resently reached
a spot that looked familiar. On the ground he could see footprints and
these he commenced to follow. But in a few minutes he found himself in a
thicket he was sure he had never seen before.

"I am mixed up, and no mistake," he murmured, his face falling. "I
shouldn't have been so sure of myself at the start. It isn't so easy as
one thinks to find a trail among these rocks and bushes. I guess I had
better call to Todd, and to the others."

He set up a shout and waited for a reply. None came, and he shouted a
second time. Then, from a distance, came a call.

"Well, I didn't think Todd was in that direction," he said to himself.
"I am twisted and no mistake."

Again he started off, and this time found himself skirting a series of
loose rocks of various sizes. He was going down hill and occasionally
loosened a round stone with his foot and sent it crashing to a thicket
of cedars below.

A hundred yards were covered when Dave heard the cry again. Now it was
plainer, and it sounded a little like a call for help.

"Maybe Todd is in trouble," he mused. "Perhaps that elk got up and
attacked him!" And with this thought in his mind he set off on a dog-trot
in the direction of the voice he had heard.

It was dangerous among the loose stones, and once Dave went down and
rolled over and over, coming pretty close to hitting his face and
shooting off his rifle. As he picked himself up he heard a call quite
plainly.

"Help! help! Somebody help me!"

"It must be Todd!" burst from the youth's lips, and now, in spite of the
danger, he bounded from rock to rock down the slope. The call came from
the left, and thither he made his way, halting in dismay as he came out
on a little cliff.

At the foot of the cliff he saw the man who had uttered the call for
aid. It was Hank Snogger. He was having a fierce face-to-face tussle
with a big bear. His gun was on the ground and so was his sombrero, and
in his hand he held his hunting knife. As Dave viewed the scene in
horror, the bear made a pass with one forepaw and sent the hunting knife
whirling from the cowboy's grasp. Then the bear closed in, as if to hug
Snogger to death!

CHAPTER XXX

TO THE RESCUE----CONCLUSION

It was a time for quick action and nobody realized this more than did
Dave, as he saw the shaggy brute close in on the cowboy. One squeeze of
those powerful forepaws and Hank Snogger's ribs would be crushed in and
he would be killed.

With h