AT GORDON'S CAMP 23 



snow across her doorway, but she slept on in her 

 sheltered abode, with no thought of cold or the 

 storms outside. The warmth of her furry body 

 melted somewhat the surrounding snow and made 

 a hole through to the outer air. This opening 

 served as ventilator and chimney, and later on, 

 when the cold of midwinter came, the damp snow 

 froze hard and the mother bear was shut in for the 

 season. It troubled her not at all, however, for 

 wise Nature has made special provision for bears. 

 During the time of plenty, in the late summer and 

 early fall, when the wild berries and nuts are ripe, 

 bears store up a harvest of fat beneath their sleek 

 coats. Without this stock of nourishment to tide 

 them over, these animals would starve in winter, 

 for at this period they can find no suitable food. 

 Through three or four months they sleep on, in 

 blissful ignorance of conditions outside. 



On his discovery of the bear, the cook ran back 

 to the camp, secured a gun, and with one of the 

 men returned to the dead pine. Poking the rifle 

 down into the hole, he fired. The bear was killed, 

 and with some difficulty the two men dragged her 

 body out on the snow. They saw at once that their 

 prize was a large one, a bear that would weigh 

 more than two hundred pounds. Immediately 

 they started to take off the skin and prepare the 

 meat, and were proceeding with the work, when 



