CHAPTER XXXIII. 



A NARROW ESCAPE. 



ENCHANTING SCENERY A SUDDEN SHOT I FALL ASLEEP AN AWFUL 

 AWAKENING HAND-TO-HAND FIGHT WITH A GRIZZLY "HOLD 

 THE FORT" A SWARM OF MOSQUITOES A TERRIFIC SLAUGHTER. 



IN the fall of '72 I was hunting black-tail deer in the 

 Rocky Mountains with a party of friends from Omaha. We 

 left camp one morning at sunrise, and after going about two 

 miles separated, each selecting his own route, with the under- 

 standing, however, that we were to take our stands as near 

 the point at which we then stood as the lay of the land 

 would admit of. The dogs were put out at the same time. 



I started up a narrow canyon, both sides of which were 

 almost perpendicular, and which was not more than thirty 

 yards wide at its base. The walls were of red sandstone, 

 nearly two hundred feet high, and presented a rugged, pic- 

 turesque appearance. I walked leisurely along, my mind 

 wholly occupied with the beauty and grandeur of the scene, 

 and totally unmindful of the distance I had traversed, until I 

 reached the head of the canyon, and here pausing and look- 

 ing at my watch I saw that it was more than an hour since I 

 had left my companions, that I was at least two miles from 

 our starting-point, and probably about that distance from 

 any other member of the party. Just at this instant I heard 

 the dogs give mouth and in a moment more heard a shot, 

 though by reason of the great distance both sounds came to 

 me but faintly. I selected a comfortable position by a large 

 *-ock and sat down to rest and await any further developments. 



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