It was enough to scare all the bears and wolves to death, or at least,
enough to make them hide away from the voice and face of the dragon. But
there was a man, who lived one mile south of Dearbornville, by the name
of Alonzo Mather; he was a little more sensible and courageous. He
thought he knew what made the strange noise. When he came out of his
house one morning, all at once, the terrible sound broke upon his ear. He
had heard it two or three times before, about the same place in the
woods, toward Dearbornville. He said to his hired man, a Mr. Whitmore,
who was utterly astonished and seemed to be all in a fright, "Hear that!
I know what it is! It is a bear, and he lives right over there in the
woods. I have heard him two or three times in the same place. Don't say a
word to anyone; not let the hunters know anything about his being there
and I'll shoot him myself.'" He took down his rifle immediately, and
started on the double quick, followed by the hired man, who could help
him in case of trouble.
He went through the woods looking carefully in every direction, scanning
the old logs and large hollow trees and searching from top to bottom to
see if he could find a hole large enough for a bear to crawl in.
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