Hunting in Many Lands 



up near the camp. Experience has taught 

 these creatures to efface themselves at night, 

 and they are only too glad to sleep quietly, as 

 near as possible to humans, with no disposi- 

 tion to wander after dark. They realize their 

 danger from bears, yet the protection which a 

 Mexican affords is a purely imaginary thing, 

 as unsubstantial as the baseless fabric of a 

 vision, of as little real substance for the pro- 

 tection of the flock as the dream of mutton 

 stew and fat bear, by no means a baseless fab- 

 ric, which engrosses the sleeping shepherd, 

 body and mind. The disturbance upon this 

 occasion soon subsided. One and another of 

 the shepherds sleepily moved in his blankets 

 — perhaps swore to himself a hurried prayer 

 or two — but not one of them spoke aloud or 

 indicated the slightest intention of investigat- 

 ing the cause of the commotion. Only too 

 well they and the sheep knew what it signified. 

 Quiet reigned again, and, attaching no impor- 

 tance to the incident, I was promptly asleep. 



In the morning I learned that the disturb- 

 ing cause had been the charge of a grizzly 

 into the flock within a stone's throw of us, a 

 sound too familiar to occasion comment at the 

 time. There were the tracks, to leeward of 



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