The Story of Ben 35 



that there was another human being in the same 

 county. I was lying in the shade of a large tree with 

 Ben, as his habit was, lying beside me with his head on 

 my breast, to all appearance fast asleep. Suddenly he 

 roused, stood up on his hind legs, and looked up the 

 canyon. I also looked but, seeing nothing, pulled the 

 bear down beside me again. For a while he was quiet, 

 but soon stood up again and gazed uneasily up the 

 creek. As nothing appeared I again made him lie 

 down; but there was plainly something on his mind, 

 and at last, after nearly half an hour of these tactics, he 

 jumped to his feet, pushed out his upper lip, and began 

 the blowing sound that he always made when some- 

 thing did not suit him. And there, more than two 

 hundred yards away and wading in the middle of the 

 creek, was a man, fishing. In some way Ben had been 

 aware of his approach long before he had rounded the 

 turn that brought him into sight of our camp. 



We remained in Montana long enough to visit the 

 town of Missoula, lay in a supply .of provisions, ship our 

 bear-skins, buy a small dog-chain and collar for Ben, 

 who was getting too large for his buck-skin thong, and 

 rest the horses. Then, O'Brien having determined to 

 try his fortune in the mining camps, Spencer and I 

 turned our faces to the West and started back over the 

 same three hundred miles of trackless mountains. 



It was well into September when, after many hap- 

 penings but no serious misadventures, we arrived 



