324 THE COLONEL SHOOTS A GRIZZLY. 



usual, he and a partner had wintered in these mountains, 

 skin-hunting, and had good luck, getting more than thirteen 

 hundred deer ; and that, hearing of this, two other men came 

 and put up a cabin near them, but had made a failure of it, 

 only killing about four hundred deer and hardly paying their 

 expenses. So that the four men had actually killed more than 

 seventeen hundred black- and white-tailed deer for their skins 

 alone, beside ail those they wounded and did not get. Since 

 then deer-skins had become of so little value as to be not 

 worth taking off, fifteenpence being the outside price, and the 

 deer were as plentiful as ever. 



We put a bear-bait about four hundred yards from camp, in 

 a small ravine with precipitous sides, fastening three deer to a 

 strong rope and staking them down just under a large rock, 

 which made a grand place to shoot from, being about twenty 



feet above the bait. Bears do not care for meat until it is 



j 

 high, so that for several days none came ; but at last we found 



that one big one had supped there, so we tossed up for first 

 chance, and the Colonel won, so he and Fishel went about half 

 an hour before the moon rose and took up a position on the 

 rock. We sat round the fire and waited, and about half an 

 hour after they left we heard the ColoneFs rifle, and then two 

 loud reports, made by my ten-bore shot-gun, which Fishel had 

 taken loaded with buckshot. Half an hour later they returned, 

 having killed a fine grizzly, which, on skinning it the next 

 morning, had, we found, a ball between the shoulders, passing 

 close to the heart, and seven buckshot in the head, about 

 enough for any bear, I fancy. 



The next night the waggon-driver and I went out, and had 

 an hour to wait, when, although we heard nothing come, we 



