THE BLACK BEAR OF MUSKOKA 115 



rustling noises among the small pines to one side 

 of them. 



At noon they were back within a couple of 

 miles of camp. In the high, bright sunlight 

 their fears seemed absurd to two armed men, 

 accustomed as they were, through long years of 

 lonely wandering in the wilderness, to face every 

 kind of danger from man, brute, or element. 

 There were still three beaver-traps to collect 

 from a little pond in a wide ravine near by. 

 Bauman volunteered to gather these and bring 

 them in, while his companion went ahead to camp 

 and make ready the packs. 



On reaching the ponds Bauman found three 

 beavers in the traps, one of which had been pulled 

 loose and carried into a beaver-house. He took 

 several hours in securing and preparing the 

 beaver, and when he started homewards he 

 marked with some uneasiness how low the sun 

 was getting. As he hurried towards camp, under 

 the tall trees, the silence and desolation of the 

 forest weighed on him. His feet made no sound 

 on the pine-needles, and the slanting sun-rays, 

 striking through among the straight trunks, made 

 a gay twilight in which objects at a distance 

 glimmered indistinctly. There was nothing to 



