The Story of Ben 5 



But the burnt child fears the fire, and we had de- 

 termined to be dead sure of the weather conditions this 

 time before we went ahead ; so we first cHmbed to the 

 top of the ridge to study the country through our 

 glasses and at the same time try to look a little bit into 

 the future in the matter of the weather. The storm^ we 

 found, covered a tract of country about fifteen miles in 

 width and fifty to sixty miles in length, and where we 

 stood was about midway of the western end of its 

 range. Some two miles along the ridge on which we 

 were we could see a gap in the hills, and Spencer and I 

 started over to explore this, while Jack took his rifle 

 and a dog that he had brought along and started down 

 the mountain. 



Spencer and I, after reconnoitring the gap, catching 

 a mess of small trout from a stream that flowed through 

 it, and following the track of a large grizzly for some 

 miles, reached camp after dark, and found that O'Brien 

 had returned some time before after having had a 

 more interesting adventure. It seemed that, when 

 some two miles from camp, he had heard, above the 

 constant splash of falling snow, the crying of some 

 animals, and as the sound seemed to be coming nearer 

 and nearer he had crouched down behind a large log 

 and, holding his dog in check, had waited and watched. 

 Shortly, out from among the trees, there appeared a 

 large Black Bear followed by three tiny cubs, the whole 

 family having evidently just left their winter quarters. 



