The next day we returned to the main camp, for Fedor, who was ill, had become very weak, and was in no condition to stand any hardships.  We left him at the main camp in care of Payjaman.  He was greatly depressed, and seemed to give way completely, frequently saying that he never expected to see his home again.  Knowing the Aleut’s character so well, I much feared that his mental state might work fatal results.  Our medicines were of the simplest, and there was but little we could do.  Fortunately he did recover, but it was not until two weeks later, when our hunt was nearly over, that he began to get better.

Three days afterward we were back again at our camp behind the rocks.  We had wanted rain for some time to wash out all scent.  Then again bears are supposed to move about more freely in such weather.  Therefore we were rather pleased when the wind changed, bringing a northwest storm which continued all the next day.  The lofty mountains were rapidly losing the snow on their summits, and the night’s rain had wrought marvels in their appearance, seeming to bring out every shade of green on their wooded slopes.  One of our natives was kept constantly on the lookout, and a dozen times a day both Blake and I would leave our books and climb to the watching place for a view across the great meadow.  By this time we knew the bear trails and the most tempting feeding grounds, and the surest approaches to the game when it had once come into the open.  Therefore when I was told this evening that a bear had been sighted, I felt pretty sure of getting a shot.  He had not come well out into the open, and was clearly keeping near cover and working parallel to the brush.  If he continued in this direction he would soon be out of sight.  Our only chance was to make a quick approach, and Nikolai and I were immediately under way, leaving my dog with my friend, who was to loose him in case I got a shot.

The wind was coming in great gusts across our front, and the corner where the bear was feeding offered a dangerous place for eddies and back-currents against the mountain side.  In order to avoid these, we kept just inside the woods.  Nikolai going first showed the greatest skill in knowing just how close to the wind we could go.  We quickly reached the place where we expected to sight the bear, but he was hidden in the bed of the river, and it was some minutes before we could make out the top of his head moving above the grass.  Then noiselessly we crawled up as the bear again fed slowly into view.  He was now about 125 yards away, and offered an excellent shot as he paused and raised his head to scent the breeze; but Nikolai whispered, “No,” and we worked nearer, crawling forward when the bear’s head was down, and lying flat and close when his head was up.