, but, for the sake of
safety--it does not do to leave anything to chance with such an
animal--I put two more shots into his head, and he ceased to struggle, a
great shudder passed over his enormous bulk, the muscles relaxed, and he
lay dead.

Then I hurried to where Halley lay. Poor chap! He was far spent, and
quite unconscious, nor was I doctor enough to know whether his wounds
were likely to be fatal, and my very ignorance made them seem the more
terrible. I tore my shirt into bandages, and did what I could for him,
succeeding after a time in stopping the worst of the bleeding; but I
could see very plainly that the left shoulder was terribly shattered,
and I thought, with a groan, of the fifty weary miles that one must send
for a doctor.

Presently he began to come to, and I got him to swallow a little brandy
from his flask, which revived him, and before long, after putting my
coat beneath his head, I left him and started for help.

It was a nightmare, that run. Remorse tore me for having let him start
after the bear alone, and never could I get from my mind the horrible
dread that the slipping of one of my amateur bandages might re-start the
bleeding, and that I should return to find only the lifeless body of my
friend; ever the fear was present that in the terribly rough bed of the
creek I might sprain my ankle, and so fail to bring help ere it was too
late. At times, too, my overstrung nerves were jarred by some sudden
sound in the undergrowth, or the stump of a tree on a hillside would
startle me by so exact a likeness to a bear, sitting up watching me, as
to suggest to my mind the probability of another bear finding and
mauling Halley whilst he lay helpless and alone.

But if my nerves were shaken, my muscles and wind were in good order,
and not even the most morbid self-consciousness could find fault with
the time spent on the journey. Luck favoured me, too, to this extent,
that almost as I got on to the road, or, rather, track, about a mile
from the inn, I met, driving a buggy, and bound for Los Angeles, a man
whose acquaintance we had made a few days before, and who, with much
lurid language, had warned us against going after bear.

His remarks now were more forcible than soothing or complimentary when I
explained the matter to him during the drive to the inn, where he
dropped me, himself going on for the doctor as fast as two horses could
travel.

It did not take us long to improvise a stretcher, and,