"When they got to the bear, Don Juan made a rough measurement of the distance there'd be between the two front feet and the two hind feet of the bear if she was lying stretched out on the ground, and then in the beef hide he cut holes at different points.
"Now strong ropes, wound with sheep skin to keep the ropes from cutting her, were put around the bear's fore feet and hind feet. The beef hide was moved up close to her head, the ropes attached to the fore feet were passed through the holes in the fore part of the beef hide, and the bear was slid forward on to the hide and the ropes drawn tight. Then the ropes on the hind legs were passed through the holes cut at the back end of the beef hide and drawn tight and there lay the old bear, stretched out flat with the beef hide under her and firmly attached to it. They say it made the white men who had just come into the country stare to see the way the Californians handled the ropes and the bear.
"When the bear was fixed there to the hide, another rope was fastened to the head of the beef hide; and then with three men ahead, each with a turn of one of the ropes around his saddle-horn, and two men behind to keep the hide properly stretched, the outfit set out for the ranch.
"The cubs were tied up and packed on horses, and the whole family, except one cub that had died, successfully taken to the house.
"The next day, after they had put another hide under the bear, they hauled her down along the road to the town. They say that they had lots of fun on the way down, for every ox-team and burro train that they met on the road, just as soon as it got a smell of the bear, started from the road and took to the open country.
"There in the town they got a bull and brought the bear into the corral and fastened bull and bear together by a long chain and then turned both animals loose. Of course, it don't seem to have been half fair to the bear, for she had been tied up for a couple of days and must have been fearfully stiff. However, she was ready to fight. But it was pretty short; the bull managed to stick his horns through her after a little bit, and killed her."
Jack drew a long breath.
"Gee, wouldn't I like to have been there!" he exclaimed.
"They certainly were handy with the rope in those days," said Hugh.
"Yes," replied Joe; "they were. Vicente was telling me to-day about his uncle's catching a bear and tying it up all alone. It seemed to me a pretty good story. I don't believe you can understand more than half of it if he tries to tell it in English. Suppose I get him to tell it to me in Spanish, and tell you just what he says."