194 SPORT AND TRAVEL 



gait of this object which convinced me that it was 

 quite another animal. It was barely distinguishable 

 in the twilight, moving slowly through the bushes 

 across the hillside. I touched Kadera on the shoul- 

 der and pointed ; the result was startling : Kadera 

 dropped on his stomach as if shot, while the gam 

 wallah did likewise, causing me to realize that the 

 fast-disappearing object above was one of the largest 

 black bears I probably ever should have the fortune 

 to run across. As we were about to stalk, a peasant 

 came toward us in hot haste from the other direc- 

 tion, and explained in some excitement that a bul- 

 lock had been killed within the hour not far from 

 where we were, and that a bear was still at the car- 

 cass. As it was now much too dark successfully to 

 stalk the other, we quickly shed all unnecessary 

 garments and prepared to follow our new guide 

 through a terrible tangle of underbrush. We were 

 on our hands and knees most of the way, and as we 

 approached the spot indicated by the peasant, our 

 efforts to move silently were exceedingly trying. By 

 the time we reached it, a full moon was shining 

 through the undergrowth, making every stump ex- 

 hibit such remarkably bear-like characteristics that 

 more than one of them was in imminent danger of 

 being shot, until nearer inspection proved it con- 

 clusively to be a genuine stump. The bear, how- 



