210 CAMP-FIRES IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES 



" Say, Mr. Phillips, how about Big Ben? " 



" It is always the biggest fish and the biggest bucks 

 that get away," said Mr. Phillips, reflectively; and on 

 being encouraged to " out with it " he outed with it, 

 as follows: 



" The bear that Mack refers to with that twinkle in 

 his eye was, in one way, the most remarkable bear I ever 

 saw on foot. We were hunting on the head of Wilson 

 Creek, and it was the I2th of May. In many places the 

 snow was deep on the mountains, but there were a few 

 bare spots on the slides, where it had melted off. In 

 those places, wild onions were springing up, and Mack 

 and I started up a slide to look for a salad. But instead 

 of finding small onions, we found big game. 



" Mack looked half a mile up a big slide, and said, 



" t Oh, my! what a big silver-tip! ' 



" It was a bear all right, and while he looked very 

 dark, he seemed entirely too big for a black bear. When 

 we looked at him with our glasses, however, we saw that 

 although he was a black bear, he was a whaling big one. 

 He was out on a snow-covered slide, walking slowly 

 about among some low bushes, whose tops rose only a 

 few inches above the snow. 



" As soon as we had taken a good look at him, we 

 prepared for a run and a big fight. 



" ' He's a shore big 'un! ' said Mack." 



(At that point, Mack laughed.) 



;< We kept in the edge of the green timber, and 

 ploughed up through the snow at a great rate, shedding 

 clothing at intervals all the way. In a very short time 



