70 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



After the death the assembly was sounded by a loud 

 halloo, and the runaways returned, swearing, as only Span- 

 iards can, at their ill-luck and their cowardly steeds. Hav- 

 ing dragged the bear into some bushes, we reformed our 

 line, and moved in an oblique direction to the right, where 

 the manzanita grew thickly. The dogs had scarcely enter- 

 ed the shrubbery ere a simultaneous yelp made us all halt, 

 and in a few moments a female broke cover; but seeing 

 the number of enemies surrounding her, she re-entered the 

 bushes and made for a ravine on the right. Her course 

 was marked by the swaying of the shrubbery, so to the 

 right we all started at the best speed of our horses, intend- 

 ing to head her off. We had scarcely proceeded half a 

 mile ere we struck a canyon, and into this we had the 

 chagrin of seeing our game hurl herself, for she apparently 

 went to the bottom at one stride. That she was not in- 

 jured, however, was proved by the yelping of the dogs, 

 which pursued her for over a mile; but I may add that 

 they took very good care not to go too near her. 



As we could not do much in the heat of the day, we con- 

 cluded to return to camp and await the morrow for the re- 

 sumption of our sport. During the evening, while lying 

 around the fire, everybody was telling just how be missed 

 or hit the bear ; but who hit him is to this day a mystery, 

 for the greater number insisted that their bullets struck 

 just where the holes were found. Whoever reached the 

 vicinity of the heart, however, was the champion. The 

 action of our veteran mustangs was accounted for on the 

 ground that Bruin emerged too suddenly, so did not give 

 them time to think. This may have been the cause, but to 

 me it looked like want of courage and experience. Our 

 camp was the scene of hilarity that evening, and the song, 

 "Jlermosa esta la noche" was sung many times over, and 

 with immense gusto, as all were pleased with the success 

 achieved. 



We started out the next morning at six o'clock, and work- 

 ed up a piece of woods half a mile from the coppice of the 

 previous day, but it proved a blank draw. While we were 



