296 CHASE TWO BEAES. 



I had been warned before starting that Reed was an awful 

 drunkard and a dangerous man when he had had too much, 

 who would stick at nothing, and there were many stories of 

 the men he had shot ; and yet I found him an unusually nice 

 man, of fair education and very fond of Sir Walter Scott's 

 novels, especially the poetry, which he always had with him, 

 and of which he knew a great deal by heart. For the time he 

 had " sworn off," and was drinking essence of ginger in water, 

 as he said that he must have something hot. He warned me 

 to beware of his partner Bowles, who, according to his account, 

 was equal to any rascality, but who had in some way got a 

 hold over Reed. 



. On the morning of the second day we had some rain, and 

 thinking that we should see no game I put my rifle in the 

 waggon, which jogged on, the road being good, while Symonds 

 and I rode slowly chatting, and we had in this way dropped 

 about half a mile behind, when we saw a large grizzly bear aud 

 a cub leave a ravine on our left and make across the open 

 country for some hills about a mile away. As we had no 

 weapon of any kind, I arranged with Symonds that he should 

 follow the bears, not going near enough to hurry them, while 

 I galloped after the waggon, and got my rifle and returned as 

 quickly as I could. I went at full speed and was not away 

 more than ten minutes, but when I got back I found Symonds 

 at the first small stream which he had come across, and over 

 which he said he could not get his pony to go, and the bears 

 were out of sight. I galloped in the direction in which they 

 had been going, but could see nothing of them, as I came 

 across a good many small ravines full of branches, into any 

 one of which they might have gone, the prairie being too hard 



