46 CAMP-FIRES OF A NATURALIST. 



Four had seemingly been shot through at the first 

 fire. Dyche was ashamed and almost vowed to give 

 up hunting on account of the unwarranted slaugh- 

 ter. He made all the amends in his power, and 

 every pound of meat and all the skins were saved. 

 Brown went down the trail to Harvey's with the 

 meat. In his whole hunting experience thereafter 

 this served as a good lesson. He never again shot 

 at random into a bunch of animals, but always 

 singled out the one wanted for meat or a specimen. 



The first night after Brown went down with the 

 meat a big bear passed along the trail, leaving a 

 track as big as a peck measure. Dyche resolved to 

 see where that bear went if it took all summer. 

 With a light lunch in his pocket, a thin rubber 

 blanket, some matches, a hatchet, his rifle, and seven- 

 teen cartridges he started on the campaign. The 

 trail was fresh and the bear did not seem to know 

 that he was followed. He went swinging along, 

 leaving a trail that could be followed on the run. 

 Here he had turned over a log and there he had 

 scratched up the earth looking for roots and tender 

 shoots. He wandered around in an apparently aim- 

 less manner, and Dyche followed every track. Here 

 a stream had been crossed and the water was still 

 muddy where the big fellow had stopped to wallow. 

 The trail led into a deep fir forest and it was almost 

 dusk under the trees. The pines interlaced at the 

 top and the ground was covered with a thick bed of 

 needles, shredded fir-cones that had been opened by 

 squirrels looking for the seeds, and leaves, which 

 formed a carpet in some places three feet thick. In 



