ght,
all the horses were thrown loose, with the usual precaution of hobbling,
except two or three on picket. All but about ten head wore the
bracelets, and those ten were pals, their pardners wearing the hemp.
Early in the evening, probably nine o'clock, with a bright fire burning,
and the boys spreading down their beds for the night, suddenly the
horses were heard running, and the next moment they hobbled into camp
like a school of porpoise, trampling over the beds and crowding up to
the fire and the wagon. They almost knocked down some of the boys, so
sudden was their entrance. Then they set up a terrible nickering for
mates. The boys went amongst them, and horses that were timid and shy
almost caressed their riders, trembling in limb and muscle the while
through fear, like a leaf. We concluded a bear had scented the camp, and
in approaching it had circled round, and run amuck our saddle horses.
Every horse by instinct is afraid of a bear, but more particularly a
range-raised one. It's the same instinct that makes it impossible to
ride or drive a range-raised horse over a rattlesnake. Well, after the
boys had petted their mounts and quieted their fears, they were still
reluctant to leave camp, but stood around for several hours, evidently
feeling more secure in our presence. Now and then one of the free ones
would graze out a little distance, cautiously sniff the air, then trot
back to the others. We built up a big fire to scare away any bear or
wolves that might he in the vicinity, but the horses stayed like invited
guests, perfectly contented as long as we would pet them and talk to
them. Some of the boys crawled under the wagon, hoping to get a little
sleep, rather than spread their bed where a horse could stampede over
it. Near midnight we took ropes and saddle blankets and drove them
several hundred yards from camp. The rest of the night we slept with one
eye open, expecting every moment to hear them take fright and return.
They didn't, but at daylight every horse was within five hundred yards
of the wagon, and when we unhobbled them and broke camp that morning, we
had to throw riders in the lead to hold them back."

On the conclusion of Scales's experience, there was no lack of
volunteers to take up the thread, though an unwritten law forbade
interruptions. Our employer was among the group, and out of deference to
our guest, the boys remained silent. Uncle Lance finally regaled us
with an account of a fight betw