Wild animals were also in evidence, and more than once a rabbit, squirrel or fox crossed their path, and once they saw a herd of deer at a distance and also a black bear. The bear interested Dave more than anything and he wondered if they would ever meet face to face.
“If we do, I hope I have my gun handy,” he said to Washington.
“You’ll do better to leave the bear alone if he doesn’t harm you,” was the surveyor’s advice. “For if your shot fails he will surely do his best to hug you to death.”
The work proceeded along the cliff and then across a long hollow and up the mountain again. One day it rained and this made climbing on the day following difficult.
“You must be careful,” cautioned Washington, on starting out. “A false step may cost you dear.”
They were soon hard at work, and Dave was finding his way around a particularly steep bit of rocky ground when he heard a shout from his employer. He could not make out what was said and while he listened the shout was repeated.
Fearing that something had gone wrong, he crawled back the way he had come and ran through the underbrush to where he had left Washington. But the surveyor was nowhere in sight.
“Where are you?” he called. “What is the matter?”
“This way!” was the answer, delivered in a panting tone of voice. “This way!”
Guided by the tones, Dave turned and ran in a new direction. Soon he reached a series of rocks sloping down toward a deep ravine.