The Black Bear. 



59 



ine a very extensive and perfect beaver-dam, and, not expecting to 

 hunt, had left our rifles at the camp. All I had to fight with was a 

 solid sketch-book, while, by some strange fatality, the Indian had 

 in our climb even lost his knife out of its sheath. I was looking 



THE BEAR PASS. 



about for some way of escape, when I noticed that the bear on the 

 hill-side had vanished, and the one that crossed over on the log had 

 moved toward the one sitting on his haunches. They sat about ten 

 feet apart, and made the strangest noise I ever heard. Commencing 

 with the sniff peculiar to the bear, the noise was prolonged into a 

 deep, guttural growl, accompanied by a peculiar champing of the 

 jaws. At that moment, a large stone, evidently dislodged by the 

 bear that had vanished from the hill-side, came tumbling down the 

 ravine. It struck on the solid ledge on which we were crouching, 

 and broke into pieces. Instinctively looking up, in apprehension 

 that the fragment might be the advance guard of an avalanche, we 

 lost sight of the two bears, and never saw them again. Alarmed by 



