42 BOOK OF A HUNDRED BEARS 



MacBride is the head scout. He has been there 

 thirty years, nearly. He knows every foot of it 

 and every animal in it. He has the power of the 

 high, the low, and the middle, justice: power of 

 life and death over its wild citizens. A quiet man, 

 big and silent like his habitat, with something of 

 the free wildness of his friends. Mostly in his 

 patrol he sticks to the trails and, day and night, 

 the year 'round, rides his lonely way looking for 

 poachers, for imprudent campers who do not 

 quench their fires, observing the wild things and 

 their doings and welfare. Once in a while you 

 will find him, in his forest clothes, in one of the 

 great hotels, rolling and smoking endless cigar- 

 ettes and observing the foolish ways of civiliza- 

 tion. And then, if you can get *him to talk, it is 

 worth a trip across the continent. 



His old calico saddle horse is as well known to the 

 animals of the Park as are their feeding grounds. 

 He can ride through a band of elk without their 

 lifting a head. He knows the good bears and the 

 bad ones. In winter, with the other scouts, he 

 goes on snow shoes, for his patrol must be kept up, 



