166 THE STRAND MNAGAZINE.

The Dbear is indeed a very respectable beast, as beasts go. And he certainly is respected in some quarters. Both the North American Indians

o and the Lapps reverence him M too much even to mention his name 1 conversation : with them

he is “the old man in the fur cloalk or *“the destroyer.” Indeed, 10 seems reasonable to feel a certain respect for an anmmal which can knock the top of your head off with a blow ol his paw; but both the Indians '.{3"4',‘."'?\‘-.; . and the Lapps carry their respect a hittle too far. To kill a bear s and then humbly apologise to the dead body, as they do, 1s adding insult to injury, cs- pecially if you dine ofl the injured party immediatcly afterwavd. Ncither 1s 1t likely to propitiate Bruin if a dozen men, while prodding him vigorously with a dozen spears, cxpress their regret for the damage

they are doing, et and hope that

//’ he'll pardon the liberty. All this

they do in sober

earnest, and even gn so far as to

AT prefer a polite L yequest that he wor't hurt

them. If he ever accede to this, it is probably because he 1s confused by the contemplation of such

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colossal ‘““cheek.” All this is galling enough, though otherwise mmtended, but con- tumely reaches its climax when dinner comes on. [t would be annoying enough to the shade of the departed gentleman in fur to hear that he made a capital joint, or the reverse ; stilly it is what might be expected. But this sort ol thing they stu- diously refrain from saying. They talk with cnthusiasm of the poor bear's high moral gualities —often inventing them for the occasion, it is to be fearcd—and, presumably talking / his ghost, tell cach oth.m' that it was most considerate and mdulgent of him to 1‘hcn.1 kill him so casily. Now this 1s worse than laying on insult with a trowel ; 1t s piling 1t on with a shovel, and rubbing it in with a brick.

Contact with man ruins the respectability of the bear. ITe gets dissipated and raffish,