238 ADVENTURES OF DR. ALLEN. 



what I sought. Holes had been dug in the ground, and 

 stones and logs turned over, all of which indicated the recent 

 visit of a bear. 



In the spring a hungry bear will roll over stones and 

 logs that three men could not move, and then will stand up 

 on his hind feet and view his work, roll down the hill and 

 laugh like a good fellow, in the sheer joy of living. In the 

 autumn he will walk up to a clump of chokecherry bushes, 

 stand on his haunches, encircle the branches with his front 

 legs, uproot the mass in one bunch, and bend them over 

 while he devours the fruit in great gulps. I soon found 

 fresher signs, so I examined my cartridges and the lock of 

 my gun, and proceeded up stream with my eyes strained for 

 bear. I traveled about six miles farther and came to two 

 large springs, wheYe my game had wallowed in the water 

 and torn up the grass. 



I could now see the tracks of an old bear, a two-year-old 

 one and a cub. I hunted far and wide, but without success, 

 and, after a long, hard tramp,, got back to camp empty-handed. 

 My comrade had killed a wolf and a wildcat during the day. 

 We soon had our supper and were relating our day's adven- 

 tures. A large horned owl over our heads in a cottonwood 

 tree, kept up his persistent "whoo, whoo," and, as I had not 

 fired a shot that day, I drew a bead on him and broke the 

 silence. He was a very large grey fellow, and I regretted not 

 being able to have him stuffed. 



At four in the morning we pulled out for the quaking- 

 asp thicket, where the night before I had abandoned the 

 chase. We separated and I soon sighted a large black-tailed 

 deer, but he disappeared in the evergreens. I lost no time 

 in gaining the top of a hill where I could command a good 

 view of the surrounding country. Service berries, choke- 

 cherries, currants and gooseberries were in full bloom, and 



