ver, and he knows the habits of animals, and why animals have
such or such habits. To be a good hunter you've got to be a good
student."

When at last they had reached the upper end of the flat valley in
which the many branches of their little creek wandered tricklingly,
Leo pulled up alongside a dead log and signified that they would stop
there for a time while observing the slides on each side of the
valley. From this point they had an excellent view of a great mountain
series opening out beyond. And as they were commenting on the beauty
of this prospect there came to them one of the experiences of
mountains which not very many men have known.

They heard a heavy, rumbling sound, yet faint, like thunder in the
distance. Then slowly they saw a spot on one side of the valley, some
four or five miles distant, grow misty and white, as though a heavy
cloud were forming.

"Look yonder!" exclaimed Uncle Dick. "That's a snow-slide, boys, and
lucky enough we are that we're not under it. It's a big one, too."

They sat silent, listening to the dull voice of the avalanche. The
great mass of snow which lay on the steep mountainside had begun to
loosen at the rim-rock as the snow melted and began to trickle under
the edges. Gradually the surface of the ground, moistened under the
snow this way, began to offer less and less hold to the snow which was
piled above it. Little by little the upper region of the snow-field
began to drop and settle down, growing heavier and heavier on the
supporting snow beneath, until finally, under the increasing weight
above, it had given way along the whole surface of the mountain, a
half-mile or more in extent.

It chanced that at the foot of the slide--that is to say, at the edge
of the valley--there was a tall cliff, or rock wall, and over this
precipice all the mass of snow now was pouring, driven with such
mighty force against this wall of rock at its foot that it broke into
fine particles more like mist than snow. In a vast cascade it poured
down and out over the valley, making one of the most wonderful
spectacles a man could see anywhere in the mountains.

"There are rocks and trees going down in that cloud of snow, very
likely," said Uncle Dick, "but you can't see them. That's how Leo gets
his bear-hunting country made for him--eh, Leo?"

Leo grinned, but sat watching the snow-slide more indifferently than
the others, the work of the great forces of nature being accepted as a
matter o