THE GRIZZLY BEAK. Z;il 



run off on seeing the bear, and were already half 

 way up the hill which lay between us and the 

 encampment. Sambo had run off with them, think- 

 ing that I would run too ; but that would have been 

 of little use, for I was nothing like so agile as they 

 were. It was only on arriving close to the camp 

 that the poor fellow discovered his mistake. 



" Well, there was I face to face with the grizzly 

 bear, and if I had fled with my men, he would in all 

 probability have caught me before I had run twenty 

 yards, because I should certainly have been the last. 

 Not only was my gun unloaded, but whilst we were 

 digging the pit, I had handed my hunting-knife to 

 Sambo, finding it somewhat in the way. I was 

 therefore entirely disarmed, and I made up my 

 mind that it was all over with me, and ' God have 

 pity on my poor children,' thought I, and then I 

 awaited the rush of the grizzly bear. 



" He, however, seemed to be in no hurry. He 

 came on slowly, and when he was within about a 

 dozen yards of me he crouched on the ground like 

 a cat, looking at me fixedly. I followed his example 

 by sitting down, and looking at him as intently as 

 I could. I remembered what I had read about the 

 power of the human eye, and, as a last resource, 

 resolved to try the experiment. Unfortunately it 

 was a failure ; the bear shut his eyes, and looked to 

 the right and left of me, but that was the only 

 effect. Presently, however, he folded his paws one 



