THE LAST HUNT. 291 



mountain into the woods. Following the cows and 

 calves came two fine bulls. They walked on down the 

 ridge, not suspecting danger, in plain sight of Dyche. 

 The latter was just wondering what had become of 

 the doctor, when he saw a puff of smoke and heard 

 the gun crack. One of the elks began running in a 

 circle and soon fell to the ground, while the other 

 disappeared in the timber. It was a finely propor- 

 tioned animal with a perfect set of horns and a good 

 growth of hair. 



Snow had been falling now for twenty-four hours, 

 and it was possible to hunt without becoming confused 

 by old trails. Dyche started out early next morn- 

 ing to see what was in the country. He found a bear- 

 track and followed it, even though he knew that he 

 would have little chance of getting it. The bear 

 visited no less than four carcasses of elk lying in 

 the snow, all cows and calves. These had been killed 

 by hunters and left lying just where they fell, not a 

 pound of flesh being taken or an inch of skin cut off. 

 The bear-hunters go through the country killing deer 

 and elk, leaving the carcasses for bait. If a bear 

 visits one of them a week or a month later, the hunt- 

 ers set their traps. 



The camp of some bear-hunters was found, and 

 Dyche went with one of them to look at the remains 

 of a bull elk. The specimen was spoiled and useless 

 to the naturalist except the leg bones and skull. 

 During that day Dyche saw eleven bodies of elk 

 which had been slain for bear-bait. These two bear- 

 hunters were novices and appeared to be out for the 

 fun of the trip more than anything else. They gave 



