A SXOWSTORM. " 



down with the news of three brown bears. They were, he 

 said, some four miles off, just under the Marbul Pass. A 

 long weary trudge uphill took us to the top of the divide, 

 whence a powerful telescope showed three little dark 

 brown specks on the opposite mountain, so small that it 

 was hard to make them out when they did not move. 



" In the distance they seemed to barely creep along 

 the hill, and curiously resembled those unpleasant crawling 

 creatures whose name the Americans apply to butterflies 

 and similar outdoor insects. They were feeding in a rather 

 unfavourable place for stalking, and it would take a good 

 four-miles walk over very rough ground to get above them. 

 " It was past three o'clock, and by the time we got 

 within shot would be nearly dusk. And then a twelve- 

 miles walk in the dark back to camp ! We had been on foot 

 since three this morning, and although Eahman never 

 acknowledges to being tired, he diplomatically suggested 

 that we should have more time and a better chance after the 

 bears to-morrow. He proposed we should return to camp 

 now, and start again in the early morning, carrying our 

 blankets and prepared to sleep out if belated. The bears 

 were not frightened or conscious of our presence, and we 

 were certain to find them to-morrow on the same hill. So I 

 not unwillingly assented, and we turned our steps home- 

 wards. It was lucky we did, for as the sun went down it 

 came on to snow heavily. The night was so dark we could 



