between the two of us we managed to hang on
to the packet.

"By-an'-by, we was gettin' terribly tuckered out. It was a good thing
for us that the bear was gettin' winded an' dizzy as well; because, at
about the sixty-seventh roun', the brute had no sooner gone down the
birch than he bounded up agen just when Old-pot-head's son was
a-climbin' thro' the upper branches o' the birch. So he slips over
into the top o' the east pine, while I stays in the top o' the west
pine, an' the bear sits down in a upper crotch o' the birch.

"Well, we puts in a good many heats of anywhere from twenty-five to
seventy-five laps roun' that track by the time daylight comes, an'
sunrise finds us all ketching our wind in the upper branches. I
noticed that whenever the brute wanted to stop the whirligig it always
climbed up the birch just in time to separate me an' me pardner; an'
there we would sit, me in the west pine, me pardner in the east pine,
an' the black brute right in between.

"About breakfast time me an' the Injun was feelin' mighty hungry.
There we sat cussin' our luck an' castin' longin' glances down at the
grub bag. By the time I'd caught me wind a great idea strikes me.
Durin' the next heat I would rush out. So I sings out my intentions to
me pardner; an' he says he thinks we can do it. So while he was
carryin' Her Majesty's mail I was to try an' grab the grub bag.

"We got ready, an' dropped down them pines so fast that we both hits
groun' before the bear knows what's doin'. Then I leaves that tree
like as if all the animals in the woods was after me. I got on so much
speed that by the time I grabs the grub bag I was goin' so fast that I
couldn't turn roun' without slackin' down. That's where I loses a
terrible amount o' time, an' I was beginnin' to think it was all up
with me. By the time I got headed roun' agen for the tree, I sees that
the bear is comin' down with his back to me. When he hits groun' he
sees the Injun dancin' roun' the foot o' the west pine; so he makes for
the redskin, an' chases him up while I climbs the east pine.

"Then we all went roun' an' roun' for maybe fifty laps, an' the way we
wore the bark off them trees an' trod down the grass between 'em was a
caution. By-an'-by the bear gets so dizzy that he bucks up the birch
agen, an' sure enuff that stops the performance.

"I didn't need any breakfast bell to remind me to open the grub bag. I
just reaches in an' pulls out some busted bann