194 Ways of Wood Folk. 



down the while, so as to take in every atom from 

 the tainted air. 



A few slow careful steps forward, and he stopped 

 again, looked straight into my eyes, then beyond me 

 towards the lake, all the while sniffing. I was still 

 only part of the shore. Yet he was so near that I 

 caught the gleam of his eyes, and saw the nostrils 

 swell and the muzzle twitch nervously. 



Another step or two, and he planted his fore feet 

 firmly. The long hairs began to rise along his spine, 

 and under his wrinkled chops was a flash of white 

 teeth. Still he had no suspicion of the motionless 

 object there in the grass. He looked rather out on 

 the lake. Then he glided into the brush and was 

 lost to sight and hearing. 



He was so close that I scarcely dared breathe as I 

 waited, expecting him to come out farther down the 

 shore. Five minutes passed without the slightest 

 sound to indicate his whereabouts, though I was 

 listening intently in the dead hush that was on the 

 lake. All the while I smelled him strongly. One 

 can smell a bear almost as far as he can a deer, though 

 the scent does not cling so long to the underbrush. 



A bush swayed slightly below where he had dis- 

 appeared. I was watching it closely when some 

 sudden warning — I know not what, for I did not 

 hear but only felt it — made me turn my head quickly. 



