cent made his mouth drip saliva, and his manner, which a moment
before had been suspicious and guarded, was now eager and full of
curiosity and impatience.

He went at once to the doorway of the pen-trap and thrust in his head.
It was as he had thought,--the ravishing scent came from inside.

He sniffed several times and with each whiff of the honey became more
impatient. There, dangling from the spindle, was a section of the
coveted sweet.

Black Bruin stepped inside and stretched out his muzzle toward the
honey; then he detected a man-scent about the frame that he had not
noticed before. He backed out and the hair rose on his neck.

He then smelled all about the sides of the pen. There was no
suggestion of man-scent there. Again he returned to the honey.

The taint about that was certain, but the honey almost drove him
frantic. So with a sudden motion he snatched the coveted prize in his
mouth and gave a hard tug at it. He would seize it before the
man-scent had power to injure him and then flee.

But quick as were the motions of Black Bruin, the trap was quicker, for
the moment the trigger was loosed, the cord let go the drop-door and
down it came with a great bang. The bear was suddenly in darkness.

With a loud "Uff" he dropped the honey and turned in the pen, but the
doorway by which he had entered was closed. He sprang upon it with a
growl and pushed with all his might, but he was pushing against the
pillars, which were two trees nearly a foot in diameter, and he might
as well have pushed against the side of a cliff.

Then he whirled about and, seizing the spindle in his mouth, pulled
violently upon it, but it availed him nothing.

Then he assailed first one wall and then another in rapid succession.
He tore the bark and also great pieces from the logs with his teeth,
but the logs were thick and he merely strewed the inside of the trap
with bark and splinters, leaving it still as strong as ever. Then he
braced crosswise upon the trap and tried to push the logs from their
places. They gave a very little when he put forth his giant strength,
but the effort was futile.

Then he stood upon his hind legs and tried to reach the poles overhead
with his paw, but the trap was too high for this.

For hours he raged and tore at the logs which held him so effectively.
He stripped the inside of the pen entirely free of bark, and littered
the floor with a bushel of splinters; but all his tearing and bitin