IO8 FIFTY YEARS A HUNTER AND TRAPPER. 



so as to get onto the job as quickly as possible. We got to the 

 shanty about noon and got a hasty lunch and started out to wake 

 Bruin up if he was still sleeping where I had left him. 



When we got to the jam of timber, we found that he had 

 been to his feeding grounds and had returned to his lodging 

 apartments during the night, so we now thought that we would 

 soon make sure of our game. We located the spot the best we 

 could where we thought Bruin was sleeping and began to cautiously 

 work our way in from opposite sides. It only took a short time 

 to work our way into the jam sufficiently to locate a large root, 

 where Bruin's tracks showed plainly that he was sleeping under 

 this root. We continued to work our way up closer to the root 

 with gun in hand for ready action. But still Bruin did not show 

 up, neither could we hear the least bit of a noise from him. 



When we were within a few feet of the root, Mr. Howard on 

 one side and the writer on the other side, suddenly, without any 

 warning whatever, Bruin came out of his hole like a shot out of 

 a gun and nearly landed on Mr. Howard, who sprang backwards 

 to escape him. Mr. Howard's feet became tangled in the thick 

 brush, he fell backwards and before he could regain his feet, 

 Bruin had gone over the brow of the ridge, into the laurel out of 

 sight. Mr. Howard was not able to get in a shot at Bruin, as I 

 was on the other side of the root and on higher ground, I man- 

 aged to empty both barrels of my rifle at him through the thick 

 brush, but Bruin went on down the hill, through the laurel, ap- 

 parently unhurt. 



After following the trail of Bruin for some distance, we began, 

 now and then, to find a little blood, where the bear had crawled 

 over a log or rubbed against the laurel. We followed him until 

 we found one or two places where he had broken down a few 

 laurel and scratched about in trying to make a bed, so we thought 

 the better plan was to let Bruin go for the night and let him make 

 his bed. 



But we did not go to camp empty handed for good luck favored 

 Mr. Howard in killing a good, big deer on our way to the shanty. 

 After leaving the trail of the bear, we followed up a spur of the 

 main ridge that led to camp, Mr. Howard going up one side of 



