242 WATCHED BY WILD ANIMALS 



limits of tree growth, where the ridge he was on 

 united with the ridge to which the bears had 

 retreated. He travelled at utmost speed. 



Just before he reached the desired point he 

 looked across a ravine and down upon the sum- 

 mit of the parallel ridge. Sure enough, there 

 were the bears! The cubs were leading, the 

 mother bear limping along, acting as rear guard. 

 Apparently she had injured her remaining fore- 

 foot. She climbed a small rock ledge to the 

 summit, stood up on hind feet and looked long 

 and carefully back down the ridge along which 

 they had just travelled. While she was doing 

 this the cubs were playing among the scattered 

 trees. The mother grizzly rejoined the cubs 

 and urged them on before her along the ridge. At 

 every opportune place she turned to look back. 



The wind was blowing up the slope. The 

 hunter had hidden in a rock ledge just above 

 the treeline and was thus awaiting the bears 

 where they could neither see nor scent him. 



Presently they emerged from among the 

 storm-dwarfed and battered trees out upon the 

 treeless mountain-top moorland. Up the slope 

 they started along a dim, wild life trail that 

 passed within an easy stone toss of the hunter. 

 The mother, limping badly, finally stopped. 

 The cubs stopped, looked at her, then at each 

 other, and began to play. 



