it to her as a present if it ain’t too badly riddled with
+bullets!” He looked at his partner. “You sure had a swell chance to get
+him with that knife while he was clawing you.”</p>
+
+<p>Dave nodded.</p>
+
+<p>“Yep!” he admitted, “but I was trying to cut my way out. I did swing her
+at him a few times for luck, but mostly I was trying to cut my way out
+and when I did open a hole, the bear went through it.”</p>
+
+<hr class='tb'>
+
+<p>Mary Hanna watched Sam spread a raw skin at her feet. It was a fine
+pelt, in prime condition.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, Dave!” she cried, “let’s hear the story!”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m through telling bear yarns and now that I’ve had a real experience
+some of the lies I used to tell are better. Sam, if you feel like
+telling her this yarn go to it. I’ll back up anything you say!”</p>
+
+<p>Sam flushed!</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t make myself a hero and I ain’t going to try. Fact is on account
+of my snores Dave moved into the cook tent and the bear smelling bacon
+moved in too. Now I can’t tell you exactly what happened, nor can Dave
+because neither of us seen it.</p>
+
+<p>“Dave couldn’t see because he was too close for a good view and I
+couldn’t tell much by the bulges. Anyway the tent fell down and Dave
+and the bear went to it. Dave tackled him with a knife and stabbed him
+through the heart.”</p>
+
+<p>The girl seemed to freeze.</p>
+
+<p>“Dave and Sam, I am disappointed in you. You are fibbing to me again.
+The two trappers who told you a number of bear stories followed along to
+see the fun and they saw it. They tell me Sam emptied his rifle at the
+bear after he left the tent!”</p>
+
+<p>“Hah!” grunted Sam, “they told the truth; I did empty my rifle, but you
+see I must have been excited!”</p>
+
+<p>He held up the bear skin.</p>
+
+<p>“Not a hole in it except a single knife thrust over the heart. Shooting
+is one thing and hitting is something else!”</p>
+
+<p>He held the pelt close and looked deep into the girl’s eyes.</p>
+
+<p>“By heck, the color is the same!” he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<div class="transcriber-note">
+  <div class="transcriber-note-title">Transcriber’s Note</div>
+  <div>This story appeared in <i>North•West Stories</i>, August, 1925. It is
+  believed to be in the public domain in the United States; copyright
+  status may differ in other countries.</div>
+</div>
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79271 ***</div>
+</body>
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+[Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for eBook [#79271](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/79271)