grinning at?"

"Why, sir--the bear, you know; it wasn't a bear after all," stammered
Pedro, in reply.

"It wasn't! I say it was. Didn't I see him with my own eyes, and hear
him growl with my own ears? Take that hat down from your face, and stop
your laughing."

Pedro obeyed. He placed the bundle on a chair beside the bed, leaned the
gun up in one corner, deposited the other articles upon the table, and
then pulled out of his pocket a note which he handed to Arthur.

"Now take yourself off," commanded that young gentleman.

Pedro vanished, and Arthur heard him laughing to himself as he passed
through the hall.

"What does the rascal mean, I wonder; and who can be writing to me so
early in the morning?"

Arthur looked at the bundle, which lay on the chair beside him, felt of
it with his fingers, and then turned his attention to the note, which
ran as follows:

"Frank, Archie, and Johnny present their compliments to Colonel
Vane, and beg leave to inform him that, after a struggle
unequaled in the annals of hunting, they succeeded in dispatching
the monster by which they were attacked yesterday. They are,
also, happy to announce that the dogs, which were so badly cut up
during the fight, have so far recovered as to be out, and to take
their regular rations. They request the Colonel to accept the
accompanying articles, including the skin of the grizzly bear,
and to preserve them as mementoes of the most exciting event of
his life. They sincerely hope that the Colonel sustained no
injury during his ride on his runaway horse."

Arthur read this letter over twice, and, although he made no comments
upon it, it was easy enough to see that he was highly enraged. He sat up
in the bed, and, with trembling hands, tore off the covering of the
bundle, and discovered the skin of the gray wolf.

"By gracious!" exclaimed Arthur, jumping out on the floor. "Was a
gentleman ever before so insulted? That little Yankee, Archie Winters,
is at the bottom of all this, and if he don't suffer for it, I'll know
the reason why."

He tore the note into fragments, pitched the bundle out of the window,
and walked angrily about the room, shaking his fists in the air, and
threatening all sorts of vengeance against Archie and his two friends.
If he had been in his sober senses, he would have felt heartily ashamed
of himself; but the note had opened his eyes to the fact that he had
sadly