CHAPTER XVIII
The Boys Encounter “Pep,” Who Promises Them a Bear Hunt
They were just coming out of the dining-room when a tall, very thin man came hurrying in from the street, saw them, and with a loud, “Hello, Doc!” rushed over to shake Uncle Billy’s hand.
“Just heard you were in,” he cried.
The doctor introduced him as the “biggest booster in Bend.” His name, the boys gathered, was Peters, though the doctor called him “Pep,” which was evidently his popular title.
“Well, boys, what do you think of Oregon?” he demanded as soon as he knew they were from the East. “Some State, eh? I’ll say it is. Wait till you see the Jefferson country. Say, want to go on a bear hunt?”
Of course, he had started by asking them what they thought of Oregon, and the boys were all set to make a polite answer, but he never gave them a chance to reply, and ended up instead by asking if they wanted to go on a bear hunt!
“Sure we do!” the boys chorused.
(“He’s a queer one,” Bennie whispered to Spider. “Answers his own questions half the time.”)
“Pep” was now talking again. “I can fix it up, Doc. Maybe your friend would like to get a movie of a bear. There’s a crowd in camp over at Elk Lake now who want a bear hunt. Some of ’em do, anyhow. We can go over there and pick ’em up, and run over to Newberry Crater and pick up a bear all right. You know old Vreeland, who lives on the big ranch south of La Pine? He’s got a pack of hounds, and plenty of horses, and he’d rather go on a bear hunt than go to Heaven. What do you say?”
“Well, boys, what do you say?” the doctor asked, turning to the scouts and Dumplin’.