168 THE AMERICAN BLACK BEAR. 



thing connected with the hunt, and assigned to eacli 

 man his station in the cane- brake. As it was impos- 

 sible to say which way the bear would pass when roused 

 by the hounds, there was no grumbling at the arrange- 

 ments made. Each hunter remained at his post, strain- 

 ing his ears to catch the slightest sound that might 

 indicate the tidings that the bear was roused from his 

 den. The puppies occasionally gave tongue as they 

 found the scent of some small game, but as they were 

 not backed up by the more experienced dogs, they soon 

 became ashamed of such unnecessary noise, and hunted 

 away in silence. Half-an-]iour passed away. Uncle 

 Ben was by turns in every part of the thicket, cheering 

 the dogs, and occasionally correcting them when in- 

 clined to be wild or careless. 



' They'll find the varmint soon,' he said, ' if he's any- 

 where hereabouts.' 



He had scarcely finished speaking when Rush, his 

 own dog, put his nose to the ground, then lifted it, stooped 

 down once more, as though to make sure, and finally 

 gave a long deep howl. Two or three others came run- 

 ning up at the sound, and confirmed the decision. 



' That's the right music,' shouted Uncle Ben. ^ Hark 

 to the old dog, lads I ' 



A loud blast on the old hunter's horn called up the 

 stragglers, and in a few moments the whole pack 

 plunged into the forest in one direction, waking the 

 echoes with tlieir musical cries. From the heavy 



