hanging bank. The concussion with which he came
to the ground after the performance of a peculiarly complicated
pirouette broke off the edge of the bank, and he was precipitated
headlong into the river, just a yard or so from the spot where his
comrades were engaged in landing the bear.

A loud laugh greeted his sudden and unexpected descent. Scrambling on
shore, and laying hold of the bear's tail, he exclaimed--

"Hah! mes garcons, heave avay. I have come down for to give you leetle
help. Splenderous hear! Pull avay!"

The bear was then dragged out of the water and stretched upon the green
sward, where for some time the trappers stood round it in a picturesque
group, commenting upon its size and appearance, and remarking upon the
various incidents of the chase.

As the exact dimensions of this particular bear were taken and noted
down on the spot, we will give them here for the benefit of inquiring
minds. It weighed, as nearly as could be guessed by men who were
practised in estimating weights, 600 pounds. On its hind legs it stood
8 feet 7 inches. Round the chest it measured 5 feet 10 inches; round
the neck 3 feet 11 inches. The circumference of the thickest part of
the fore leg was 2 feet, and the length of each of its claws was 4 and a
quarter inches. It was whitey-brown in colour, and a shaggier, fiercer,
uglier monster could not well be imagined.

"But, I say," cried Bounce, looking round suddenly, "wot's come o' yon
'xtraor'nary feller as--"

Bounce paused abruptly, for at that moment his eye fell on the
"'xtraor'nary feller" in question. He was seated quietly on a large
stone, not many yards distant, with book on knee and pencil in hand,
making a rapid sketch of the party and the surrounding scene!

"Wot is he?" inquired Bounce of Gibault in a whisper.

"I calc'late," observed Waller in a low voice, at the same time touching
his forehead and looking mysterious; "I calc'late, he's
noncombobble-fusticated."

"Perhaps," said Redhand with a quiet laugh.

"Whatever he is, it's bad manners to stand starin' at him," said
Redhand, "so you'd better go and pick up yer guns and things, while
Bounce and I skin this feller and cut off his claws."

The party separated at once, and the artist, who seemed a little
disappointed at being thus checked in his work, no sooner observed the
flaying process begin than he turned over the leaf of his book, and
began a new sketch.

Not many minutes were required