"Early the next morning," continued the old man, "I ran over to Wilber's, and we hurried to the pasture. The sheep's head was gone, but the bear, if indeed it was one, had kept his legs out of the trap. We rebaited it with mutton shanks, and the next morning Jed came to the house before I was dressed.
"'The trap's gone!' he shouted. 'Get your gun. We must follow him!'
"Hastily swallowing some breakfast, I loaded the gun with slugs, and with Jed and Sol rushed to the pasture. Sure enough the trap was gone, clog and all. The place where it had been placed bore marks of a struggle; the turf was gouged up, and in several spots there were blood-drops on the grass, and on the dry leaves. It was in October, the last of the month. The brakes in the woods were dead, but still standing. These had been pressed to the ground, and made a broad trail.
"By noon we gained the crest of a high ridge, or mountain, five or six miles to the westward. The farther side fell off abruptly to the bank of a small river. This side, too, was covered with thick hemlock and spruce. We hesitated about going further. It would be nearly night by the time we got back, if we started for home now. But we wanted to save the trap. If we went back, not only should we lose the bear, but the trap besides, and Jed, whose carelessness had cost the loss of two sheep, was especially anxious to get the bear.
"Sol had brought a lunch. We divided it between us, and again taking up our guns, followed the trail down into the dark growth, toward the river. An hour took us to the stream. But here, instead of coming upon the bear, as we had expected, we found that he had turned up the bank to the north. We kept on, however. There was a sort of fascination in the chase, even though every mile was taking us further into the wilderness.
"The late October afternoon was waning. Already the shadow of a large mountain to the westward was falling over the forest, in the valley where we were. The valley narrowed to a rocky ravine as we went on, and the mountain, with its dark spruces, seemed to tower threateningly over us.
"'It's no use, Jed,' said I; 'we ought to go home. I know you want——'
"'Hark!' exclaimed Sol.
"A sharp yelp, as if from a hurt dog, rang out. It seemed to come to us from only a short distance. Almost instantly it was followed by a long yell, and a chorus of howls. Snap ran, crouching, between our legs.
"'Wolves!' cried Jed.