ave me."

The old fellow grunted sourly, and puffed away at the black pipe for
some moments. At last, he got upon his feet and held out his hand to
Frank.

"Put ther thar!" he cried. "You talk all right; we'll see how yer pan
out. You kin go erlong."

They shook hands, and Frank was well satisfied.

"You stay right yere by ther trail," directed the guide. "I'm goin' over
yon a piece ter see ef thar is some mud geysers down thar. It's been
some time sence I wuz in this yar part o' ther park, an' I wants ter git
my bearin's. I'll be back yere directly, an' you kin be restin'
meantime."

Frank felt like demurring, but he believed it best to do exactly as the
guide directed, and so he nodded and sat down again, while Old Rocks
strode away and soon disappeared.

Nearly thirty minutes passed, and then, of a sudden, the boy was
startled by the report of a rifle, the sound of the shot coming from the
direction in which the guide had disappeared.

"I wonder what it can mean?" speculated Frank.

He was uneasy. He knew the guide might have fired at some kind of small
game, but for some reason he fancied such was not the case.

Was Old Rocks in trouble?

Catching up his rifle, Frank started on a run in the direction taken by
the guide.

Down into the valley he went, his eyes wide open. Suddenly, a short
distance before him, there was a hissing, rushing roar, and a column of
mud and water shot into the air.

There were the mud geysers Old Rocks had started out to look for.

Toward the geyser hurried Frank, still looking for his companion.

Before the column of mud and water had ceased shooting into the air,
Frank came upon a startling spectacle.

Not far from the geysers Old Rocks was engaged in a hand-to-hand
encounter with a huge grizzly bear!

On the ground near by lay the body of another bear, telling how accurate
had been the guide's first shot.

The guide was using his bowie knife, which was already stained with
blood to the hilt.

Frank did not hesitate about rushing straight toward the battling man
and beast, and Old Rocks saw him coming.

"Keerful, boy!" panted the man; "keerful with thet thar rifle! Don't
shoot yere, fer yer might bore me."

"I won't hit you," promised Frank. "I will shoot the bear."

"You don't know whar ter put yer lead, an' yer might fire a dozen
bullets inter this varmint 'thout finishin' him."

It was evident that the old man was badly winded.

Thus far he had avoided th