by Kenneth Jones
It has often been said that a hunter couldn't possibly mistake a man for a deer. Leon, being the woodsman that he was, didn't pull the trigger, but he said he shook for a long long time afterwards.
Another time, Leon was working at a mine. The mine consisted of a shaft that began at the top of a sizeable hill. One day, as his shift ended, he began to walk down the hill to the road below. It was in the fall and the huckleberries were ripe. A family was picking berries just off of the road and was making quite a bit of noise.
From his vantage point up the hill, Leon could see that the berry pickers had disturbed a small black bear that had also been picking berries. The bear was streaking up the hill, directly towards Leon.
Leon began to smile to himself as he began working out a plan. He had his jumper in one hand and his lunch box in the other. In the lunch box was a tin cup, a spoon, and other empty lunch items. Leon planned to wave his jumper, rattle the lunch box, and let out a yell when the bear was near. He could just see the bear putting on the brakes, scrambling to turn, and altogether putting on a comical performance.
When the bear was about 20 feet away, Leon put his plan into effect. However, the bear continued straight up the hill and brushed Leon's leg as he went by.
Leon said he figured the bear's small brain could only take in one fright at a time. But the bear was so completely absorbed in his efforts to escape from the people below that Leon and the racket he was making didn't even register and the bear didn't know Leon was even there.
HISTORIES
HOME