There was still an hour or two of daylight left, and after building a
brush lean-to and throwing down and opening their packs, they started up
stream. The country was very dense and hard to travel through, as there
was much down timber, although here and there the sombre woodland was
broken by small glades of mountain grass.
At dusk they again reached camp. The glade in which it was pitched was
not many yards wide, the tall, close-set pines and firs rising round
it like a wall. On one side was a little stream, beyond which rose the
steep mountain-slopes, covered with the unbroken growth of the evergreen
forest.
They were surprised to find that during their short absence something,
apparently a bear, had visited camp, and had rummaged about among their
things, scattering the contents of their packs, and in sheer wantonness
destroying their lean-to. The footprints of the beast were quite plain,
but at first they paid no particular heed to them, busying themselves
with rebuilding the lean-to, laying out their beds and stores, and
lighting the fire.
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