OH, SHOOT! 



It was a long shot, but we wounded him, then, 

 realizing that he would surely roll into the 

 flood if he loosed his hold for one single in- 

 stant, we allowed him to scramble up into the 

 brush and then prepared to go after him. It 

 meant a nine-mile trip back over the moraine 

 to our boat, out through those ice fields and 

 eddies to the western shore, then up along the 

 side of the canon and into the brush, but it 

 promised a new problem in the way of bear 

 hunting, namely, first to search out the bear, 

 then to hold him against the mountain side; 

 so we turned back. 



We were a mile from our skiff when Joe 

 paused. 



' ' Look ! Look at them tracks ! ' ' 



We whistled in unison, for in front of us 

 was a trail so huge as to seem unreal and so 

 fresh that we cocked our guns nervously. 



"Let's get after him!" we whispered, and 

 away we sped over the glacial debris, picking 

 up the track wherever it crossed the snow. 

 On the rock ridges we went by guess, craning 

 cautiously into each gully and past each sum- 

 mit, for the ground was indescribably broken 

 and we did not wish to step on this particular 

 bear. 



96 



