216 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CUAP. 



My men wished to fire some shots in response, but I declined to 

 permit this disturbance of the neighbourhood, as it would have 

 effectually driven all animals from the locality ; we merely piled 

 logs upon the fire, which could be seen from the heights at a great 

 distance, and we waited in anxious expectation. 



Nearly an hour passed away without any further sign. Bill 

 could not have fired those six shots in succession to attract our 

 attention, as it would have been a needless waste of ammunition : 

 if he had expected a response to a signal, he would have fired a 

 single shot, to be followed by another some minutes later. We now 

 considered that he might have severely wounded the bear by the 

 first two shots that we had heard, and that he had followed the 

 beast up in some extraordinary manner, and at length discovered it. 



We were about to give up all hope of his return, and knowing 

 that he, as a smoker, was never without a supply of matches, we 

 expected to see the glare of a distant fire, by which he would sit 

 up throughout the night, when presently we heard the sound of 

 whistling, and the clatter of a horse's feet among the stones of the 

 brook, within 150 yards of our position. 



In a couple of minutes Texas Bill appeared, leading the horse, 

 which was covered with dry foam. In one hand he held a large 

 bloody mass ; this was the liver of a bear ! 



"Well done, Bill!" we all exclaimed, except the sulky Jem 

 Bourne, who only muttered, "A pretty state you've brought that 

 horse to ; why, I shouldn't have known him." 



The story was now told by the modest Bill, who did not imagine 

 that he had done anything to excite admiration. This was his 

 account of the hunt in the dark : "Well, you see, when the two 

 bears were going up the open slope, down which you and I came, 

 after shooting the sage-hens, all I could do was to gallop after 

 them, to keep them from getting into the forest ; when of course 

 they would have been gone for ever. One of them did make a 

 rush, and passed across me before I could stop him, and I didn't 

 mind this, as I couldn't have managed two. I got in front of the 

 other, and cracked my whip at him, and at last I got him well in 

 the open on the big plateau, where we shot the sage-hens. He 

 got savage now, and was determined to push by me and gain the 

 forest ; but I rode right at him, and seeing that I couldn't stop 

 him, I fired my six-shooter to turn him, just as he made a dash at 

 the horse. He made another rush at the horse, and I turned him 

 with another shot, within a couple of paces' distance. This made 

 him take off in a new direction, and he tried to cross the big 

 plateau, intending, no doubt, to get to the forest a couple of miles 



