"Bang!" went a gun near by, and turning to look both men saw one of the party standing up in the saddle, on the horse brought along to carry the game.
"Get out of that thicket! You will be killed if you try to stay there," shouted the leader.
"My only chance is to shoot as I stand," answered the man, busy loading his gun. "I can not make this horse move. But for the Mexican stiff-bit in his mouth and a vigorous use of my big spurs he would lie down with me."
"I am coming to help you," said the leader, sliding down the limb of the tree to the ground. "I will ham-string the grizzly and then you can finish him."
He was an excellent shot, and soon the bear was dragging his hind quarters and showing signs of weakness from loss of blood. The man in the saddle deliberately aimed at his heart, and after a few convulsive struggles the grizzly lay dead.
The barking of the dogs and the reports of the guns brought the whole party together, and after bandaging the wounds of their companion, and sending him home on the horse the remaining men went in search of the she bear. They had wounded her and it was not hard to track her to a small stream, where they found her sitting on her haunches and groaning like a human being.
"That sounds too much like a woman's moans," said the men, "and we will slip away without being seen and let her alone."
As they walked home they took turns in carrying the skin of the grizzly they had killed.
"He would weigh two thousand pounds and could jump fully twenty feet," they said.