“As soon as it’s daylight, I want to follow his trail and see if I can find him,” Jo Ann said. “Peggy wants to go, too.”
“You’re not going to leave me behind this time,” Florence put in, smiling. “I’m going with you.”
“O. K.,” Peggy and Jo Ann agreed together, and Jo Ann added, “Whoever wakes up first in the morning calls the other two.”
Shortly after the first faint rays of dawn had appeared the three girls set off down to the enclosure, Jo Ann carrying the gun as before. On reaching it they picked up the bloodstained trail and followed it up the ravine.
After they had gone a short distance, the trail led to the bank of the stream.
“Look here!” Jo Ann exclaimed. “Here’s a great big spot of blood. This must be the place where we heard him stop last night.”
Florence pointed down to the prints made by the bear’s paw. “Poor thing! He was trying to stop his wound with mud.”
Jo Ann’s and Peggy’s eyes widened in surprise. “I never heard of such a thing!” declared Peggy.
“I never did either,” said Jo Ann. “I didn’t know bears had that much sense.”
“Daddy told me they did it, and he’s had a good deal of experience hunting. You can see for yourself how the bear scraped up the mud here.”