sudden stop, and to my horror I saw the form of my
friend shoot over the edge of the overhanging rock right in the path of
the grizzly. It all flashed through my mind in a moment. Pete in his
haste to reach me had lost control of himself and slid with the rolling
stones and dirt over the mountain side, a fall of at least twenty-five
feet!

Instantly my nerve returned and I rushed madly up the incline to rescue
my companion. I bounded between the branches of some stout saplings,
they parted as my body struck them but sprung together again before my
leg had cleared the V-shaped opening.

My foot was imprisoned and I fell with a heavy thud on my face. For an
instant I was dazed, but even in my dazed state I was fully conscious of
Pete's impending peril, and I kicked and struggled blindly to free
myself. My gun had been flung from my hand in my fall and was out of my
reach. Then to my horror I heard the howl the wolf gives when game is in
sight, and even half blind as I was I saw dark, dog-like forms sweep by
me; I heard the scream of an eagle; I heard a snarling and yelping, the
sounds of a struggle--I ceased to kick, wiped the blood from my eyes and
looked ahead.

There lay Big Pete Darlinkel, dead or unconscious, and within ten feet
of him stood the giant bear surrounded by a vicious pack of gaunt
red-mouthed wolves. The bear made a rush and a shadow passed over the
ground; I heard the sound of a large body rushing swiftly through the
air, and an immense eagle struck the bear like a thunderbolt; at the
same instant the wolves attacked him from all sides; then there was a
whistle keen and clear; the wolves retreated; the bird again soared
aloft; the bear made several passes in the air in search of the bird,
fell forward again on all fours, rose on its hind legs and killed a wolf
with one sweep of its great paw.

The bear now made a dash at the giant leader of the pack, only to fall
forward, dead, with its ugly nose across Big Pete's chest.

Then I remembered hearing the crack of a rifle, and knew that the Wild
Mountain Man had saved our lives. I tried to rise but found my ankle so
badly sprained that I could not stand on it.

Suddenly a low voice with a hint of an Irish accent said, "Sit down,
stranger, while I look to your mate," and I saw the tall lithe figure of
a man clothed in buckskin bending over Pete.

"Only stunned, friend," said he, and I heard no more. The blow on my
head, combined with the pain from my