204 JVays of Wood Folk. 



I stole out into the middle of the opening, and sat 

 very still on a fallen log. Ten minutes passed in 

 intense silence. Then a twig snapped behind me. 

 I turned — and there was Alooween, just coming into 

 the opening. I shall not soon forget how he looked, 

 standing there big and black in the moonlight; nor 

 the growl deep down in his throat, that grew deeper 

 as he watched me. We looked straight into each 

 other's eyes a brief, uncertain moment. Then he 

 drew back silently into the dense shadow. 



There is another side to ]\Iooween's character, 

 fortunately a rare one, which is sometimes evident 

 in the mating season, when his temper leads him to 

 attack instead of running away, as usual ; or when 

 wounded, or cornered, or roused to frenzy in defense 

 of the A'oung. Mooween is then a beast to be dreaded, 

 a great savage brute, possessed of enormous strength 

 and of a fiend's cunning. I have followed him wounded 

 through the wilderness, when his every resting j^lace 

 was scarred with deep gashes, and where broken sap- 

 lings testified mutely to the force of his blow. Yet 

 even here his natural timidity lies close to the surface, 

 and his ferocity has been greatly exaggerated by 

 hunters. 



Altogether, ?vIooween the Bear is a peaceable fellow, 

 and an interesting one, well worth studving. His 

 extreme wariness, howe\'er, enables him generally to 



