9. There came a burst of thunder sound; the boy-Oh, where was he? HEMANS. LESSON CXII. A-DROIT', dexterous, skillful. BLOCK-ADE', the shutting up of a place BRUIN, a name given to a bear. FAST NESS, a stronghold, a place not IN-VUL-NER-A-BIL'I-TY, incapability of being wounded. LURK, to hide, to keep concealed. PIQUE, (pronounced peek,) to provoke, to fret. POST, a military station, a place where soldiers are stationed. RIG'OR-OUS-LY, in a rigorous manner, strictly. WA'RI-LY, cautiously. VAR'MINT, a vulgar term of contempt for wild beasts. PRONUNCIATION.-Pur-sue' 16 and 19, fall'en 4d, rail'le-ry 33, tre-men'dous 32a, pic'tured 17 and 18, ven'tur-ing 17 and 18, men'ace 26b, hid'e-ous 18, posts 29, fore'head 33. THE GRIZZLY-BEAR. 1. THE grizzly-bear is the most formidable quadruped of our continent. He is the favorite theme of the hunters of the far west, who describe him as equal in size to a common cow, and of prodigious strength. He makes battle, if assailed, and, if pressed by hunger, is often the assailant. 2. If wounded, he becomes furious, and will pursue the hunter. His speed exceeds that of a man, but is inferior to that of a horse. In attacking, he rears on his hind legs, and springs the length of his body. His terrific claws are sometimes nine inches in length, and tear every thing before them. Woe to horse or rider that comes within their sweep! 3. The grizzly-bear was once frequent on the Missouri and in the lower country; but, like some of the broken tribes of the prairies, he has gradually fallen back before his enemies, and is now chiefly to be found in the upland regions, or rugged fastnesses, like those of the Rocky Mountains. 4. Here he lurks in caverns, or holes which he has dug in the sides of hills, or under the roots and trunks of fallen trees. Like the common bear, he is fond of fruits and meats and roots, the latter of which he will dig up with his fore claws. He is carnivorous, also, and will even attack and conquer the lordly buffalo, dragging the huge carcass to the neighborhood of his den, that he may prey upon it at his leisure. 5. The hunters, both white and red men, consider this the most heroic game. They prefer to hunt him on horseback, and will venture so near as sometimes to singe his hair with the flash of the rifle. The hunter, however, must be an experienced hand, and know where to aim at a vital part; for, of all quadrupeds, the grizzly-bear is the most difficult to be killed. He will receive repeated wounds without flinching, and rarely is a shot mortal, unless through the head or the heart. 6. That the dangers to be apprehended are not imaginary may be gathered from the following account. Among the hired men of a hunting expedition was William Cannon, who had been a soldier at one of the frontier posts. He was an inexperienced hunter and a poor shot, for which he was much bantered by his more adroit comrades. Piqued at their raillery, he had been practising ever since he joined the expedition, but without success. 7. In the course of the present afternoon he went forth by himself to take a lesson in shooting, and, to his great delight, had the good fortune to kill a buffalo. As he was a considerable distance from the camp, he cut out the tongue and some of the choice bits, made them into a parcel, and, slinging them over his shoulders by a strap passed round his forehead, set out all glorious for the camp, anticipating a triumph over his brother-hunters. 8. In passing through a narrow ravine he heard a noise behind him, and, looking round, beheld, to his dismay, a grizzly-bear in full pursuit, apparently attracted by the scent of the meat. Cannon had heard so much of the invulnerability of this tremendous animal that he never attemped to fire, but, slipping the strap from his forehead, let go the buffalo meat, and ran for his life. The bear did not stop to regale himself with the game, but kept on after the hunter. 9. He had nearly overtaken him, when Cannon reached a tree, and, throwing down his rifle, scrambled up it. The next instant Bruin was at the foot of the tree; but, as this species of bear does not climb, he contented himself with turning the chase into a blockade. Night came on. In the darkness Cannon could not perceive whether or not the enemy maintained his station; but his fears pictured him rigorously mounting guard. He passed the night, therefore, in the tree, a prey to dismal fancies. 10. In the morning the bear was gone. Cannon warily descended the tree, picked up his gun, and made the best of his way back to the camp, without venturing to look after his buffalo-meat. 11. While on this theme, we will add another anecdote of an adventure with a grizzly-bear, told of John Day, the Kentucky hunter, which happened at a different period from the preceding events. 