that
my hand might not tremble, and that my rifle might not miss fire. Thus
I waited till the brute got within six yards of me. Had I let him get
nearer, even in his death struggles, he might have grappled me. I aimed
at his eye. I fired, and the moment I had done so, I sprang back, and
did not stop till I had placed twenty paces between myself and the bear,
scarcely looking to see the effect of my shot. When the smoke cleared
off, I saw the monster struggling on, with the aim, it seemed, of
catching me. I was thankful that I had been impelled to spring back as
I had done, for I certainly had not previously intended doing so. I
knew how hard the old grizzlies often die, and so I put some dozen or
more yards between me and him. He fell, then got up once, and made
towards me again, and then rolled over, and I had great hope life was
extinct. I had meantime reloaded my rifle, and approached him with due
caution, for bears are, I had heard, cunning fellows, and sometimes sham
death to catch the unwary hunter. When I got near enough I poked at him
with my pike, and tickled him in several places, and as he did not move,
I got round to his head, and gave him a blow with my axe, which would
have settled him had he been shamming ever so cleverly.

Without loss of time I cut out his tongue and as many steaks as I could
conveniently carry, and stringing them together with a piece of his hide
threw them over my back, and hurried on till I could find a sufficient
collection of wood or lichens, or other substance that would burn, to
make a fire for cooking them. I need not dwell on what I did do, but
the fact was I was ravenously hungry; and let any one, with the gnawings
of the stomach I was enduring, find his nose within a few inches of some
fresh wholesome bear's meat, and he will probably do what I did--eat a
piece of it raw. I was very glad that I did, for I felt my strength
much recruited by my savage meal, especially as I only ate a small
piece, very leisurely chewing it as I hurried on my road.

It was a satisfaction to believe that I was going much faster than the
women and vehicles could progress, and so I hoped to overtake them in a
day or two at furthest; still, as long as there was daylight, I did not
like to stop, and so on I tramped, till just before it grew dark I
reached a broader part of the pass, where, in a nook in the mountain
side, I discovered the remains of the camp formed by my friends, and
left