AN ENCOUNTER WITH A GRIZZLY 421 



even a holdup could be looked for. The stage 

 owners had looked out for that by taking all the 

 currency of the outfit in exchange for transporta- 

 tion. 



But the drivers saved the situation. Thev. 

 spread before us the corpses of bygone jokes and 

 unwrapped the mummies of ancient stories. We 

 were held spellbound by what was left of a driver 

 with two wooden legs, one hand and a hook. He 

 thrilled us with his description of the blizzard in 

 which he lost his way, his limbs, his passengers, 

 male and female, and the most of himself. His 

 effective use of the fragment of anatomy remain- 

 ing to him was a constant marvel to us, yet his 

 management of reins, whip, and brake, on bad 

 roads and down sharp descents never interfered 

 with his duty to his passengers — his duty to enter- 

 tain them, to thrust his overcoat on one who 

 chanced to shiver, or to accept cheerfully the 

 tendered flask of another. He had his fun with 

 us, as once when he stopped his team at the top of 

 a really terrifying descent and casually re- 

 marked, "We lost a coach off that hill last 



