"Quick, Mukoki, shove her in! There's the biggest bear I've seen in all my life!" "Where ?" demanded Rod.

"Where is he ?" He dropped his paddle and snatched his own rifle, while Mukoki, keeping his self-possession, brought the canoe so that Wabi could leap ashore.

Rod followed like a flash, and the two excited youths sped in the direction of the bear, leaving their companion to care for himself and the heavily-laden birch.

A short, swift run brought them to the edge of the spruce, and with hearts beating wildly the two scanned the barren side of the mountain ahead of them.

There was no sign of the bear.
"He turned down-stream!" cried Wabi, "We must cut--" "There he is," whispered Rod sharply.
Just beginning the ascent of the mountain, four or five hundred yards below them, was the bear.