THE BLACK BEAR. 237 



lively. "Ha! ha!" cried he, "now we shall have 

 some bear's meat. Ha, gentlemen " (here he bran- 

 dished his spear with a martial air), "I'll bet a wager 

 that the first we eat will be killed by me, and with 

 this very spear which you have joked so much about. 

 You may laugh; but I'll keep my word, and before 

 to-morrow evening, too." As he uttered this belli- 

 cose defiance, the little man dug his spurs into the 

 sides of his short-tailed pony so vigorously, that 

 the steed, by no means admiring the proceeding, 

 threw him, spear, baggage and all, clean over his 

 head. You may guess how heartily we laughed ; 

 but the little man picked himself up again none the 

 worse for his tumble, and mounted into the saddle 

 again with wonderful agility. 



When night drew on, we could distinguish the 

 outline of the mountains very clearly, and the 

 valleys which separated them. We encamped at 

 the foot of the chain, and every heart beat high 

 with expectation of the morrow, for we were now 

 fairly in the country of the Indians, and might 

 reasonably expect sport before another sun was 

 down. 



Very early next morning we were all under arms, 

 and preparing for the adventures of the day with a 

 solid and abundant breakfast. 



As we approached the mountains, those rude 

 masses of granite presented the most extraordinary 

 appearance. They seemed to rise with abrupt 



