line.'

"They talked quite a while longer, and then turned in for the night.
The next morning after breakfast was over, he got the needed articles
together and went to work. But there was a surprise in store for him.
There was nearly a dozen men lying around, all able eaters. By ten
o'clock he began to turn them out as he said he could. When the
regular cook had to have the stove to get dinner, the taste which we
had had made us ravenous for more. Dinner over, he went at them again
in earnest. A boy riding towards the railroad with an important letter
dropped in, and as he claimed he could only stop for a moment, we
stood aside until he had had a taste, though he filled himself like a
poisoned pup. After eating a solid hour, he filled his pockets and
rode away. One of our regular men called after him, 'Don't tell
anybody what we got.'

"We didn't get any supper that night. Not a man could have eaten a
bite. Miller made him knock off along in the shank of the evening, as
he had done enough for any one day. The next morning after breakfast
he fell to at the bear sign once more. Miller rolled a barrel of flour
into the kitchen from the storehouse, and told him to fly at them.
'About how many do you think you'll want?' asked our bear sign man.

"'That big tub full won't be any too many,' answered Miller. 'Some of
these fellows haven't had any of this kind of truck since they were
little boys. If this gets out, I look for men from other camps.'

"The fellow fell to his work like a thoroughbred, which he surely was.
About ten o'clock two men rode up from a camp to the north, which the
boy had passed the day before with the letter. They never went near
the dug-out, but straight to the kitchen. That movement showed that
they were on to the racket. An hour later old Tom Cave rode in, his
horse all in a lather, all the way from Garretson's camp, twenty-five
miles to the east. The old sinner said that he had been on the
frontier some little time, and that there were the best bear sign he
had tasted in forty years. He refused to take a stool and sit down
like civilized folks, but stood up by the tub and picked out the ones
which were a pale brown.

"After dinner our man threw off his overshirt, unbuttoned his red
undershirt and turned it in until you could see the hair on his
breast. Rolling up his sleeves, he flew at his job once more. He was
getting his work reduced to a science by this time. He rolled his
dough, cut his do