One April, when the weather began to get warm and thawy, an old bear
left her den in the rocks and built a large, warm nest of grass,
leaves, and the bark of the white cedar, under a tall balsam fir that
stood in a low, sunny, open place amid the mountains. Hither she
conducted her two cubs, and the family began life in what might be
called their spring residence. The tree above them was for shelter,
and for refuge for the cubs in case danger approached, as it soon did
in the form of Uncle Nathan. He happened that way soon after the bear
had moved. Seeing her track in the snow, he concluded to follow it.
When the bear had passed, the snow had been soft and sposhy, and she
had "slumped," he said, several inches. It was now hard and slippery.
As he neared the tree the track turned and doubled, and tacked this way
and that, and led through the worst brush and brambles to be found.
This was a shrewd thought of the old bear; she could thus hear her
enemy coming a long time before he drew very near. When Uncle Nathan
finally reached the nest, he found it empty, but still warm.
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