one would drop
below the trail and work around on the opposite side and drive them
out if he could. The wind was blowing strong from the northeast,
which would make it next to impossible for the bears to wind the
watches. Bill said that he would watch as he could stand the cold
weather better than I could. It was now snowing very hard, and we
knew that the bears were aware of the approaching storm and had gone
to the windfall to go into winter quarters. Chances were that they
would not come out unless driven by getting close on to them. We were
in hopes that the three bears might be all in one nest, and that the
one that did the driving would stand a fair chance to get a shot at
them as they left.

I made my calculations from what I knew of the jam about where the
bear would lay. Good luck was on my side this time and I hit it just
right, coming on to them from the opposite side from where they had
gone in, but I did not see or hear them when they went out. The first
thing I knew of their whereabouts was when I came on to where the
bears had been breaking laurel brush for their bunk. Will I did some
fine looking and listening, but all to no purpose, as they had got
the wind of me and had gone out. Undoubtedly they would not have done
this had they been in their nest a few days longer and had got well
to sleep.

They had gone in under two large trees that had been blown out by the
roots. They had taken dry rotten wood torn from the two old trees
that formed the root to their winter quarters, and with laurel brush
and other matter they had made very good quarters for the winter. I
soon discovered that the lame bear was not with the two other bears.
I did not follow the trail very far when I came onto the trail of the
lame bear going on still further into the jam, but I did not follow
it but continued on after the two bears to learn what luck Bill had
had. I heard no gun shot and was afraid that the bear had not come
within gun shot of Bill, although the bears were following nearly
back on their trail that they went in on.

When I came to the edge of the wind jam, I saw that the bear had of a
sudden made some big jumps down the side of the hill. One of them had
turned back into the jam while the other had followed down the hill,
and Bill's track was following the trail. I did not go far when I saw
Bill tugging away at the bear trying to draw it down to the hollow
and near where we had camped the night before.

It wa