TWENTY YEARS IN THE ROCKIES. IOJ 



and head of the deer were dragging in the bushes. On he 

 came, unconscious of niy presence. As his eyes were eleva- 

 ted, I could hear him growl as if to satisfy himself, then 

 lash his great tail from side to side, apparently feeling with 

 it his way along through the bushes. His massive jaws 

 were spread to their full extent, and he had crushed the 

 deer's body until it was almost cut in two. 



He advanced deliberately until he reached the gravel 

 bar near the creek. I could see that he had torn a great 

 patch of flesh just over the doe's heart, and as he deposited 

 his treasure on the bar, a fiendish gleam was in his eye. He 

 looked up and down the creek to see that the coast was clear, 

 and then with his great paw,, he turned the doe over as a cat 

 would turn a mouse. He began to suck the blood that was 

 oozing out of the great hole near the heart. 



I stood motionless, hoping that some other lion would 

 come and contest his right to this dainty morsel. Evidently 

 he was uneasy, for as he walked round the doe, he would 

 occasionally emit a low, deep growl, as if challenging all 

 others to stand back. Meantime his long, snaky tail swayed 

 continually from one side to the other. Something surely 

 warned him of an enemy as he wheeled about and faced me. 

 His bloody jaws were not more than forty yards away from 

 me as he opened his mouth and showed a set of teeth dan- 

 gerous in the extreme. He gave vent to a half howl and 

 half growl which made the cold chills creep over me, 

 although my friend, who never has failed, was between us. 



Death had stared me in the face many times before, in 

 many different forms, and the old Bullard had never been 

 found wanting. In this trying moment my thoughts ran 

 vividly over two bear fights, in which it looked as though 

 the Supreme Being had interfered. I looked steadily into 

 his eyes, but he did not cower. The bristles were raising 



