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S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 3 0 spent the next two days looking carefully through the neighboring groves for fresh tracks of the cunning and savage monster. At last he found an open spot of ground where the brute was evidently fond of sunning himself in the early morning, and to this spot the hunter returned before dawn the following day. He did not have long to wait. By sunrise a slight crackling of the thick undergrowth told him the bear was approaching. A few minutes afterward the brute appeared. It was a large beast with a poor coat, its head scarred by teeth and claw marks gained in many a combat with others of its own kind. It came boldly into the opening and lay down, but for some time kept turning its head from side to side so that no shot could be obtained. At last, growing impatient, the hunter broke a stick. Instantly the bear swung his head around sidewise, and in another moment a bullet crashed into its skull at the base of the ear, and the huge body fell limply over on its side, lifeless. Note: "A Man-Killing Bear" is from The Best Hunting Stories Ever Told, edited by Jay Cassell and released by Skyhorse Publishing in 2010. his mind with certainty as to which one was following the other, but finally, in the decayed mold by a rotten log, he found unmistakable sign where the print of the bear's foot overlaid that of a man. This put the matter beyond doubt. The bear was following the man. For a couple of hours more the hunter slowly and with difficulty followed the dim trail. The bear had apparently not cared to close in, but had slouched along some distance behind the man. Then in a marshy thicket where a mountain stream came down, the end had come. Evidently at this place the man, still unconscious that he was followed, had turned and gone upward, and the bear, altering his course to an oblique angle, had intercepted him, making his rush just as he came through a patch of low willows. The body of the man lay under the willow branches beside the brook, terribly torn and disfigured. Evidently the bear had rushed at him so quickly that he could not fire his gun and had killed him with its powerful jaws. The unfortunate man's body was almost torn to pieces. The killing had evidently had been done purely for malice, for the remains were uneaten, nor had the bear returned to them. Angry and horrified at his friend's fate, old Buckskin For some little time the old hunter was unable to make up his mind with certainty as to which one was following the other, but finally, in the decayed mold by a rotten log, he found unmistakable sign where the print of the bear's foot overlaid that of a man. DeAD fAll by john seerey-lester