ven the wild animals of the
forest to be their guardian angels."

Frank, Alec, and Sam had listened to Mustagan with bated breath. As
Alec said afterward:

"My heart seemed to stop beating while I listened."

When it came out that the bears were friendly, and not disposed to
injure the children, the lads could hardly restrain the hearty cheers
that somehow, in spite of themselves, would try to burst out.

There was no more sleep that night. As it was at least five miles to
the spot where the tracks had been discovered, the strict orders of
silence were cancelled, and soon there were noise and activity. Food
was prepared and eaten with an appetite unknown since Wenonah and
Roderick were of the happy party.

The absorbing question with Mr and Mrs Ross, in consultation with
Mustagan and Big Tom, was how they were to proceed when the morning
came.

To follow them up and rush in upon them might anger the bears, and the
children might suffer. To stalk them so quietly as to be able to get
within range and shoot the bears might terrify the children, or they
might be wounded by the bullets. There was much talking and many
suggestions. A remark from Mustagan gave Mrs Ross a hint, and so a
woman's quick intuition solved the perplexing question.

Mustagan had said that, as he carefully examined the tracks, he found
where the children had evidently filled their birch dishes with berries
and fed them to the little bears, whose many tracks had shown that, like
young dogs, they had gambolled and played around them.

Said Mrs Ross as she heard this:

"Those bears seem well disposed toward children, so the brave boys will
go on ahead with similar dishes of berries, and they will find that the
animals will rather eat the fruit than do the lads any harm."

This suggestion so delighted the boys that, without a moment's thought
of the risks they would run, they gladly consented, and were eager to
carry out the suggestion.

Mr Ross and the Indians were old bear hunters, and they could not at
first think that any such plan would be at all possible. However, think
or plan as much as they would, they found it utterly impossible to
settle on any other scheme that appeared to them either safe or
suitable. The result was that daylight found them still in perplexity,
and altogether undecided as to the correct method to adopt in this novel
expedition, so unique in all of their experiences.

Mrs Ross, however, and the boys, stuc