ON THE TRAIL OF THE GRIZZLY 263 



caribou. In the meantime, in prospecting around the 

 upper part of Spectacle Lake we found a long slough, 

 which terminated at one end in a circular pond. In 

 one corner of this pond was a well-beaten bear trail, 

 and my mind was set upon lying out under some trees 

 close by it. Neil said it was a likely place to shoot 

 a bear if one should come down, but you know the 

 rest. 



The other men reached the cabin before dark. They 

 had been at Sandy Lake two days. The carcass of the 

 caribou had not attracted carnivorous animals of any 

 kind, and all that they had seen on the trip were the 

 tracks of a large moose. They decided to go back to 

 Bear Lake on the following morning, start on Monday 

 morning for Barkerville, and there take the stage for 

 Ashcrof t at six o'clock that evening. I decided to stay 

 another week. 



On this evening Neil took me in the boat to the cove 

 at the end of the slough, and having seen that I had 

 everything arranged for my comfort during the night, 

 left me for the cabin, which he had some difficulty in 

 reaching on account of the darkness. Nothing came 

 near me during the night excepting a great owl, which 

 suddenly appeared right in front of me and then 

 sheered off to one side and soon was lost in the pitchy 

 darkness. 



Nature is very considerate of all birds of prey that 

 fly by night in providing a soft downy lining of feath- 



