64 THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS 



hunting with Oo-koo-hoo, he used to make me laugh, for at one 

 moment he would be a jolly old Indian gentleman, and just 

 as likely as not the next instant he would be posing as a rotten 

 pine stump that had been violently overturned, and now re- 

 sembled an object against which a bear might like to rub his 

 back and scratch himself. 



Often have I proved the value of the old hunter's methods, 

 and I could recite not a few instances of how easy it is to de- 

 ceive either birds or animals; but I shall mention only one, 

 which happened on the borderline of Alaska. I was running 

 through a grove of heavy timber, where the moss was so deep 

 that my tread made no sound, when suddenly rounding a large 

 boulder, I came upon a black bear less than fourteen paces 

 away. It was sitting upon its haunches, directly in the foot- 

 path I was following. As good luck would have it, I saw him 

 first, and for the fun of it, I instantly became an old gray 

 stump — or tried to look like one. Presently the bear's head 

 swung round, and at first he seemed a bit uneasy over the fact 

 that he had not seen that stump before. It appeared to 

 puzzle him, for he even twisted about to get a better view; but 

 after watching me for about five minutes he contentedly turned 

 his head away. A few minutes later, however, he looked again, 

 and becoming reassured, yawned deliberately in my face. Rut 

 by that time, being troubled with a kink in my back, I had 

 to straighten up. Then, strange to say, as I walked quietly 

 and slowly round him to gain the path ahead, the brute did not 

 even get up off his haunches — but such behaviour on the part 

 of a bear rarely happens. 



Perhaps you wonder why I didn't shoot the brute. I never 

 carry a gun. For when one is provided with food, one can carry 

 no more useless thing than a gun; so far as protection is con- 

 cerned, there is no more need to carry a gun in the north woods, 

 than to carry a gun down Rroadway; in fact, the wolves of 

 Rroadway — especially those of the female species — are much 



