It occurred to the Great Bear that we might strike his trail some time or other, and when he came to the stony uplift upon which his moccasins would leave no sign, he made traces elsewhere.

He knew the chance of our ever seeing them was slight, and he may have made thousands of other traces that we never will see, but the possibility that we would see some one of the many became a probability." "As you present it, it seems simple, Tayoga, but what an infinity of pains he must have taken!" "The Great Bear is that kind of a man." The hard, rocky ground extended several miles and their progress over it was, of necessity, very slow, as Tayoga was compelled to look with extreme care for the signs the hunter might have left.

He found the cut twigs five times and twice footprints where softer soil existed between the rocks, making the proofs conclusive to both, and when they emerged into a normal region beyond they picked up his defined and clear trail once more.
"I shall be glad to see the Great Bear," said the Onondaga, "and I think he will be as pleased to know certainly that we are alive as we are to be assured that he is." "He'd never desert us, and if you hadn't come to the Indian village I think he'd have done so later on." "The Great Bear is a man such as few men are.

Now, his trail leads on, straight and bold.

He took no trouble to hide it, which proves that he had friends in this region, and was not afraid to be followed.