Mountain, and leaving Pinto to his own devices, I went over to look at
the captive. The Mexican acting as jailor did not know me, and I
discovered that Allen Kelly was supposed to be the agent of a
millionaire and an "easy mark," who would pay a fabulous sum for a
bear. The Mexican assured me that he was about to get wealth beyond
the dreams of avarice for that bear from a San Francisco man, meaning
said Kelly, whereupon I congratulated him, disparaged the bear and
turned to go. The Mexican followed me down the trail and began
complaining that the alleged purchaser of the bear was dilatory in
closing the deal with cash. He, Mateo, was aggrieved by this
unbusinesslike behavior, and it would be no more than proper for him to
resent it and teach the man a lesson in commercial manners by selling
the bear to somebody else, even to me, for instance. Mateo's haste to
get that bear off his hands was evident, but the reason for it was not
apparent. Later I understood.

Monarch had the bad luck to get into a trap built by a little syndicate
of which Mateo was a member. Mateo watched the trap, while the others
supplied beef for bait. They were to divide the large sum which they
expected to get from me in case they caught a bear before I did, and
very likely my fired assistant had a contingent interest in the
enterprise. Mateo was the only member of the syndicate on deck when I
arrived, and deeming a bird in his hand worth a whole flock in the
syndicate bush, he made the best bargain he could and left the others
to whistle for dividends. Ten years afterward I met the cattleman who
furnished the capital and the beef, and from his strenuous remarks
about his Mexican partner I inferred that the syndicate had been deeply
disappointed. I also learned for the first time why Mateo was so
anxious for me to take the bear off his hands when the evident original
purpose was to held me up for a good round sum. The hold-up would have