AND OTHER SKETCHES 267 



way through, and after three hours of the severest kind 

 of toil, found ourselves On a hardwood ridge and soon 

 came upon Bruin's freshly made tracks. We followed 

 them for another hour and then began to think it was a 

 case of camp out for the night. Determined to move for- 

 ward until we reached a high ridge to the left of where 

 we were standing, we cautiously advanced, working our 

 way slowly over some fallen trees, by negotiating which 

 we would save ourselves a long detour. 



My companion, who was some yards in advance of me, 

 suddenly stopped and raised his hand in caution. I had 

 scarcely time to note the warning signal, when, with a 

 rush, the big brute, who was lying behind a huge log, not 

 thirty yards away, sprang into sight, and was apparently 

 anxious to put as much space as possible, in the shortest 

 time, between us. His movements, however, had not been 

 so quick as to escape the bullets of our Winchesters, and 

 though he apparently kept moving, we knew by the 

 labored manner in which he scrambled over some logs 

 about forty yards away that he was badly hit. Two more 

 bullets caught him before he hid from our view in a thick 

 tangle of alders and not knowing how badly he was in- 

 jured, and having the highest possible respect for a 

 wounded bear, we filled up our magazines and used every 

 possible caution in approaching him. We, however, were 

 soon relieved from any anxiety in the matter, for when 

 we reached the tree trunk over which he had disappeared, 

 we found Bruin in his last struggle and a bullet at short 

 range finished the work and with grim satisfaction we 

 gazed upon the monster who had killed the best hound 

 that had ever honored a camp with his presence. 



