294 Hunting J:he Grisly 



On reaching the pond Bauman found three 

 beaver in the traps, one of which had been 

 pulled loose and carried into a beaver house. 

 He took several hours in securing and pre- 

 paring the beaver, and when he started home- 

 ward he marked with some uneasiness how 

 low the sun was getting. As he hurried to- 

 ward camp, under the tall trees, the silence 

 and desolation of the forest weighed on him. 

 His feet made no sound on the pine needles, 

 and the slanting sun rays, striking through 

 among the straight trunks, made a gray twi- 

 light in which objects at a distance glimmered 

 indistinctly. There was nothing to break the 

 ghostly stillness which, when there is no 

 breeze, always broods over these sombre pri- 

 meval forests. 



At last he came to the edge of the little 

 glade where the camp lay, and shouted as he 

 approached it, but got no answer. The camp 

 fire had gone out, though the thin blue smoke 

 was still curling upward. Near it lay the 

 packs, wrapped and arranged. At first Bau- 

 man could see nobody; nor did he receive an 

 answer to his call. Stepping forward he 

 again shouted, and as he did so his eye fell 

 on the body of his friend, stretched beside the 

 trunk of a great fallen spruce. Rushing to- 



