had not been disturbed,
so I climbed the hill to the top of the ridge when I fired two more
gunshots but still got no response. I was now thoroughly alarmed as I
knew that a gunshot on the still night air could be heard a long ways
from the high ridge I was on.

With the aid of another torch I hurried on to the next bear trap and
upon arriving at the second trap I saw that the clog was gone and
that there was a trail leading off through the leaves and
undergrowth. I now knew that it was something in connection with the
bear that was detaining Uncle, but what it was I could not tell.

I followed the trail with the aid of the torch for fifty yards when I
came to a fallen tree that lay up about a foot from the ground. Here
I found the clog that had been fastened to the trap. I could see that
the trap ring had been moved from the clog by the aid of a hatchet. I
searched about but could find no signs of the trap nor of the bear
and I could no longer follow the trail by the aid of the torch, the
last one being now pretty well burned out. There was nothing for me
to do but go back to camp and wait until morning.

When I was within a mile or less of camp, I heard the report of a gun
in the direction of camp and knew that Uncle had arrived and was
firing his gun to let me know that he was in camp. I answered the
call by firing my gun and hurried on to camp to see what had detained
him.

The bear had gone over the fallen tree while the end of the clog had
caught under the log and a weak link in the trap chain had given
away, Bruin going off with the trap. Uncle had followed the bear
several miles when dark came on. He followed down the stream to where
it came in to the branch that the camp was on, and being over a ridge
and so far from the camp was the cause of him not hearing the
gunshots that I had fired. Uncle followed the bear until dark so as
to know about where he was in case a snow should fall to fill up the
trail.

It was after midnight when we turned in but we were up in good season
the next morning and taking a lunch in our knapsacks and each a
blanket, we started for the wind jam to see if we could find the
bear. Uncle took me to the bear's trail at the edge of the wind jam
where I waited, giving him time to get around on the opposite side of
the jam, at a point, where the bear was likely to come out, provided
I should start him. I had not followed the trail far into the jam
before I came to where the bear had