The children,
especially, were considered in great peril, and several timid mothers
refused to let their girls and boys go to school, which stood at no
great distance from the woods.
There was more than one farmer who contended that, if the few bears were
left alone they would multiply to that degree that they would sally
forth from the forest, like the Delaware Indians of the last century,
and carry death and destruction before them.
A few individuals, like Gustav Ribsam, said there was nothing to fear,
for when the bears showed any marked increase they would be killed, and
it would be no very difficult job, either.
But no one could dispute the desirability of ridding the country of the
brute which came so near eating little Nellie Ribsam; and, where there
was so much talk, something was done, or at least attempted.
A hunting party of six men was organized in the month of October, and
they tramped through the woods for days, with a couple of dogs, but the
trail of the animal could not be found. They finally gave up the hunt,
the most tired and disgusted not hesitating to declare they did not
believe a bear had been seen in the forest for half a century.
The opinion of those best qualified to judge, was that bruin obtained
all the food he wanted with such little trouble that he did not care to
molest any persons, and therefore kept out of the way of the hunters.
Nick Ribsam, like all boys, was fond of a gun and dog, and he did not
own either.
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