"It is good," said White Otter. "Matohota comes here to eat that pony. If we wait here we will see him."
"Perhaps he is sleeping over there in those bushes," suggested Sun Bird.
They knew that after gorging itself with meat, a bear often would lie down to sleep near the carcass, so that it would find a meal close at hand when it again became hungry. It seemed probable, therefore, that the great creature which they sought might be concealed somewhere within bow range of them. They looked carefully along the edge of the woods, hoping to discover a sign which would tell them where the bear had entered the timber. The undergrowth appeared undisturbed, and, as the trail faded out at the spot where the grass had been trampled down about the carcass, there seemed little chance of learning what they wished to know unless they made their way to the dead pony.
"We must go over there and find out about it," Sun Bird proposed, finally.
"Come," said White Otter.
They moved through the timber as stealthily as wolves, and when they drew near the carcass they again stopped to watch and listen. Then they circled to find the trail of the bear. They came upon a wide game trail leading down from the park, and as they stooped to study it they discovered many tracks. Among them were the footprints of the great gray timber wolves, and the clumsy round paw-marks of a mountain lion. The latter track was fresh, and it was evident that the great cat had passed over the trail since daylight. The tracks of the bear, however, were missing.
"Matohota did not come this way," said Sun Bird.
"Perhaps he is close by," White Otter said, cautiously. "We will try to find out where he is. Then we will go and look at that pony. It came along this trail. See, here is a track."
He showed Sun Bird a faint and indistinct impression of a hoof at one side of the trail. It was some days old, and offered them little information.
"Come, we will find out what has become of Matohota, and then we will come back here and find out about this thing," said White Otter.