A RACE FOR LIFE
Now any hunter of the great North-West Territory will tell you that the only animal, perhaps, that no man can ever count on is a bear.
The big white polar bear and the grizzly of the Rocky Mountains are always savage, most horribly dangerous. But the black and brown bears will seldom interfere with man; never, unless wounded, or with cubs, when there is plenty of food about. The safest time for bears is perhaps in the autumn, when their cubs are growing up and they have quantities of berries, honey, and such food to eat.
Now Nell knew all this very well. She and David had often seen bears. She had no fear of them, at the same time uncertainty remained. And it was a bad time of year!
This particular bear had been asleep in the cave above. He had waked up with the ice still covering the fish, and small animals mostly slain by the foxes. He was probably turning over dead wood logs to hunt for beetles and slugs, but that is a poor meal to go on, after about five months' fast, and he was in a very irritable mood.
Slowly he raised himself on his haunches and sat up. Nell would have liked to stand still and watch him, but felt it would not do. She moved away, quicker and quicker, but trying to do it in an unaggressive way.
"Good thing we haven't got the shoes on," she said to David, making talk, as it were, with one eye on the big black bear.
"Why?" asked the boy, shifting his into an easier position where they were slung across his shoulder.
"Because I think we shall have to run for it."
"Oh no!"