For a little while things were calmer. Sullivan 

 and Jason, drills in hand, stood guard at the win- 

 dow. After some snarling in front of the window 

 the bears went round to the door. They clawed 

 the door a few times and then began to dig under 

 it. " They are tunneling in for us," said Sullivan. 

 "They want those hams; but they won't get 

 them." 



After a time the bears quit digging and started 

 away, occasionally stopping to look hesitatingly 

 back. It was almost eleven o'clock, and the full 

 moon shone splendidly through the pines. The 

 prospectors hoped that the bears were gone for 

 good. There was an old rifle in the cabin, but 

 there were no cartridges, for Sullivan and Jason 

 never hunted and rarely had occasion to fire a 

 gun. But, fearing that the animals might return, 

 Sullivan concluded to go to one of the vacant 

 cabins for a loaded Winchester which he knew 

 to be there. 



As soon as the bears disappeared, he crawled 

 out of the window and looked cautiously around ; 

 then he made a run for the vacant cabin. The 

 bears heard him running, and when he had nearly 



223 



