
AT THE LAKE. 67 
When we reached camp Hank was not 
there, so after supper we all sat around a 
big log fire, and told stories until bed time. 
The moon was shining bright and clear, 
casting long shadowy figures through the 
pines. About this time a mountain lion, 
gave his long drawn wail, from some place 
up on the mountain, and was answered by 
a large horned owl in a neighboring pine. 
The whole camp decided at once that none 
of them were sleepy; and the ladies talked 
of awful deaths, that were sure to have over- 
taken my partner. But I was not uneasy, 
for I was sure he would show up all right. 
We were standing around the fire listen- 
ing to the wail of the lion, which he was 
giving at regular intervals, when a stick 
broke with a loud pop on one side of the 
camp; every one jumped, and the ladies 
screamed. The Doctor’s dog, “ Naylor,” 
ran out and began to bark and growl. 
Above all this racket we could hear Hank, 
talking to the dog. Ina moment he walked 
into camp, with a 2 prong buck on his back. 
The only excuse he made for being so late, 
was that he had to go farther from camp 
than he expected. Then we settled down 
for a quiet night. 
Next morning we took one of our pack 
horses and, with 3 or 4 of the party, went 
to our fish; they took their shot guns and 
killed several fool-hens on the way. When 
we arrived at the point where we had left 
the fish, we were surprised to find them 
knocked down, and what were not eaten 
were torn up, and scattered over the 
ground. We knew it was the work of a 
bear, and down at the creek we saw his foot 
prints in the sand, which showed him to be 
very large and most likely a grizzly. Re- 
turning to camp we got an ax, our largest 
bear trap, which weighed 40 pounds, and 
the fore quarter of the buck which Hank 
had killed the day before. 
Going up the creek a mile or so, and find- 
ing a favorable point to set our trap, among 
the black pines which we cut to build our V 
shaped pen, to hold the bait, and covered 
it all over with boughs, leaving only one 
opening for the bear. When all was ready 
to set the trap, we wedged the big iron ring 
on the chain fast to a good sized quaking 
asp pole, just what we thought the bear 
could handle without leaving the country. 
That night around the camp fire the Doc- 
tor told us about his dog, Naylor; how 
savage he was, how he could fight, and how 
regardless he was of danger. The Doctor 
firmly believed it would require strong 
measures to keep him from killing a bear 
on sight. We promised the Doctor that if 
we captured Bruin, ‘‘ Naylor” should have 
-an opportunity to show his sand. The next 
morning before daylight, Hank and I were 
on Our way to the trap. When we reached 
the place the trap was gone. It is difficult 
to trail a trapped bear, for you may run 
onto him unexpectedly if you don’t keep a 
sharp lookout. We saw where the end of 
the pole had struck the ground where the 
bear had made his first jump. Then the 
trail led us toward the mountain, and in one 
place, where he crossed down timber, had 
gotten the pole fast; and was probably held 
there for several hours, judging from the 
way he had torn things up. He was cer- 
tainly a large bear, or he never could have 
handled the pole and trap as he did. Up 
on the edge of the mountain, we came 
across him, and got up close without his 
seeing us. We found the trap had a good 
hold on one paw. The pole had become 
wedged into, and under the rocks, and 
would move only back and forth like a 
door bolt. As there was little chance of 
his getting farther we returned to camp to 
get the Doctor, his dog, and the rest of the 
party, if they cared to come. They were 
all at breakfast, when we arrived, so we 
joined in with a will. 
I don’t think I ever heard so many ques- 
tions asked before or since. We had to tell 
all about the bear, how big he was and how 
he was caught. The Doctor gave Naylor 
an extra slice of venison to nerve him for 
the fray; and the whole camp started for 
the scene of action. But ere long the 
ladies decided they could go no farther and 
returned to camp with the children. 
When we got close to where the bear 
was, we cautioned every one to be quiet, as 
we did not want to excite him. When we 
came out where we had seen him last he 
had already seen us. ‘“‘ Naylor” had taken 
no interest in the proceedings so far. The 
Doctor pointed to the bowlders and said, 
“sic em!” Naylor went bounding toward 
the rocks where bruin was half standing. 
When the dog was within about 8 or Io 
feet the bear scooped up in his good paw, 
about as much dirt and gravel as you could 
put in a coal scuttle. and threw it at the dog. 
Naylor gave one howl, stuck his tail be- 
tween his legs, and went by our party at a 
2-40 gait. The Doctor was shocked, and 
the rest of the party never tired of joking 
him about his bear-dog. To the Doctor was 
accorded the distinction of shooting Bruin, 
who keeled over dead at the crack of his 
gun. 
‘Hank and I went to skinning while some 
of the others returned to camp for 2 pack 
horses, as the bear was too heavy to carry 
on one. When they returned they reported 
Naylor’s safe arrival at camp. Also that 
the Doctor’s wife. and some of the other ex- 
citable ladies, were nearly in a state of 
nervous prostration, as they looked upon 
Naylor as the only probable survivor of 
the expedition. 
We remained at the lakes several days, 
and I never had a better time. Our new- 
made friends were sorry to see us leave, but 
sometimes necessity is a great ruler, and 
we had to locate a good fur district to trap 
on that winter. So we said good-by. 
