In one corner stood a rifle and a shot-gun; in another was a pile of provisions—­bacon, flour, salt, meal, and little else.  Spices and condiments were apparently unknown to this hermit; nor was there even the inevitable coffee, nor any of the molasses or other sweets which the tongue of the desert-mountainer cannot resist.  Flour, meat, and water, it seemed, made up the entire fare of the trapper.  For cookery there was an unboarded space in the very centre of the floor with a number of rocks grouped around in the hole and blackened with soot.  The smoke must rise, therefore, and escape through the small hole in the centre of the roof.  The length of stove-pipe which showed on the roof must have been simply the inhabitant’s idea of giving the last delicate touch of civilisation; it was like a tassel to the cap of the Turk.

As Haw-Haw’s observations reached this point his sharp ear caught the faint whinny of the big horse outside.  He started like one caught in a guilty act, and sprang to the lantern.  However, with his hands upon it he thought better of it, and he placed the light against the wall; then he turned to the entrance and looked anxiously up the hillside.

What he saw was a form grotesque beyond belief.  It seemed to be some gigantic wild beast—­mountain lion or great bear, though of a size beyond credence—­which slowly sprawled down the slope walking erect upon its hind feet with its forelegs stretched out horizontal, as if it were warning all who might behold it away.  Haw-Haw grew pale and involuntarily reached for his gun as he first beheld this apparition, but instantly he saw the truth.  It was a man who carried a burden down the mountain-side.  The burden was the carcass of a bear; the man had drawn the forelegs over his shoulders—­his jutting elbows making what had seemed the outstretched arms—­and above the head of the burden-bearer rose the great head of the bear.  As the man came closer the animal’s head flopped to one side and a red tongue lolled from its mouth.  Haw-Haw Langley moved back step by step through the cabin until his shoulders struck the opposite wall, and at the same time Mac Strann entered the room.  He had no ear for his visitor’s hail, but cast his burden to the floor.  It dropped with a shock that shook the house from the rattling stove-pipe to the crackling boards.  For a moment Mac Strann regarded his prey.  Then he stooped and drew open the great jaws.  The mouth within was not so red as the bloody hands of Mac Strann; and the big, white fangs, for some reason, did not seem terrible in comparison with the hunter.  Having completed his survey he turned slowly upon Haw-Haw Langley and lowered his eyebrows to stare.

So doing, the light for the first time struck full upon his face.  Haw-Haw Langley bit his thin lips and his eyes widened almost to the normal.