A CHROMATIC BEAR HUNT 



It was Joe's good luck we chose to call it 

 luck to get the first shot. He was hidden 

 from us when we heard his toy rifle speak and 

 tore madly in the direction of the sound. 

 Half a minute later "Spat ! " it went again, and 

 then came two more shots in rapid succession. 

 It was worth a man's life to run on such jagged 

 footing, but we had an idea that this was to be 

 a battle and we knew that Joe was alone with 

 the largest animal we had met. 



Sure enough, as I dashed across a snow field, 

 I saw our guide suddenly appear on the ridge 

 above me like a phantom, silhouetted against 

 the evening sky. He was bareheaded it took 

 us three days to find his hat his rubber boots 

 were straddling at a ridiculous distance from 

 each other, and he was hitting it off at the 

 rate of one hundred yards in nothing and 

 three-fifths seconds. He was looking back- 

 ward over his shoulder, fumbling at his hip 

 pocket for shells; nevertheless, he coursed over 

 those loose boulders with the sureness of foot 

 of a mountain goat. He dipped out of sight 

 as suddenly as he had appeared. I heard him 

 cracking away again, then the louder report 

 of Fred's rifle. 



An instant later I reached the top and, 

 97 