12. Day was hunting in company with a lively and pleasant young fellow, who was a great favorite with the veteran, but whose vivac ity he had continually to keep in check. They were in search of deer, when suddenly a huge grizzly-bear emerged from a thicket about thirty yards distant, rearing upon his hind legs with a terrific growl, and displaying a hideous array of teeth and claws. 13. The rifle of the young man was leveled in an instant; but John Day's iron hand was as quickly upon his arm. "Be quiet, boy! be quiet!" exclaimed the hunter between his teeth, and without turning his eyes from the bear. They remained motionless. The monster regarded them for a time; then, lowering himself on his fore paws, slowly withdrew. 14. He had not gone many paces before he again turned, raised himself on his hind legs, and repeated his menace. Day's hand was still on the arm of his young companion; he again pressed it hard, and kept repeating between his teeth, "Quiet, boy! keep quiet! keep quiet!" though the latter had not made a move since the first prohibition. The bear again lowered himself on all fours, retreated some twenty yards farther, and again turned, reared, showed his teeth, and growled. 15. This third menace was too much for the game-spirit of John Day. "I can stand this no longer!" he exclaimed; and in an instant a ball from his rifle whizzed into the foe. The wound was not mortal; but luckily it dismayed, instead of enraging, the animal, and he retreated into the thicket. 16. Day's young companion reproached him for not practicing the caution which he enjoined upon others. "Why, boy," replied the veteran, 66 caution is caution; but one must not put up with too much, even from a bear. Would you have me suffer myself to be bullied all day by a varmint?" LESSON CXIII. VOCAL GYMNASTICS. REFER TO CAUTION 18.-When the letter d is followed by u, or a vowel of similar sound, it is a very common error to sound the d like j; thus a-dieu' is sounded a-jew'. So also t is sounded like ch; thus feature is sounded fea'chur. Be on your guard against these barbarisms. But sol'dier is properly pronounced sole'jur. (1.) The Indians were conquered. (2.) The fields are clothed with verdure. (3.) Her features are beautiful. (4.) The duke paid the money due the Jew before the dew was off the ground; and the Jew, having duly acknowledged it, said adieu to the duke forever. (5.) The duel was a hideous business. (6.) All nature cries aloud. (7.) A tremendous and stupendous explosion defaced its beauteous features. (8.) Washington was virtuous. LESSON CXIV. FIL TER, to leak through. PLY, to work. NEIGHBOR, (from nigh and boor, which originally meant a farmer, -a nigh boor,) one who lives near to another. WIGHT, a person. Now used only in irony or slight contempt. PRONUNCIATION. - Liv'ing 12, ev'er-y 36, and 29, thun'der-storm 9, neigh'bors 9 The one was Jones, a thrifty wight,- 3. Not so with neighbor Smith's, close by; 4. By every tempest it was battered, By every thunderstorm 'twas shattered; 5. Now, who can read this riddle right? 6. Come, gentle reader, lend thine ear, 7. Smith prayed, and straight sent in his bill, LESSON CXV. ATH-LET IC, strong, robust, vigorous. CIR-CU'I-TOUS, going round in a circuit, not direct. DALE, & low place between hills, a valley. DE-SPATCH', to send away. DES TI-NATION, the intended place. an opening made through a wood by lopping off the branches of the trees. IN-URED', accustomed, hardened by use. Lo Co-MO'TIVE, (Latin locus, place, and moveo, to move,) moving from place to MOOD'Y, pensive, grave. PRE-MON I-TORY, giving previous warning or notice. TELE-GRAPH, (from two Greek words meaning at a distance and to write,) an instrument for conveying intelligence by signals. The electro-magnetic telegraph is an apparatus for conveying intelligence by the electric fluid passing from place to place by wires. PRONUNCIATION.-Fam'i-ly 3c, light'ning 12, com-menc'es 1g, hund'red 11, haunts 20, engaged' 1, bade 33, i-de'a 26c, beat'en 4d, pur sued' 16 and 19, a-mused' 16, Indian 18. A LONG TIME AGO. 1. In this age of steamboats, locomotives, and lightning-telegraphs, it is not easy to conceive the difficulties of traveling and communicating intelligence a century and a half ago. A legend, which has its origin in truth, has come down to us, and may serve to show the state of things at the period to which we refer. 2. At that time there lived in Boston a merchant by the name |