two little fuzzy cubs in
tow;--one with a smutty white nose like her own, and the other with a
dark muzzle like Black Bruin's. If Black Bruin knew that these were
his offspring, he did not evince much interest in them, while White
Nose would hardly let him go near them. Perhaps she was afraid that he
might eat them, or maybe it was only maternal jealousy, which is always
strong in wild mothers.

For several days after taking up his abode in the mountains, Black
Bruin contented himself with a vegetarian diet, varied with fish and
small game, but the blood-lust soon came upon him and he began prowling
about the settlements.

At first, his reconnoitering was unsuccessful; but one day he
discovered an animal four or five times as large as a deer, feeding in
an open field near the woods. This would not have interested him much
had not the large creature been followed by a little animal of the same
kind. He never would have thought of attacking the mother, but the
calf was easily within his scope and he began shadowing them with the
persistence of a good hunter.

Black Bruin knew that these creatures were the property of men. He had
often watched the cattle feeding when he lived near the scene of the
great bear-hunt, but with the exception of the calf he had killed upon
that eventful morning, he had never molested them.

Even now, he associated the killing of the calf with the baying of
hounds and danger, but he was now much wiser and stronger. He felt
that he could get away to the mountains long before men would discover
their loss. He could even fight if need be.

Of all the bears in the region he was easily the strongest and heaviest
and his life with White Nose the fall before had taught him many things.

One morning the young heifer hid her little red calf in a thicket just
as the doe had her fawn and went to feed in the open near by.

This was Black Bruin's opportunity, and swift and sure like the good
hunter he had now become, he approached. The deer mother had not
offered to attack him and he did not think this one would, so he did
not pay much attention to her.

He crept as near as he could without scaring the game and then with a
swift pounce was upon it. He struck the calf a blow that should have
broken its neck, but the calf moved at just the critical moment and
received a glancing stroke. With a bleat of pain and fear it sprang up
and fled toward its mother. It took only two jumps, for a secon