e the glasses and scan the outskirts
of the vast meadow which stretched before us. All at once Blake gave a
low exclamation and pointed to the west. I followed the direction of his
gaze, and saw four bears slowly leaving the woods. They were at some
distance, and we did not think we had time to reach them before they
would probably return to the underbrush for their mid-day sleep, so for
the present we let them go.

After breakfast, as they were still In the same place, we attempted the
stalk, going most of the way in our baidarkas, winding in and out
through the meadow in the small lagoons which intersected it in all
directions. Every little while the men would ascend the banks with the
glasses, thus keeping a watchful eye upon the bears' movements. Taking
a time when they had fed into the underbrush, we made a quick circle to
leeward over the open, then reaching the edge of the thicket, we
approached cautiously to a selected watching place. We reached this
spot shortly after one o'clock. The bears had entered the woods, so we
settled ourselves for a long wait. It was Blake's turn to shoot, which
meant that he was to have an undisturbed first shot at the largest bear,
and after he had fired I could take what was left.

Just before three o'clock three bears again made their appearance. Two
were yearlings which in the fall would leave their mother and shift for
themselves, and one much larger, which lay just at the edge of the
underbrush. Had these yearlings not been with the mother she would not
have come out so early in the afternoon, and, as it was, she kept in the
shadow of the alders, while the two smaller ones fed out some distance
from the woods.

We now removed our boots, and, with Stereke well in hand, for he smelt
the bears and was tugging hard on his collar, noiselessly skirted the
woods, keeping some tall grass between the bears and ourselves. In this
way we approached to within one hundred yards. Twice one of the smaller
animals rose on his hind legs and looked in our direction; but the wind
was favorable, and we were well concealed, so they did not take alarm.

My friend decided to shoot the mother, while I was to reserve my fire
until after his shot. I expected that at the report of his rifle the
bear I had chosen would pause a moment in surprise, and thus offer a
good standing shot. As my friend's rifle cracked, the bear I had
selected made a sudden dash for the woods, and I had to take him on the
run