American Big-Game Hunting 



rock, and then looked up over at the bears. 

 Too far to shoot with any certainty, and I said 

 to Wood3% " I must get closer." And so back 

 we crawled. 



Making a little detour we bobbed up again, 

 not serenely, for the wind was blowing on the 

 backs of our necks straight as an arrow to 

 where the bears were. But we were a little 

 higher up on the ridge than they and our 

 taint must have gone over them, for when I 

 looked up again one of them was chewing 

 a savory morsel, and the other was on his 

 hind legs blinking at the sun, which was just 

 breaking through the clouds. Wiping the 

 snow and drops of water and slush from our 

 rifles and sights, and with a whispered advice 

 from Woody not to be in a hurry if they came 

 toward us, but to reserve fire in order to make 

 sure work, — for no sheltering tree awaited us 

 as a safe retreat, nothing but snowy ridges 

 for miles, — I opened the ball with the young 

 lady who was sitting down. 



She dropped her bone, clapped one of her 



paws to her ribs, and to my happiness waltzed 



down the snow-bank. As she now seemed 



to be out of the dance, I turned to her brother, 



ii6 



