at. We jogged along, chatting away, for
some time, when it occurred to us that we were getting very near the
camp, or ought to be, for we had walked long and fast enough.

Doctor was trudging on ahead with the meat; I was behind some twenty
yards with both rifles; we were passing through some thin timber which
skirted a little prairie, out on which we could see quite distinctly;
Doctor made a sudden halt--

"Hollo! by Jove, what's that?"

"What? eh? where?" said I, bustling up to the Doctor, who made free to
drop the meat, wheeled about, snatched his rifle out of my fists and
_broke!_

"A grizzly bear coming, by thunder!"

Upon that _hint_ there were two gentlemen seen hurrying themselves
_somewhat_, I reckon, on the back track. Doctor was what you might call
a fast trotter, but when he broke into a full gallop the odds against me
were dreadful! I was fairly distanced, and when perfectly blowed out
stopped to pull the briars out of my torn trowsers, scratched face and
dishevelled locks, listen to the enemy, and ascertain where the Doctor
had got to. No sound broke the reigning stillness, save the sonorous
"coo-hoot" of an owl. My rifle was empty, and a search satisfied me that
my caps were not to be found. My own cap had also disappeared in the
fright, and I was in a bad way for defence, and completely at a dead
loss as to the bearings of the camp.

"Well," thinks I, "it's no particular use crying over spilt milk--it's
no use to move when there is no idea existing of bettering one's self,
so here I'll _roost_ until daylight, unless Doctor comes back to hunt me
up!" I judged it was not far from 2 o'clock, A. M., and believed it
possible that our venison might only whet a grizzly bear's appetite to
follow up the pursuit and gormandize me!--A proper site for a _roost_
was the next matter of importance, and a scrubby oak with a thick top,
close by, offered an inviting elevation to lodge.

A long, long time seemed the coming day; and the sharp air of its
approach, and heavy dew, made "perching" in a crotch very fatiguing
"pastime."

When light began to dawn, sliding down I took an observation that
convinced me, according to Indian signs, that Doctor and I had gone
South too far to hit the camp, and, to the best of my reckoning, the old
bee tree was not far out of my way, and that I now struck for.

About noon, and a lovely day it was, I discovered the bee tree, made a
dinner on honey, which was scattered about con