and wet snow to look for the trail. I could see 

 only a few yards ahead. As I peered ahead, a 

 bear emerged from the gloom, heading straight 

 for me. Behind her were two cubs. I caught her 

 impatient expression when she beheld me. She 

 stopped, and then, with a growl of anger, she 

 wheeled and boxed cubs right and left like an 

 angry mother. The bears disappeared in the 

 direction from which 'they had come, the cubs 

 urged on with spanks from behind as all van- 

 ished in the falling snow. 



The gray Douglas squirrel is one of the most 

 active, audacious, and outspoken of animals. He 

 enjoys seclusion and claims to be monarch of 

 all he surveys, and no trespasser is too big to 

 escape a scolding from him. Many times he has 

 given me a terrible tongue-lashing with a des- 

 perate accompaniment of fierce facial expres- 

 sions, bristling whiskers, and emphatic gestures. 

 I love this brave fellow creature ; but if he were 

 only a few inches bigger, I should never risk my 

 life in his woods without a gun. 



This is a beautiful world, and all who go out 

 under the open sky will feel the gentle, kindly 



79 



