Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-06-02

gully. His huge head hung close to the
ground. At short distances his vision was
microscopic in its keenness his olfactory
nerves were so sensitive that he could catch
one of the big rock ants with his eyes shut.
He would choose the fiat rocks mostly.
His huge right paw, with its long claws,
was as clever as a human hand. The stone
lifted, a sniff or two, a lick of his hot,
fiat tongue, and he ambled on to the next.
He took this work with tremendous
seriousness much like elephant hunting
for peanuts hidden in a bale of hay He
saw no humor in the operation As a matter
of fact Nature had not intended there
should be any humor about 1t. ThOr's time
was more or less valueless, and during the
course of summer he absorbed in his
system a good many hundred thousand sour
ants sweet grubs and juicy insects Of vari-
Gus kinds, not to mention host of gophers
and still timer rOck-rabbits. These small
things all added to the huge rolls of fat
which 1t was necessary for him TO store up
for that "absorptive consumption" which
kept him alive during his long winter sleep.
This was why Nature had made his little
greenish-brown eyes twin microscopes in
fallibe at distances of a few feet, and al
most worthless at a thousand yards,
As lie was about to turn over fresh
stone Thor paused in his operations For
full minute he stood nearly motioness.
Then his head swung slowly. his nose close
to the ground. Very family he had caught
an exceedingly pleasing odor 1t was so
faint that he was afraid of losing it If he
| moved So he stood until he was sure OF
himself, then he swung his huge shoulders
around and descended two yards down the
slope, swinging his head slowly from right
to left and shifting.
The scent grew stronger Another two
yards down the slope he found II very
strong under rock. 1t was big rock
and weighed probably two hundred pounds
Thor dragged it aside with his one right
hand as if It were no more than pebble.
Instantly there was a wild and protesting
chatter, and tiny striped rock-rabbit, very
much like a chpmunk, darted away just
as Thors left hand came down with a
smash that would have broken the neck Of
a caribou.
1t was not the scent of the rock-rabblt
but the SAVIOR of what the rock-rabbit had
stored under the stone that had attracted
Thor, And this booty stll remained-a
half-plnt Of groundnuts piled carefully I'm
a little hollow lined with moss. They were
not really nuts. They were more like dim
| inutive potatoes, about the size of cherries,
| and very starchy and sweet, and fattenng.
| Thor enjoyed them immensely, rumbling in
| that curious satisfied way deep down in his
| chest as he feasted. And then he resumed
| his quest.
He did not hear Langdon as the hunter
| came nearer and nearer up the broken
| gully. He did not smell him, for the wind
| was fatally wrong. He had forgotten the
noXious man-smell that had disturbed and
irritated him an hour before. He was quite
happy he was good-humored he was fat
| and sleek An irritable, cross-grained and
| quarrelsome bear is always thin. The true
| hunter knows him as soon as he sets eyes
on him. He is like the rogue elephant.
| Thor continued his food-seekink, edging
| still closer TO the gully, He was within
a hundred and fifty yards Of 1t when a
| sound suddenly brought him alert. Lang
| don in his effort TO creep up the steep side
OF the gully for a shot lad accidentally
| loosened a rock. II went crashing down the
| rayine, starting other stones that followed
| in a noisy clatter. At the foot of the coulee
six hundred yards down, Bruce swore softly
| under his breath. He saw Thor sit up. Al
| that distance he was going TO shoot II the
bear made for the break.
| For thirty seconds Thor sat on his
| launches Then he started for the ravine
| painting and inwardly cursing at his III luck
| struggled TO make the last ten feet TO the
| edge Of the sloDe.
He heard Bruce yell, but he could not
make out the warning. Hands and feet he
dug hercely into shale and rock as he
fought TO make those last three or fouI
yards as quickly as possible.
| He was almost 20 the top when he paused
| for a moment and turned his eyes upward
His heart went into his throat, and he
started. For ten second he could not move
| Directly over him was monster head and
a huge hulk Of shoulder. Thor was look
ing down on him, his jaws agape, hi'
fnger-long fangs snarling, his eyes burning
with a greenish-red hre.
In that moment Thor saw his hrst q
man. His great lungs we're Allied with ths
hot smell Of him. and suddenly he turned
away from that small as II from = plague
With hia rife half under him Langdof
had had no opportunity % shoot Wildly ID