92 NEWFOUNDLAND 



A slender hope now seized me, that the bear might work 

 on through this belt of young spruce and cross the little 

 brook coming down from the open barren. Accordingly, I 

 kept a sharp look-out, and in a few minutes was rewarded 

 by seeing a small willow tree violently agitated about 150 

 yards up the left bank of the stream. It now seemed possible 

 that one might see and get a shot at the bear after all, 

 though not an easy one, as she was likely to cross the brook, 

 on which I could see her plainly. Hardly had I fixed 

 myself into shooting position when she came swiftly down the 

 bank, and at a quick walk entered the shallow stream. At 

 this moment I fired, and saw the bear half flounder on to 

 her side, but instantly recover and dash up the bank again 

 out of sight. She was undoubtedly hard hit, for, had the 

 shot missed, I should have seen the bullet strike the water 

 above or below. 



There was no hurry, for I expected the bear to run a 

 hundred yards or so and fall dead, so I sat down with 

 considerable satisfaction, lit another pipe, and awaited the 

 coming of the men with the first portage loads. In about 

 ten minutes Bob and Sandy appeared, staggering under a 

 weight of provisions. The noise of the waterfall had drowned 

 the sound of the shot, so that their astonishment was great 

 when I told them that I thought I had killed a bear. Whilst 

 explaining the whole story to Saunders and pointing out 

 the spot where Mrs. Bruin had disappeared, suddenly another 

 large bear appeared at the edge of the barren, about 500 

 yards away. It was evidently the mate of the pair, and he 

 walked quietly down in the stream and started to cross into 

 the timber where the wounded one had gone. The shot 

 was nearly a hopeless one, owing to the distance and the 

 fact that I had to stand up to see the object at all. The 



