ear!

The first warm sunshine, thought Rod, had aroused the beast from his
winter sleep, and he was making a short excursion from his den. From
where the bear had crossed the trail the sledge turned abruptly in the
direction from which the bear had come.

Without giving a thought to his action, Rod began his descent of the
ridge in the trail made by the bear, at the same time keeping his eyes
fixed upon the sledge track and the distant forest. At the foot of the
ridge the great trunk of a fallen tree lay in his path, and as he went
to climb over it he stopped, a cry of amazement stifling itself in his
throat. Over that tree the bear had scrambled, and upon it, close to
the spot where the animal had brushed off the snow in his passage, was
the imprint of a human hand!

For a full minute Rod stood as motionless as if he had been paralyzed,
scarcely breathing in his excitement. The four fingers and thumb of
the hand had left their impressions with startling clearness. The
fingers were long and delicately slender, the palm narrow. The imprint
had assuredly not been made by the hand of a man!

Recovering himself, Rod looked about him. There were no marks in the
snow except those of the bear. Was it possible that he was mistaken?
He scrutinized the mysterious handprint again. As he gazed an uncanny
chill crept through him, and when he raised his head he knew that he
was trembling in spite of his efforts to control himself. Turning
about he swiftly followed the trail to the top of the ridge, recrossed
the sledge track, and descended again into the wildness of the gorge
on the other side. He had not progressed twenty rods when without a
sound he dropped behind a rock. He had seen no movement ahead of him.
He had heard nothing. Yet in that moment he was thrilled as never
before in his life.

For the bear trail had ceased.

And ahead of him, instead of the tracks of a beast, there continued
_the footprints of a man_!

CHAPTER V

ROD'S FIGHT FOR LIFE

It was some time before Roderick moved from his concealment behind the
rock. It was not fear that held him there, but a knowledge within
him that he needed to think, to collect his senses as he would have
expressed it if Wabi had been with him. For a brief spell he was
stunned by the succession of surprises which he had encountered, and
he felt that now, if ever in his life, he needed control of himself.
He did not attempt to solve the mystery of the trail beyond