50 FIFTY YEARS A HUNTER AND TRAPPER. 



With the aid of another torch I hurried on to the next bear 

 trap and upon arriving at the second trap I saw that the clog was 

 gone and that there was a trail leading off through the leaves and 

 undergrowth. I now knew that it was something in connection 

 with the bear that was detaining Uncle, but what it was I could 

 not tell. 



I followed the trail with the aid of the torch for fifty yards 

 when I came to a fallen tree that lay up about a foot from the 

 ground. Here I found the clog that had been fastened to the trap. 

 I could see that the trap ring had been moved from the clog by 

 the aid of a hatchet. I searched about but could find no signs of 

 the trap nor of the bear and I could no longer follow the 'trail 

 by the aid of the torch, the last one being now pretty well burned 

 out. There was nothing for me to do but go back to camp and 

 wait until morning. 



When I was within a mile or less of camp, I heard the report 

 of a gun in the direction of camp and knew that Uncle had arrived 

 and was firing his gun to let me know that he was in camp. I 

 answered the call by firing my gun and hurried on to camp to see 

 what had detained him. 



The bear had gone over the fallen tree while the end of the 

 clog had caught under the log and a weak link in the trap chain 

 had given away, Bruin going off with the trap. Uncle had fol- 

 lowed the bear several miles when dark came on. He followed 

 down the stream to where it came in to the branch that the camp 

 was on, and being over a ridge and so far from the camp was the 

 cause of him not hearing the gunshots that I had fired. Uncle 

 followed the bear until dark so as to know about where he was 

 in case a snow should fall to fill up the trail. 



It was after midnight when we turned in but we were up in 

 ^ood season the next morning and taking a lunch in our knap- 

 -ncks and each a blanket, we started for the wind jam to see if 

 ? could find the bear. Uncle took me to the bear's trail at the 

 1 ie of the wind jam where I waited, giving him time to get 

 around on the opposite side of the jam, at a point, where the bear 

 was likely to come out, provided I should start him. I had not 

 followed the trail far into the jam before I came to where the 



