gan the hunt also, and soon
they came upon some large tracks, leading deep into the woods
and up the rocks beyond.

"It was certainly a bear," said Snap, and now his voice had something
of seriousness in it. "Boys, I must say I don't like this."

"No more do I," answered Shep. "Why, that bear might have killed
us all while we slept!"

"It's queer he didn't visit us," put in Giant.

"I don't know but what he did," said Snap. "Perhaps he woke me
up and then ran away. I certainly heard something or felt something."

"This is enough to give one the creeps," was Whopper's comment. "I
don't want to sleep where there are bears to crawl over one."

"Somebody will have to remain on guard after this until we get
some sort of a shelter built," said Shep, and so it was agreed.

"I am going to build a bear trap, too," said Giant. "An old hunter
from the West was telling me of the kind some Indians make. You
take some logs and build a sort of raft of them and place it on
the ground where the bear is likely to come. You raise one corner
of the raft up and fix a couple of sticks under it, each fastened
to another stick with a strong cord. On the cord you fasten the
bait, and then on the top of the raft you pile some heavy stones.
When the bear comes he tries to get at the bait, but the only
way he can get under the logs and stones is by dropping down on
his side. He works his way in, pulls on the bait, and down come
the logs and stones on top of him holding him fast and most likely
killing him."

"That's an idea! We'll make such a trap sure!" cried Whopper.

That day was a busy one for all hands. To do as much work as
possible on the shelter, only a few hours were spent in hunting
and fishing. But their luck was good and long before noon they
had a dozen fish to their credit and also half a dozes rabbits,
a wild turkey, three squirrels and some small birds.

"There, that will keep us going for a while," declared Snap. "Now let
us turn all our attention to the cabin, so we can get away from Mr.
Bear, if necessary."

It was no easy matter to chop down the five trees to a height
of about eight feet, but once this was done cabin building began
in earnest, and by nightfall they had a rude roof over the posts
and had the back logged up to a height of four feet. The next
day they went at the task at sunrise, finishing the back and putting
in the two sides, one with a slit of a window, over which they
nailed some