320 Old Rphraim. 



ing across which it would have to pass, and collecting all 

 my energies I made a last run, got into notion, and cov- 

 ered the opening with my rifle. The instant the bear 

 appeared I fired, and it turned a dozen somersaults down- 

 hill, rolling over and over ; the ball had struck it near the 

 tail and had ranged forward through the hollow of- the 

 body. Each of us had thus given the fatal wound to the 

 bear into which the other had fired the first bullet. The 

 run, though short, had been very sharp, and over such 

 awful country that we were completely fagged out, and 

 could hardly speak for lack of breath. The sun had 

 already set, and it was too late to skin the animals ; so we 

 merely dressed them, caught the ponies with some 

 trouble, for they were frightened at the smell of the bear's 

 blood on our hands, and rode home through the darken- 

 ing woods. Next day we brought the teamster and two 

 of the steadiest pack-horses to the carcasses, and took the 

 skins into camp. 



The feed for the horses was excellent in the valley in 

 which we were camped, and the rest after their long 

 journey across the plains did them good. They had 

 picked up wonderfully in condition during our stay on the 

 mountains ; but they were apt to wander very far during 

 the night, for there were so many bears and other wild 

 beasts around that they kept getting frightened and run- 

 ning off. We were very loath to leave our hunting grounds, 

 but time was pressing, and we had already many more 

 trophies than we could carry ; so one cool morning, when 

 the branches of the evergreens were laden with the 

 feathery snow that had fallen overnight, we struck camp 



