"
"Ay! we have distinguished visitors. But you were just as welcome
before. Sit down while I go and see if the big stew I ordered is done.
Caramba! but you must be hungry."
The four lads quickly fraternised, and Roldan began at once to relate
their adventures, continuing them over the steaming dish of stew. When
he reached the point which dealt with the outwitting of the bear, Don
Emilio sprang from his hammock.
"A bear trapped?" he cried. "A grizzly? We will have a fight with a
bull. You are rested, no? As soon as you have eaten, come and show us
the way."
The boys, always ready for sport, and believing that they were beyond
the grasp of the law for the present, eagerly consented. An hour later
Don Emilio, Don Jorge, the four lads, and three vaqueros all sallied
forth to capture one poor bear. The vaqueros dragged a sled, and much
stout rope.
When they reached the trap darkness had come, but the four boys held
lighted torches over the hole--this was their part. The bear,
disheartened with his long and futile effort to escape, lay on the
uneven surface below, alternately growling and roaring. As the torches
flared above him he sprang to his feet with a vast roar, his eyes as
green and glittering as marsh lights.
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