"Stiddy! Don't be too quick. Wait till I tells yer whut yer may expect." "Go ahead." "Jest ez long ez I'm on this yar trail I shell keep up ther pace I hev bin makin' this day su fur." "That is good." "Huah! Think yer kin stan' it, eh? Wa-al, thet ain't all." "Give us the rest of it." "It'll be a case o' sleepin' in ther open, 'throut kiver, eatin' w'en yer kin, an' gittin' anything we kin shoot an' havin' it hafe cooked ur not cooked at all, an' lots o' other inconveniences thet'll make yer long fer ther comforts o' home." "And you fancy I'll not be able to stand it?" "I kinder 'lowed it'd be hard on a tender kid like you be." Frank had flung himself on the ground, but now he arose and faced the guide, speaking firmly and calmly: "Rocks, you heard the child say she'd be my fairy, you saw that she took to me, I sung her to sleep, and she clung to me. I will tell you now that I am ready to go through anything for Fairy Fay. She is in terrible danger. If she is not rescued, her fate is frightful to contemplate. I shall never rest till she is saved! I want to go along with you; but I shall continue the hunt alone, if you will not have me." The old fellow grunted sourly, and puffed away at the black pipe for some moments. At last, he got upon his feet and held out his hand to Frank. "Put ther thar!" he cried. "You talk all right; we'll see how yer pan out. You kin go erlong." They shook hands, and Frank was well satisfied. "You stay right yere by ther trail," directed the guide. "I'm goin' over yon a piece ter see ef thar is some mud geysers down thar. It's been some time sence I wuz in this yar part o' ther park, an' I wants ter git my bearin's. I'll be back yere directly, an' you kin be restin' meantime." Frank felt like demurring, but he believed it best to do exactly as the guide directed, and so he nodded and sat down again, while Old Rocks strode away and soon disappeared. Nearly thirty minutes passed, and then, of a sudden, the boy was startled by the report of a rifle, the sound of the shot coming from the direction in which the guide had disappeared. "I wonder what it can mean?" speculated Frank. He was uneasy. He knew the guide might have fired at some kind of small game, but for some reason he fancied such was not the case. Was Old Rocks in trouble? Catching up his rifle, Frank started on a run in the direction taken by the guide. Down into the valley he went, his eyes wide open. Suddenly, a short distance before him, there was a hissing, rushing roar, and a column of mud and water shot into the air. There were the mud geysers Old Rocks had started out to look for. Toward the geyser hurried Frank, still looking for his companion. Before the column of mud and water had ceased shooting into the air, Frank came upon a startling spectacle. Not far from the geysers Old Rocks was engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter with a huge grizzly bear!