126 ADVENTURES OF DR. ALLEN. 



yards off, was a monstrous cinnamon bear. He was stand- 

 ing erect upon his haunches, and seemed to be seven feet 

 tall. As I brought my gun into position, he turned and beat 

 a hasty retreat, but I gave him a shot from the rear. With 

 a roar like that of an infuriated bull, he charged upon me 

 so quickly that I could not get a shot, but dropped my gun 

 and took to the tree. He tore branches away and gnawed 

 at the tree in his rage. He then lay down to guard the tree, 

 lest I should escape his vengeance. At every move I made 

 he got up and renewed the attack. After a time either ex- 

 treme thirst, or the pain of his wound, drove him forth in 

 search of water. 



I climbed down with alacrity, picked up my gun and 

 started after him. He was wallowing in the water when I 

 whistled. He raised himself, received a ball from my rifle 

 and floundered out into deep water. I rushed in up to my 

 waist and caught hold of him, but too late, for I was fast 

 losing my footing and was obliged to draw back. My 

 prize had slipped out of my hands ; I had nothing to show 

 for my perseverance, and the boys would not believe the 

 story if I told them, so I kept silent. On my way to camp 

 I killed a large wild cat a poor substitute for my lost bear. 



The time had now come for our guide to appear. The 

 last hour was gone. The sanguine ones, who were to have 

 rich mines and corner lots, began to droop. They found 

 themselves without money, with no means of getting any. 

 Lyons, with his smooth speech and ready promises, had 

 succeeded in relieving them of three or four hundred dol- 

 lars. An indignation meeting was called, at which the fate 

 of the culprit was decided. Three men were to go after 

 him, bring him to our camp, and then he should be hanged 

 to the nearest tree. This was much easier to plan than to 

 do, considering our location and many other things. The 



