Wonderful tales were told of these various Bears of the new breed.  The swiftest was Reelfoot, the Placerville cattle-killer that could charge from a thicket thirty yards away and certainly catch a steer before it could turn and run, and that could even catch ponies in the open when they were poor.  The most cunning of all was Brin, the Mokelumne Grizzly that killed by preference blooded stock, would pick out a Merino ram or a white-faced Hereford from among fifty grades; that killed a new beef every night; that never again returned to it, or gave the chance for traps or poisoning.

The Pegtrack Grizzly of Feather River was rarely seen by any.  He was enveloped in mysterious terror.  He moved and killed by night.  Pigs were his favorite food, and he had also killed a number of men.

But Pedro’s Grizzly was the most marvelous.  “Hassayampa,” as the sheep-herder was dubbed, came one night to Kellyan’s hut.

“I tell you he’s still dere.  He has keel me a t’ousand sheep.  You telled me you keel heem; you haff not.  He is beegare as dat tree.  He eat only sheep—­much sheep.  I tell you he ees Gringo devil—­he ees devil Bear.  I haff three cows, two fat, one theen.  He catch and keel de fat; de lean run off.  He roll een dust—­make great dust.  Cow come for see what make dust; he catch her an’ keel.  My fader got bees.  De devil Bear chaw pine; I know he by hees broke toof.  He gum hees face and nose wit’ pine gum so bees no sting, then eat all bees.  He devil all time.  He get much rotten manzanita and eat till drunk—­locoed—­then go crazy and keel sheep just for fun.  He get beeg bull by nose and drag like rat for fun.  He keel cow, sheep, and keel Face, too, for fun.  He devil.  You promise me you keel heem; you nevaire keel.”

This is a condensation of Pedro’s excited account.

And there was yet one more—­the big Bear that owned the range from the Stanislaus to the Merced, the “Monarch of the Range” he had been styled.  He was believed—­yes, known to be—­the biggest Bear alive, a creature of supernatural intelligence.  He killed cows for food, and scattered sheep or conquered bulls for pleasure.  It was even said that the appearance of an unusually big bull anywhere was a guaranty that Monarch would be there for the joy of combat with a worthy foe.  A destroyer of cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses, and yet a creature known only by his track.  He was never seen, and his nightly raids seemed planned with consummate skill to avoid all kinds of snares.

The cattlemen clubbed together and offered an enormous bounty for every Grizzly killed in the range.  Bear-trappers came and caught some Bears, Brown and Cinnamon, but the cattle-killing went on.  They set out better traps of massive steel and iron bars, and at length they caught a killer, the Mokelumne Grizzly; yes, and read in the dust how he had come at last and made the fateful step; but steel will break and iron will bend.  The great Bear-trail was there to tell the tale:  for a while he had raged and chafed at the hard black reptile biting into his paw; then, seeking a boulder, he had released the paw by smashing the trap to pieces on it.  Thenceforth each year he grew more cunning, huge, and destructive.