ours I heard every kind of a growl and howl
imaginable, as bears prowled about the hut sniffing at the buried food,
or scratching at our hut to get in.

"'Wish we could get some of 'em in the traps,' I said.

"'They'd be torn to pieces and soon et up by the other wild beasts,'
replied Hal, as he made another notch in a log where he was keeping
record of the days.

"It wasn't very pleasant that week, for the room was small, and the dogs
and meat began to make the air reek, so we were mighty glad, one
morning, to wake and find it warmer. Without delay, Hal and I chopped
the door out of the ice and snow and got out, followed by the dogs. The
air was still so cold that it felt like a knife going through my lungs,
but it was sweet and fresh. The dogs, too, were glad to have a run.

"The only thing to mark the hut from the other humps of snow round about
was the dirty spot where the smoke came out. While we aired the room we
cleaned up whatever debris lay about and filled the pails with some ice
that Hal chopped out of the frozen stream.

"Meantime, the dogs were scenting about in the drifts and growling and
yelping. Hal looked up and saw that they were off following some tracks.
He ran after them for a few rods and then came back, calling them to
come in.

"'Those were bear tracks,' he explained, as the dogs obeyed most
unwillingly. 'I wish I had some way to trap them without having the fur
ruined by other animals.'

"'Couldn't you set a trap right in range with the chink of the door, and
if you hear other animals about you can shoot them,' I said.

"'But it would waste a lot of valuable ammunition,' he replied.

"He set the trap where I had suggested, however, and said he would wait
and see what happened.

"We felt better for that day's fresh air, but the storm settled down
again during the night, and it was several days before it stopped
snowing. The cold held on longer, but we knew it was clear by the bright
gleam of light that filtered through our smoke-hole.

"'I wonder if we can get out to-day?' I asked, but at the same time
howls were heard coming from the pines.

"'Guess you will do better to stay in to-day,' smiled Hal.

"That night we found it impossible to sleep, for the wolves howled madly
just outside the hut, and some of them pawed at the smoke-hole so that
Hal finally picked up a red-hot firebrand and poked it up through the
opening just as one of the beasts tried to nose down into the hut. It