V.r.W. TTrXTTXG 273 



dark, ami as soon as the niuiiiiii^' hroki-, lamlctl and wrrc 

 ourt' more greeted by old Peter and liis son, and were 

 c|uickly dcvonvinu- tlic nows wliidi ilicx- had ln-oii^dit 

 about bears in [)k'nty and of })()rtent()iis size. W'c soon 

 found lliat llifir arcounls were not exaiXQ-eratLMl as tliere 

 was much "sign'' about. I think it was on the second 

 day after nur arrival that we were trvino- a lonu' hof- 

 barked ridge called the Rod Fjehk ihickK' wooded on its 

 sides, l)Ul o|)cn at the lo[) — a small place, but a favourite 

 resort of bears. Arrived at the to]) we se])a rated; I went 

 with Per along (^ne flaidv, Geof with the lad on the other. 

 Halfway along our beat there was a ridge which hid a 

 useful-l(M>kinL:' hollow from our \iew. 1 suo-o-ested that we 

 should make a detour so as to survey this depression before 

 advanciuo- to the windward of it. lUit Per said it was no 

 good, and I followed, too tameh". at his heels. We now 

 reached an eminence which commanded the uround in front 

 of US, and had scarcely sat down to spv it, when a large 

 she-bear and Inr half-grown cul) galloped out of the hollow 

 wliicii we had thus foolishly missed, and passed scarcely a 

 liundre<l yards from us; I levelled m\- [)icce, but Per 

 arrested me, saying, "Don't shoot; they will stop, they 

 are only going to feed." if that was so, they must have 

 been in a great huriy foi- their supper. Of course the}' 

 had smelt us and wei'c bound for the next parish. They 

 never paused till the\' had ])ut several hundred \'ai'ds 

 Ijetween us, and then dixed into thick trees on the other 

 side. \\'e followed, vainly hoping that L'er's surmise was 

 correct, and that we might yet find them. We did see 

 something moving in the bushes. As we stealthih 

 crept forward some dindy-seen loini was approaching 



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