ly running
between the trees.

Before I could get a shot at it, it had disappeared. I went on in the
direction in which I had last seen it, when it again appeared; but
before I could fire, a large animal, which I knew at once must be a
bear, seized it in its fore paws, and carried it, I felt sure, down a
hole which was close at hand. I now knew that the small animal was a
bear's cub, and that the large one must be its mother.

I searched about in every direction, when I at last discovered the mouth
of the hole. The darkness prevented me from seeing the bear clearly,
but I was sure that it was at the bottom of the hole. I accordingly
fired right into it, when, on the smoke clearing away, looking down I
made out the bear lying, as I supposed, dead.

I shouted to Alick to come to my assistance, but he was too far off to
hear me. Hunger made me forget the danger I might be running. Having
reloaded my gun--which Sandy had inculcated on me as the first duty of a
sportsman shooting in the forest--I placed it on the ground, and
stooping down, endeavoured to get hold of the bear to draw her out.

The moment I put my hand on one of her paws I heard her jaws snap. I
drew back as quickly as I could. It was providential that I did so, for
the bear at the same moment turned and sprang upon me, and as I
retreated she kept snapping her teeth so near me that I could feel her
warm breath on my face. How it was that she failed to seize me I cannot
tell.

As I leaped out of the hole, I caught up my gun and took to flight,
hoping to get behind a tree, from whence I could again take aim.
Looking round, I saw the bear, followed by the cub, pursuing me. Should
I fail to kill her, she might quickly tear me to pieces. I remembered
the caution I had received--never to fire at a she-bear with a cub until
the shot is sure to prove effectual. The bear was close upon me, when I
slipped behind a tree. She stopped for a moment to ascertain what had
become of me, thus giving me time to raise my piece, and the next
instant firing, I shot her through the head. A blow from the butt end
of my rifle stunned the cub, which I afterwards killed with my knife.
Taking the small animal on my shoulder, I made the best of my way to the
camp, cutting a notch every now and then with my knife in the trees,
that we might return to the spot where I had left the big bear.

Alick arrived at the camp just before me. Loud shouts welcomed me as I
was see