22 The Black Bear 



on. We put a roll of blankets on each side of the horse, 

 close up to the horns of the pack saddle, and tied them 

 in place. Then the space between was filled with small 

 articles and a heavy canvas thrown over all and cinched 

 in place. And on top of this Ben would pass the day. 

 We tied his lead to the lash rope and he seemed per- 

 fectly content, and in fact appeared to enjoy the ex- 

 citement of being jolted and shaken along through the 

 timber and brush. It kept him on the jump to dodge 

 the limbs and switches that were always threatening to 

 unseat him, but in all of his four months' riding through 

 the mountains, I never saw him taken unawares. Nor 

 was he ever thrown by a bucking horse. Sometimes 

 he would get down from his seat on top of the pack and 

 sit on the pony's neck, holding by one paw to the front 

 of the pack. Sometimes he would lie curled up as 

 though asleep. But he was never caught off his 

 guard, and his horse Buckskin seemed not to care how 

 much he climbed about on its back. 



Ben soon came to know his own horse, and after 

 Buckskin was packed of a morning would run to 

 the pony's side and bawl to be lifted to his place on the 

 pack. And once there he spent several minutes each 

 morning inspecting the canvas and the ropes of his 

 pack. Several times during the summer we were 

 obliged to transfer Ben to another mount, but we had 

 to be mighty careful in our arrangements, as we learned 

 to our cost the first time we tried the experiment. 



