ch the first trap from that spot. It was the most
likely place of the three to find a bear, he added, and at that Mary,
Vivian, and I tried our best to look as unconcerned as though
catching a bear were the most usual thing in all the world. But when
we had reached the place, after a hard ride through a narrow trail
bordered by all kinds of prickly things, we found no bear in the
queer little log-house that held the trap. Neither was there one in
the trap a mile distant.

"'When we turned away from the second, bearless and tired, every one
of us, except perhaps Vivian, felt a sense of defeat. My fears of
seeing one caught had vanished. I had borne sunburn and scratches and
lameness and I wanted a bear. So did Mary. She was not content with
just scenery. Virginia had caught bears before, but she wanted one
because we did, and William wanted one because Virginia did. William
never seems to want much for himself some way, but he loves Virginia,
and I think Virginia loves him next best to Jim. As for Dick--there
was no mistaking Dick's feeling. He felt as though he had not done
his duty by us since there had been no bear in the two most likely
traps.

"'The question before the assembly now was--Should we or should we
not visit the third trap? It might be dark, William said, before we
got out of the canyon, and there wasn't one chance in a hundred of a
bear anyway. Virginia--really, she is the biggest peach I ever
knew!--proposed that she ride home with Vivian, and the others of us
go on with Dick and William, but Vivian would not listen to her.
There having been no bears in the first two traps was proof enough
for Vivian that there would be none in the last, and her bravery
returned. Mary wanted to go on, and I wouldn't have gone home for a
thousand dollars or a trip abroad! As for Dick, he was already
half-way up the trail.

"'This trail was far steeper than either of the others. It led almost
straight up the mountain-side beneath over-hanging trees, under
fallen timber, and through every kind of bramble imaginable. But
there was something exhilarating about even the brambles--something
that made you glad to hear the saddle crunch and whine and creak, and
to feel yourself being carried higher and higher. It wasn't all the
hope of a bear either!

"'At last we came to a little creek, which was hurling itself down
over the rocks.

"'"Moose Cr