lf traps
remained undisturbed though we saw a number of wolf tracks near at
hand. Turning westward we ascended a slope and came suddenly upon the
fresh track of a bear. It was fairly large, and was travelling slowly;
merely sauntering along as though looking for a den in which to pass
the winter.

At once Oo-koo-hoo was all alert. Carefully re-charging his gun with
ball, and seeing that his knife and axe were at hand, he left the
toboggan behind, lest it make a noise among the trees and alarm the
quarry. In less than a quarter of a mile, however, we came upon a sign
that the bear had passed but a few minutes before. The hunter paused
to suggest that it would better his approach if I were to follow a
little farther in the rear; then he noiselessly continued his pursuit.
Slowly he moved forward, cautiously avoiding the snapping of a twig or
the scraping of underbrush. After peering through the shrubbery ahead
or halting a moment to reexamine the track, he would move on again, but
with scarcely any perceptible motion of the upper part of his body.
When in doubt, he would stand stock-still and try by sight or hearing
to get news of the bear. Luckily, there was no wind, so it made little
difference which way we turned in following the trail. But just then
there happened a disturbing and irritating thing, for a whiskey
jack--Canada Jay--took to following us, and chirping about it, too.
Crossing a rocky patch on the hillside, the bear came into view as it
circled a little in order to descend. Presently it left the shadow of
the forest and emerging into sunlight on a snow-covered ledge, turned
its head as though it had heard a sound in the rear. It was Oo-koo-hoo
speaking:

[Illustration: The bear circled a little in order to descend.
Presently it left the shadow of the forest and, emerging into sunlight
on a snow-covered ledge, turned its head as though it had heard a sound
in the rear. It was Oo-koo-hoo speaking: "Turn your head away, my
brother . . ." but the report of his gun cut short his sentence, and
the bear, leaping forward, disappeared among, . . . See Chapter IV.]

"Turn your head away, my brother . . ." but the report of his gun cut
short his sentence, and the bear, leaping forward, disappeared among
the growth below. Re-loading his gun, the hunter slowly followed, more
cautiously than ever, for he saw from the blood upon the snow that the
beast was wounded and, therefore, dangerous. As he went he c