BRINGING HOME THE BEAR . 
87 
of low shrubs and plants. They seemed to be 
covered with dew, but the dew was sticky and 
proved to be sweet to the taste. As we contin¬ 
ued our walk we found that the entire side of 
the mountain had been sprinkled with heavenly 
sweetness of the same kind. 
The roar of bees had become familiar to our 
ears. The bear-slayer was bending down a 
slender beech for the satellite to cut, when sud¬ 
denly he uttered a cry and sprang backward. 
“Run, run,” he shouted, and in a moment the 
Islander and the small satellite were bounding 
down the mountain-side like chamois. The 
larger satellite became a football under the 
bear-slayer’s feet, and I, hearing a second cry 
of u hornets!” plunged headforemost into the 
bushes and crawled away under the brakes, 
thus avoiding both the hornets and the necessity 
of re-climbing lost ground. The bear-slayer’s 
retreat was marked by repeated howls of pain 
which lent further speed to the flying heels of 
the rear-guard. It was some time before the 
ignominious stampede was checked and a fresh 
ascent begun. The bear-slayer had been stung 
in three places, and the larger satellite declared 
he had saved himself from a sting by pulling 
the hornet off his back with his fingers. 
Standing among the young trees of the forest 
were many gray stumps of ancient origin, — 
