on a snow-covered ledge, turned its head as though it had heard a sound
in the rear. It was Oo-koo-hoo speaking: "Turn your head away, my
brother . . ." but the report of his gun cut short his sentence, and
the bear, leaping forward, disappeared among, . . . See Chapter IV.]

"Turn your head away, my brother . . ." but the report of his gun cut
short his sentence, and the bear, leaping forward, disappeared among
the growth below. Re-loading his gun, the hunter slowly followed, more
cautiously than ever, for he saw from the blood upon the snow that the
beast was wounded and, therefore, dangerous. As he went he covered
every likely place with his gun, lest the bear should be lurking there
and rush at him. At last I saw him pause much longer than usual, then
move forward again. Finally he turned, and in a satisfied tone
exclaimed: "It's dead!"

The ball had struck just behind the left shoulder and had entered the
heart; and the hunter explained that when he saw his best chance, he
spoke to the bear to make it pause in order to better his aim.

"And what did you say to him?"

"My son, I said: 'Turn your eyes away, my brother, for I am about to
kill you.' I never care to fire at a bear without first telling him
how sorry I am that I need his coat."

Then the skinning began, and by noon we had it finished. Loading the
head and part of the meat on the sled, I hauled it, while the hunter
rolled up the heavy pelt and packed it upon his back with the aid of a
tump-line. Taking our loads back to the river and caching them there,
we continued along the trapping trail.