Hunting A merican Big Game 



little stream almost jumping into the fry- 

 ing-pan. 



Our horses had been having pretty rough 

 times lately, and they lost no time in stor- 

 ing away as much of the rich grass as they 

 could hold. They had plenty of society 

 too ; for the slope was dotted here and 

 there with bunches of range cattle and 

 bands of horses, not to mention the recent 

 additions to the families of each in the 

 shape of frolicsome calves and frisky foals, 

 all busily at work. Bruin seemed rather 

 out of place in such a pastoral scene ; 

 and yet, as one looked higher, beyond the 

 sombre heights of the forest, toward the 

 frowning crown rock, that resembled 

 some mighty fortress forbidding farther 

 progress, or the everlasting snow-peaks 

 above, one could well fancy that wild ani- 

 mals must be up there somewhere, either in 

 the dense woods, or in the still higher and 

 safer retreats. 



We at once examined the ground, and 

 found the carcasses of two steers, one 

 of which was untouched, but the other 

 was very nearly devoured. All the signs 

 pointed to more than one bear, and the 

 ground was fairly padded down round the 

 carcass they were using. Unfortunately, 

 though, there seemed to be no place to 



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