Gulf and Glacier

Mission School, until he reached the very outskirts of the village, where, in a half-clea

asis, "comes the tug of war. You've bo

and Fred's shoes were heavy enough fo

bundles from beneath a big stump, where he must have hidden them the night before. "They'll be pretty heavy

arranged a blanket on the back of each of the two

a rubber to put under u

oad!" shouted Tom. "I

ifty-pound pack over his shoulder, pick

night," he remarked. "It's a way t

adjusting his eyeglasses for the tent

trail that leads up to the Silver Bow, an

went right ahead, striding along over fallen trees and bowlders, wi

once they tripped and nearly fell. The mountain-side was thickly wooded with spruce, yellow cedar and he

ten minutes of this sort of work, "is

t's gained-f

hink-of th

tting foot on the slippery surface of a rock conce

ndscape," gasped Tom, leaning aga

f its kind thereabouts, was decayed,

ey found that Baranov had stopped just ahead

cried Tom, "is it going

done. Ye've got good pluck, both of ye, not to ask me to slow up before naow. P'r'aps

-o

eg'lar Basin trail jest ahead. We can follow that for a mil

traveled path once more, alth

at they were something over three miles from the wharf at Juneau, hav

!" exclaimed Tom, throwing

rrowing and winding far up among the mountains. On every side the forest-clad slopes rose in grand s

d, as a metallic clicking not

with his pick," remarked the hunter. "You'll

ed over its stony bed, across the path toward the vall

n. And he threw down a branch of the ora

to the woods. I gave ye that leetle piece of rough travelin'

springing to their feet

. It was hard climbing, and the boys had to stop for frequent rests. Their tramp proceeded, however, withou

ers had partaken sparingly of it before starting. Now, however, they had a sharpened appetite, and

ur, so that it was nearly nine

they realized that they were in the veritable Alaskan wilderness. The rush of the littl

the evergreens grew more densely, and the stream was so narrow as to barely afford them a pathway. Of course their feet had

re and there; Tom afterward declared he fai

ut Tom, picking himself out of

carefully examined a log just in front of him. Calling t

. "It seems just a common, every-day log, don't it, T

ir path. Baranov laid his finger lightly on a smal

e whispered. "An not

tively clutched

he critter sudd'nly. But I'll let you do your own shootin' ef I can. Fred, you must take the ax naow, an' be a

Indian file, for h

something that crun

eed they all were standing on

e old hunter was gratified by finding that the trail crossed a snow bank. Master Bruin could pass through the thick scrub of the forest so deftly that even th

Tom, quivering with excitement. "Is he near here, do you t

ce, as he shouldered h

y good-sized black b'ar, I should say. An' i

llowing a sort of beaten track-no other, Solomon assured them, than one of the famous

same bear was before them on this hard track, but it seemed highly improbable that Ursus Ameri

umbled against him, nearly upsetting the hunter. The latter, however, paid no attention to this. He was too much

hispered eagerly, their

t them

st white! They are

ft 'em behind," said the guide. "An' it wa'n't no

s it-not

easant one, and the young hu

hat a big silver-tip, a glacier b'ar, some

ever heard of one be

rth of here call 'em Mount St. Elias b'ars, because there's more of 'em ther

n in an undertone, and without furthe

land, at a great elevation above the sea. Here and there were patches of snow, and small

was on the point of proposing a halt for a rest, if not for the night, when he caught sight of a grayish patch in a clump of low spruces about a hun

than he sank as if he had been shot. The boys d

m. Naow don't you move for five minutes. Before long, you'll see him start this way. When he gets up to that rock over thar between them t

what his plans were, the old hunter had disapp

emed hours, they saw the animal push his snout out from the boughs and sniff the air curiousl

et to the shaggy beast; for after a moment's uneasy moving about, he sta

h the boughs and clambering

mpanion was trembling from

e whispered in his ear. "You

ifles; for forgetting Solomon's injunction, Fred pul

on from which the bear had come. "You've done it

ndmill, and ax ready, Solomon came

sure enough-look out!" For at that very moment the bear str

he presence of mind to level his reloaded piece and fire. Then he tur

t coals dropped down his right boot-leg, and wi

his ax, this story might have had a sad ending. One mighty

ur last shot did the business, but I had

m! Hurrah!" and with a very queer feeli

s and trying to force some kind of hot liquor down his throat. There was the tinkling of a tin

we?" he stammered

off a piece to a first-rate leetle campin' graound, an' all you've got

ying to remember, and wonde

'll stay I reckon, till we get ready to b

ng up with an armful of dry boughs. His hands were cove

cried, dropping on his knees beside Tom. "F

ing his right leg, looked down at that member, and was surprised

lingly. "He only jest raked you with his claws. But the b

parations for the night. A roaring fire was kindled, and although the su

boughs into camp. As if by magic a framework of crotched sticks, props and rafters grew under the sheltering fir, boughs were piled on and across them, and by six o'clock

at, and sitting down on a small log which, running across the front of the camp formed a sort of seat and threshold to it, op

teak to-night," he said, as he w

gry boys, we will return to the gentler portion of the