THE BLACK BEAR OF MUSKOKA 83 



are worth some trouble ; so I left my rod and 

 started back to camp. It was late afternoon, 

 and I was hurrying along the path, giving chief 

 heed to my feet in the ticklish walking, with 

 the cliff above and the river below, when a 

 loud 'Hoowuff!' brought me up with a shock. 

 There at a turn in the path, not ten yards 

 ahead, stood a huge bear, calling unmistakably, 

 c Halt/ and blocking me in as completely as if 

 the mountain had toppled over before me. 



" There was no time to think ; the shock 

 and scare were too great. I just gasped c Hoo- 

 wuff ! ' instinctively as the bear had shot it out 

 of his deep lungs a moment before, and stood 

 stock-still, as he was doing. He was startled 

 as well as I, that was the only thing I was 

 sure about. 



" I suppose that in each of our heads at 

 first there was just one thought : c I'm in a 

 fix ; how shall I get out ? ' And in his training 

 or mine there was absolutely nothing to suggest 

 an immediate answer. He was anxious, evidently, 

 to go on. Something, a mate perhaps, must 

 be calling him up river ; else he would have 

 whirled and vanished at the first alarm. But 

 how far might he presume on the big animal's 



