young wood mice were calling their mother in the grass at my
feet. And every wild sound did but deepen the vast, wondrous
silence of the wilderness.

"After all, what place has the roar of a rifle or the smell of
sulphurous powder in the midst of all this blessed peace?" I
asked half sadly. As if in answer, the kingfisher dropped with
his musical plash, and swept back with exultant rattle to his
watchtower.--"Go on with your clatter and your fishing. The
wilderness and the solitary place shall still be glad, for you
and Mooween, and the trout pools would be lonely without you. But
I wish you knew that your life lay a moment ago in the bend of my
finger, and that some one, besides the bear, appreciates your
brave warning."

Then I went back to the point to measure the tracks, and to
estimate how big the bear was, and to console myself with the
thought of how I would certainly have had him, if something had
not interfered--which is the philosophy of all hunters since
Esau.

It was a few days later that the chance came of repaying
Koskomenos with coals of fire. The lake surface was still warm;
no storms nor frosts had cooled it. The big trout had risen from
the deep places, but were not yet quickened enough to take my
flies; so, trout hungry, I had gone trolling for them with a
minnow. I had taken two good fish, and was moving slowly by the
mouth of the bay, Simmo at the paddle, when a suspicious movement
on the shore attracted my attention. I passed the line to Simmo,
the better to use my glasses, and was scanning the alders