AN EXCITING TRIP 315 



When the horses were at last found and mounted 

 they managed to get down the steep declivity by walk- 

 ing some and sliding more, and the first day's quest 

 was a failure. 



The second day almost the same program was fol- 

 lowed. In some tall grass the bear's bed of the 

 night before was discovered, and everything looked 

 hopeful, but again the day's work ended in a complete 

 failure. 



Thursday they managed to "jump" him among 

 rocks, and then our " Jim " did some rare sprinting, 

 with his respiration bordering upon 300. He is of 

 Falstaffian dimensions. His sweater was cast aside in 

 the run ; next his coat, followed by a pair of trousers 

 and his hat, the guide encouraging him to " Come on, 

 come on." 



There were logs a-many; some were slippery, and 

 over these the trail must lead ; and need it be wondered 

 at that our doughty companion often fell ! He once 

 slipped and slid feet first down a portion of the steep 

 mountainside. The guide said he could hear the bear 

 crashing through the bushes, but, alas ! he couldn't get 

 close enough to see him. He was always twenty min- 

 utes behind the bear, or, to put it more plainly, the 

 bear was twenty minutes ahead of him. 



So once more a pair of weary men came down the 

 hill without the bear, and as they had arrived but ten 

 minutes before us, "W. J." had not had time to get 



