138 The Wilderness Hunter. 



a great noise so I raced forward to the edge of the hol- 

 low, the hunter close behind me, while Ammal danced about 

 in the rear, very much excited, as Indians always are in 

 the presence of big game. The instant we reached the 

 hollow and looked down into it from the low bank on 

 which we stood we saw by the swaying of the tall plants 

 that the bear was coming our way. The hunter was 

 standing some ten feet distant, a hemlock trunk being 

 between us ; and the next moment the bear sprang clean 

 up the bank the other side of the hemlock, and almost 

 within arm's length of my companion. I do not think he 

 had intended to charge ; he was probably confused by 

 the bullet through his neck, and had by chance blundered 

 out of the hollow in our direction ; but when he saw the 

 hunter so close he turned for him, his hair bristling and 

 his teeth showing. The man had no cartridge in his 

 weapon, and with his pack on could not have used it 

 anyhow ; and for a moment it looked as if he stood a fair 

 chance of being hurt, though it is not likely that the bear 

 would have done more than knock him down with his 

 powerful forepaw, or perchance give him a single bite in 

 passing. However, as the beast sprang out of the hol- 

 low he poised for a second on the edge of the bank to 

 recover his balance, giving me a beautiful shot, as he 

 stood sideways to me ; the bullet struck between the eye 

 and ear, and he fell as if hit with a pole axe. 



Immediately the Indian began jumping about the 

 body, uttering wild yells, his usually impassive face lit up 

 with excitement, while the hunter and I stood at rest, 

 leaning on our rifles and laughing. It was a strange 



