Mr. Hunter smiled.
“He’d catch us if he saw us unarmed as we are. No, we’ll get back to camp and get the traps out. Maybe by morning Mr. Bruin will walk into the one we shall set for him.”
After breakfast there was a busy time among the men. At Mr. Hunter’s direction traps and snares were set in various places, and Will and Tom were employed in gathering tree moss and abandoned nests for the aviary. A hawk and an owl were captured during the day, but it was the following morning that Mr. Hunter expected to find quite a number of animals in the traps baited over night.
The large bear trap left at the entrance to the cave was a great objective point of interest to the boys, and they visited the spot several times, hoping to be the first to announce the capture of bruin should that important event occur.
They stood before the entrance to the cave late in the afternoon regarding the set trap curiously.
“Do you see?” remarked Will, pointing to it.
“What?” inquired Tom.
“The meat is gone. It must be a cunning bear. He has sniffed the bait and cautiously eaten it off without putting his feet in.”
It certainly seemed that what Will said was true, for the marks of the animal’s feet could be traced in the snow that had blown into the entrance to its den.
Will left Tom at the place and announced his intention of going around the mound.