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 sigh of 

 relief. The bottles containing O. P. S., 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 

 ard scrambled down the last steep hill into 

 the Sespe Canyon, where a camp was made 



