BILL CROSS AND HIS BEAR. 87 



mies of all wild beasts; because all wild 

 beasts devoured their young. 



When fat and saucy, in warm summer 

 weather, these cattle would hover along 

 the foothills in bands, hiding in the hol- 

 lows, and would begin to bellow whenever 

 they saw a bear or a wolf, or even a man 

 or boy, if on foot, crossing the wide valley 

 of grass and blue camas blossoms. Then 

 there would be music! They would start 

 up, with heads and tails in the air, and, 

 broadening out, left and right, they would 

 draw a long bent line, completely shutting 

 off their victim from all approach to the 

 foothills. If the unfortunate victim were 

 a man or boy on foot, he generally made 

 escape up one of the small ash trees that 

 dotted the valley in groves here and there, 

 and the cattle would then soon give up the 

 chase. But if it were a wolf or any other 

 wild beast that could not get up a 

 tree, the case was different. Far away, 

 on the other side of the valley, where 

 dense woods lined the banks of the wind- 



