Old Ephraim 331 



of us went out alone; the teamster, of course, re- 

 maining in to guard camp and cook. One day we 

 had separated; I reached camp early in the after- 

 noon, and waited a couple of hours before Merri- 

 field put in an appearance. 



At last I heard a shout the familiar long-drawn 

 Eikoh-h-h of the cattlemen, and he came in sight 

 galloping at speed down an open glade, and waving 

 his hat, evidently having had good luck; and when 

 he reined in his small, wiry cow-pony, we saw that 

 he had packed behind his saddle the fine, glossy pelt 

 of a black bear. Better still, he announced that he 

 had been off about ten miles to a perfect tangle of 

 ravines and valleys where bear sign was very thick ; 

 and not of black bear either, but of grisly. The 

 black bear (the only one we got on the mountains) 

 he had run across by accident, while riding up a val- 

 ley in which there was a patch of dead timber 

 grown up with berry bushes. He noticed a black 

 object which he first took to be a stump ; for during 

 the past few days we had each of us made one or 

 two clever stalks up to charred logs which our 

 imagination converted into bears. On coming 

 near, however, the object suddenly took to it heels ; 

 he followed over frightful ground at the pony's best 

 pace, until it stumbled and fell down. By this time 

 he was close on the bear, which had just reached 

 the edge of the wood. Picking himself up, he 

 rushed after it, hearing it growling ahead of him; 

 after running some fifty yards the sound stopped, 

 and he stood still listening. He saw and heard 



