made Will draw a sharp breath.

"I think we'd better go down the slope until it becomes too dark for us
to see a way," said Boyd, "because we're up so high now that the night
is sure to be biting cold here on the very top of the ridge."

In an hour they found a glen sheltered well by high trees all about and
with a pool of icy cold water at the edge. It was a replica on a small
scale of the valley and lake they had left behind, and glad enough they
were to find it. They drank of the pool, and the horses followed them
there with eagerness. Then, eating only cold food, they made ready for
the night.

"Get an extra pair of blankets from your pack, Will," said Boyd. "You
don't yet know how cold the night can be on these mountains, at any time
of the year."

The hunter's advice was good, as Will the next morning, despite two
blankets beneath him and two above him, felt cold, and when he sprang up
he pounded his chest vigorously to make the circulation brisk. Boyd
laughed.

"I'm about as cold as you are," he said, "and, in view of the winter
into which we've suddenly dropped, we'll have hot coffee and hot food
for breakfast. I don't think we risk anything by building a fire here.
What's the matter with our horses?"

They had tethered the horses in the night, and all four of them suddenly
began to rear and stamp in terror.

"There's a scout watching us!" exclaimed Will.

"A scout?" said Boyd, startled.

"Yes! See him standing on the big rock, far off there to the right."

The hunter looked and then drew a breath of relief.

"Old Ephraim!" he said.

A gigantic grizzly bear was upreared on a great rocky outcrop about
three hundred yards away, and the opalescent light of the morning
magnified him in the boy's eyes, until he was the largest beast in the
world. Monstrous and sinister he stood there, unmoving, gazing at the
strange creatures in the little camp. He seemed to Will a symbol of this
vast and primeval new world into which he had come. Remembering his
glasses he took them and brought the great grizzly almost before his
eyes.

"He appears to be showing anger and a certain curiosity because we're
here," he said. "I don't think he understands us, but he resents our
invasion of his territory."

"Well, we're not going to explain who we are. If he don't meddle with us
we won't meddle with him."

The grizzly did not stay long, retreating from the rock, then
disappearing in the underbrush. Will had qualms now