g hunters approached the mouth of the cave
timidly and peered inside. As their eyes became accustomed to the
gloom they made out that the cave was of good size. The other end
was lost in the shadows.

It had now begun to rain steadily, and to keep from getting soaked
they stepped into the mouth of the cave, taking with them several
dry sticks and some dry leaves from the bottom of the outer hole.
These they lit, and used the sticks for torches. They saw at
once that the cave was really a bears' den, for the bones of numerous
animals lay scattered over the uneven flooring. But no bears were
in sight, and this made them bolder and more willing to inspect their
surroundings.

"I believe that bear ran away," said Snap, at last. "For all we
know, we'll never see him again."

"Well, I want to see him, but not at too close range," answered
the doctor's son.

They soon discovered that the cave was very irregular in shape,
running around under the mountain in something of the form of
a double letter S. In some places the roof was far overhead while
in others it came down in sharp rocks that they could readily
touch with their hands.

"A fellow could camp out here, if he wanted to," said Snap, as
he gazed around in curiosity.

"Providing the bears did not disturb him," answered Giant. "By
the way, what are you going to do about that bear we shot?"

"Oh, we'll go after him later on," answered the doctor's son.

"Perhaps he'll get away."

"I think we can trail him by his blood," said Snap. "He was
certainly wounded quite a bit. I think he is dead."

They walked on through the big cave, finally reaching the other
end. Here they saw a small hole, through which the rain was falling.

"That's the way the bear got out," cried Whopper.

"Just listen to the rain!" exclaimed Shep. "I am glad we are under
cover."

It was now raining furiously, while ever and anon they could see a
flash of lightning and hear the crack of thunder. All were glad
they were not on the mountainside.

"It's dangerous to be in the forest during such lightning," said the
doctor's son. "We might be struck, or caught by some falling tree."

"We might as well remain in the cave until the storm lets up," said
Snap.

Around the small hole they found some more leaves and tree limbs,
and after several failures---for the leaves were wet---they succeeded
in building a small campfire. Around this they huddled and ate their
lunch, in the me