THE TRIP UP ROSS RIVER 257 



bear, which I knew would soon come in sight, since the 

 wind was blowing down the river. The bear suddenly ap- 

 peared swimming out in the rapids, and when in the mid- 

 dle, turned and came directly down, dodging around the 

 rocks and keeping as much as possible in the deeper pools. 

 Before witnessing that feat of swimming, I had believed 

 that any kind of a bear would have avoided such danger- 

 ous water. It would have been very easy to kill it when 

 swimming by, but the current would have carried it down 

 and I did not care to take the canoe down river and lose 

 the distance gained by so much hard work. It was head- 

 ing for the opposite side, so I waited for it to arrive on the 

 bank. When it landed, I could scarcely see it, so per- 

 fectly did it blend with the dark rocks. My shot missed, 

 and the bear gave a spring and stood looking. I was 

 again aiming, when Jefferies suddenly fired and followed 

 his first by three more shots, all missing, while the bear 

 ran back and forth in complete bewilderment. I had 

 not noticed that he had taken his rifle out of the boat, nor 

 did he pay any heed to my protests. He was so excited 

 that he was really in a state of frenzy. After his last shot 

 the bear stopped a moment on a hummock rising above 

 some brush, even then not having detected the direction 

 of the shots. I fired and it fell in the brush, but immedi- 

 ately jumped up and ran over the ridge. That was the last 

 time I ever allowed a man employed by me to carry a rifle. 

 I had never done so before and this time had made the 

 mistake of yielding to Jefferies's promises that he would 

 not use it unless in case of accident. Crossing over, I saw 

 blood and followed it for a mile in the woods and over 



