and he followed the trail for a while, 

 not expecting to find them, but simply 

 to know their movements. He followed 

 several times and for miles, and the 

 trail told him many things. Here was 

 the track of a third Bear joining. Here 

 were marks of a combat, and a rival 

 driven away was written there, and 

 then the pair went on. Down from 

 the rugged hills it took him once to 

 where a love-feast had been set by the 

 bigger Bear; for the carcass of a steer 

 lay half devoured, and the telltale 

 ground said much of the struggle that 

 foreran the feast. As though to show 

 his power, the Bear had seized the 

 steer by the nose and held him for a 

 while so said the trampled earth for 

 rods struggling, bellowing, no doubt, 

 music for my lady's ears, till Gringo 

 judged it time to strike him down with 

 paws of steel. 



