ontinued Major Henry, "it's a pity just to let her lie and to
waste her. We can use the meat."

"The pelt's no good, is it?" asked Fitz.

"Not much, in the summer. But we'll take it off, and put the meat in it,
to carry."

They set to work. Kit Carson and I started after the burro. He had run
off, up the mountain again, and we couldn't catch him. He was too
nervous. We'd get close to him, and with a snort and a toss of his ears
he would jump away and fool us. That was very aggravating.

"If we only had a rope we could rope him," said Kit. But we didn't.
There was no profit in chasing a burro all over a mountain, and so, hot
and tired, we went back and reported.

The old bear had been skinned and butchered, after a fashion. The head
was left on the hide, for the brains. At first Major Henry talked of
sending down to camp for a blanket and making a litter out of it. We
would have hard work to carry Jed in our arms. But Jed was weak and sick
and didn't want to wait for the blanket. Apache would have been a big
help, only he was so foolish. But we had a scheme. Scouts always manage.
(Note 59.)

We made a litter of the bear-pelt! Down we scurried to the aspens and
found two dead sticks. We stuck one through holes in the pelt's fore
legs, and one through holes in the pelt's hind legs, and tied the legs
about with cord. We set little Jed in the hair side, facing the bear's
head, turned back over; the Major, the two Red Fox Scouts, and Kit
Carson took each an end of the sticks; Fitzpatrick and I carried the
meat, stuck on sticks, over our shoulders; and in a procession like
cave-men or trappers returning from a hunt we descended the mountain,
leaving death and blood where we had intended to leave only peace as we
had found it.

Apache made a big circuit to follow us. The two cubs sneaked forward, to
sniff at the bones where their mother had been cut up--and began to eat
her. We were glad to know that they did not feel badly yet, and that
they were old enough to take care of themselves.

But as we stumbled and tugged, carrying wounded Jed down the draw, we
knew plainly that we ought to have let that mountain alone.

[Illustration: "LIKE CAVE-MEN OR TRAPPERS RETURNING FROM A HUNT WE
DESCENDED."]

CHAPTER XVIII

FITZ THE BAD HAND'S GOOD THROW

That green bear-pelt and Jed together were almost too heavy, so that we
went slow and careful and stopped often, to rest us. The sun was setting
when at last we got d