The bear and wolf, unleashed, wandered into the cabin just as Bantie stood up and remarked:
“You fellers might as well come in out of th’ sun. Mebby it was th’ heat that affected yuh. I’ve got uh li’l bottle of hooch from old man Sims’ keg, and he told me that it was th’——”
“Say no more, Bantie,” beamed Tellurium, starting for the cabin door closely followed by the willing Magpie. “Old man Sims gives me uh shot uh that stuff oncet and ever since that time I’ve wished——”
Came a roar of pain and a yelp of surprise and the upheaval started. A streak of roan-colored bear, with a gray hump on its back, hit Magpie dead center, knocking him back into Tellurium, and as they fell the bear raked them fore and aft and the wolf, yipping like the fiends of the bad place were tied to its tail, raced across their prostrate bodies and disappeared in a cloud of dust up the trail.
The wolf, running at its best speed, was a poor second to the bear. The bear was carrying weight but handled it nicely.
Bantie leaned against the door frame and shrilled his mirth in a high key while the little gray kitten stood in the door and looked inquiringly at the two in the dust.
“What in —— happened?” wailed Magpie, feeling tenderly of a spot on his chest where the bear had grasped a foothold.
“Avalanche!” gasped Tellurium. “Top of th’ mountain busted right off and half of it hit me in th’ belt-buckle. I reckon I’d better light uh match to see if I’m conscious.”
Magpie gazed ruefully up the trail as he brushed off his clothes.
“I wonder what got into them pets? Gosh, uh grizzly shore has uh lot uh motive power when he gits a-goin’! Where yuh goin’, Tellurium?”