120 The Grizzly Bear 



traps, sprung them, and taking one or two of them with 

 him, went over the range to our left, to where he said there 

 was also good bear country. We were now anxious to find 

 a fresh trail antl see what the dogs would do with the griz- 

 zlies, or — for we owned ourselves subject to doubts — ^what 

 a grizzly would do to the dogs. The following morning, 

 some distance up-stream, we came across tracks that 

 had evidently been made the evening before, and as these 

 led toward camp, and we thought the animal might be 

 near by, we followed them up and jumped the bear within 

 two hundred yards. He immediately plunged downhill 

 into a thicket near the creek, and leaving Coleman to 

 watch the place, I went back to camp to fetch the hounds. 

 On our return I found that the bear had not come out, and 

 when the dogs saw his track in the snow they stopped, took 

 one good sniff, and then gave tongue in a way that made 

 the canon sound like a hurdy-gurdy. 



But the bear at the very start had a surprise to spring 

 on us. The water in the creek was bank high, and so boil- 

 ing swift that we thought nothing could live in it for a 

 moment. We had therefore taken it for granted that the 

 bear, when the dogs dislodged him, would have to run 

 either up or down its banks or toward the hill. Instead of 

 this, however, he made straight for the creek, plunged in, 

 and had crossed before we could come within shot of him. 



A moment later the three dogs, baying their best, 

 plunged into the current and were instantly swept down- 

 stream at race-horse speed; while we stood open-mouthed 

 and mentally entered up three hundred dollars for drowned 

 dogs on the debit side of the ledger. But the dogs were 

 game. Swimming desperately, they at last, far down the 



