174 TRUE BEAR STORIES. 



when he scrambled back to the trail and 

 gravely walked up to the packer to have 

 his pack straightened. Every man anx 

 iously felt of the pack, and heaved a Bigh of 

 relief. The bottles containing O. P. 8,, an 

 tidote for snake bite, were not broken, but 

 it was a narrow escape. 



"Great Beeswax!" said the Doctor, "sup 

 pose those bottles had been smashed and 

 then some one of us should go to work and 

 bite himself with a snake! Wouldn't that 

 be a fix?" 



"Dogdurn if it don't make my blood run 

 cold to think of it," said Dad. 



Everybody's blood seemed to be con 

 gealing, and as the pack was loose and 

 the antidote accessible, an ounce of pre 

 vention was administered to each man, and 

 Balaam was rewarded for his timely agil 

 ity with a handful of sugar. 



No more accidents occurred, and late in 

 the afternoon the cavalcade slid, coasted 

 and scrambled down the last steep hill into 

 the Sespe Canyon, where a camp was made 



