242 WATCHED BY WILD ANIMALS 
limits of tree growth, where the ridge he was on 
united with the ridge to which the bears had 
retreated. He travelled at utmost speed. 
Just before he reached the desired point he 
looked across a ravine and down upon the sum- 
mit of the parallel ridge. Sure enough, there 
were the bears! The cubs were leading, the 
mother bear limping along, acting as rear guard. 
Apparently she had injured her remaining fore- 
foot. She climbed a small rock ledge to the 
summit, stood up on hind feet and looked long 
and carefully back down the ridge along which 
they had just travelled. While she was doing 
this the cubs were playing among the scattered 
trees. The mother grizzly rejoined the cubs 
and urged them on before her along the ridge. At 
every opportune place she turned to look back. 
The wind was blowing up the slope. The 
hunter had hidden in a rock ledge just above 
the treeline and was thus awaiting the bears 
where they could neither see nor scent him. 
Presently they emerged from among the 
storm-dwarfed and battered trees out upon the 
treeless mountain-top moorland. Up the slope 
they started along a dim, wild life trail that 
passed within an easy stone toss of the hunter. 
The mother, limping badly, finally stopped. 
The cubs stopped, looked at her, then at each 
other, and began to play. 
