Yet again, BEARS:
“’We’ve started a deer,’ said. ‘I wish we had brought a rifle.’
“Morgan, who had stopped and was intently watching the agitated
chaparral, said nothing, but had cocked both barrels of his gun, and was
holding it in readiness to aim. I thought him a trifle excited, which
surprised me, for he had a reputation for exceptional coolness, even in
moments of sudden and imminent peril.
“’O, come!’ I said. ‘You are not going to fill up a deer with
quail-shot, are you?’
“Still he did not reply; but, catching a sight of his face as he
turned it slightly toward me, I was struck by the pallor of it. Then I
understood that we had serious business on hand, and my first conjecture
was that we had ‘jumped’ a grizzly. I advanced to Morgan’s side, cocking
my piece as I moved.
“The bushes were now quiet, and the sounds had ceased, but Morgan was as
attentive to the place as before.
“’What is it? What the devil is it?’ I asked.
“’That Damned Thing!’ he replied, without turning his head. His voice
was husky and unnatural. He trembled visibly.
"It was not written as news, for it is incredible, but as fiction. It may go as a part of my testimony under oath."It was a coroner's inquest. The deponent did not expect to be believed, but he was intent that his account be accepted as sworn testimony.
"But you say it is incredible."
"That is nothing to you, sir, if I also swear that it is true."
Most decidedly not my fault!