70 HUNTING CAMPS. 



for in the soft ground it was perfectly clear that it had been 

 made since the rain. The bear had been feeding upon the 

 berries over which I had walked, and moreover he had dined 

 not wisely but too well, since, after the manner of the Roman 

 emperors, the great creature had vomited a part of his feast 

 and had begun feeding again immediately afterwards. I do 

 not think the bear could at any time have been more than 

 two or three minutes ahead of me, and had I hurried across 

 the moss where my foot -falls were noiseless it is quite pos- 

 sible that I should have seen him before he entered an area 

 of bush where the highest juniper did not reach ten feet, but 

 where low scrub and fallen timber made it necessary to clear 

 the ground before every step. Twenty yards deep in this 

 unfortunate thicket I heard the bear moving on my right 

 hand. Here the bushes appeared to open out, and seeing 

 free ground underfoot I walked rapidly in that direction. 

 But this time defeat came from above, not from below. 

 The jagged branches of a dead pine touched the felt hat I 

 was wearing, producing a thin and penetrating sound. I 

 heard two sticks break, and a moment later was gazing 

 sadly at the tracks of what must have been a very startled 

 bear. 



I followed the trail, which soon showed that its maker 

 had slowed, but evidently with no intention of stopping. 

 This led me out on to a high barren, from which I searched 

 in vain for any patch of black, moving or stationary. The 

 sun was going down behind the mountains. As I watched, 

 it sank almost visibly from view, leaving behind it a cold, 

 milk-white twilight, which slowly darkened to night. The 

 bear had led me in something of a circle, so that I came out 

 hardly a mile from camp. The wind had died away, and 

 every sound was audible. A splash in the lake, or so I 

 fancied, as Jack drew water for the evening meal, was fol- 

 lowed by the desolate cry of a mother loon, who, doubt- 

 less terrified by his appearance, circled and screamed at an 



