ity knew no bounds. I was the only man in the
crowd who didn't enjoy the bear chase. Right then I made a resolve
that hereafter, when volunteers are called for to rope a bear, my
accomplishments in that line will remain unmentioned by me. I'll eat
my breakfast first, anyhow, and think it over carefully."

"Dogs and horses are very much alike about a bear," said one of the
boys. "Take a dog that never saw a bear in his life, and let him get
a sniff of one, and he'll get up his bristles like a javeline and tuck
his tail and look about for good backing or a clear field to run."

Long John showed symptoms that he had some yarn to relate, so we
naturally remained silent to give him a chance, in case the spirit
moved in him. Throwing a brand into the fare after lighting his
cigarette, he stretched himself on the ground, and the expected
happened.

"A few years ago, while rangering down the country," said he, "four
of us had trailed some horse-thieves down on the Rio Grande, when they
gave us the slip by crossing over into Mexico. We knew the thieves
were just across the river, so we hung around a few days, in the hope
of catching them, for if they should recross into Texas they were our
meat. Our plans were completely upset the next morning, by the
arrival of twenty United States cavalrymen on the cold trail of four
deserters. The fact that these deserters were five days ahead and had
crossed into Mexico promptly on reaching the river, did not prevent
this squad of soldiers from notifying both villages on each side of
the river as to their fruitless errand. They couldn't follow their own
any farther, and they managed to scare our quarry into hiding in the
interior. We waited until the soldiers returned to the post, when we
concluded we would take a little _pasear_ over into Mexico on our own
account.

"We called ourselves horse-buyers. The government was paying like
thirty dollars for deserters, and in case we run across them, we
figured it would pay expenses to bring them out. These deserters
were distinguishable wherever they went by the size of their horses;
besides, they had two fine big American mules for packs. They were
marked right for that country. Everything about them was _muy grande_.
We were five days overtaking them, and then at a town one hundred and
forty miles in the interior. They had celebrated their desertion
the day previous to our arrival by getting drunk, and when the
horse-buyers arrived they were