OH, SHOOT! 



"The big one! You never saw a bear any 

 bigger than that one, did you?" 



"Yes; I tried to get a shot at the old gray 



one." 



" Do you mean to say there was two of *em?" 



' ' I do ! And the big one was in yonder all the 

 time. He may be there now, for all I know." 



As Joe picked up the camera he said, very 

 quietly: 



"I guess your eyesight was a little bit scat- 

 tered. You 'ain't seen any bear for quite a 

 spell, have you?" 



I resented the innuendo, and began to 

 declare myself vigorously, when he inter- 

 rupted: "Come on! Let's get after them," 

 and away we went up the mountain side, run- 

 ning until we were breathless, guided plainly by 

 great patches of torn moss and heavy indenta- 

 tions. We ran upgrade until I stumbled and 

 staggered from exhaustion; we ran until my 

 legs gave out and my lungs burst ; we ran until 

 I feared I should die at the next knoll ; and we 

 kept on running until I feared I might not 

 die at the next knoll. Up, up, and up we 

 went, until, two hundred yards above, a mov- 

 ing spot amid the timber halted us. 



" G-g-give it to him!" gasped Joe. But the 

 56 



