What she saw would at any other time have made her laugh heartily, but the situation was still too serious to be mirthful.  There, a few paces from the hut, seated on his haunches and looking up at her with a look of angry remonstrance on his old-fashioned face, was Bruin.  His mouth was open, his under jaw was drooping with palpable disappointment, and his small dark eyes were gleaming with an evil purpose.  That he had used up all his superfluous fat in his long winter’s sleep was obvious, judging by his lanky, slab-like sides.  His long hair looked very bedraggled and dirty.  He certainly seemed remarkably hungry, even for a bear.  There was no gainsaying the fact that he was wide awake now.

Dorothy rose to her feet and glanced quickly around.  Particularly she looked up the trail in the direction taken by her father and the others, but the dark, close pines, and a bluff prevented her from seeing any distance.  She could hear nothing save the twittering of some snow-birds, and the deep breathing of Bruin, who seemed sadly out of condition.  The steep sides of the valley and the dark woods close up all around and shut in that desolate little homestead.  There was no hiding the truth from herself; she was very much alone, unless the bear could be regarded as company.  Bruin had her all to himself, so much so, indeed, that he appeared to be taking matters leisurely.  He had the afternoon ahead of him, and, after all, it was only a girl with whom he had to deal.  As he watched her there was even an apologetic expression upon his face, as if he were half ashamed to be engaged in such an ungentlemanly occupation and hoped it would be understood that he was only acting thus in obedience to the imperative demands of an empty stomach.

Dorothy wondered why the bear did not at once begin to clamber up after her.  As a matter of fact, bears are not much good at negotiating high jumps, particularly when their joints have been stiffening during the greater part of the winter.  But they have a truly remarkable intelligence, and this particular one was thinking the matter over in quite a business-like way.

Dorothy caught sight of a long sapling projecting from the eaves.  It was really a species of rafter on which the sod roof rested.  She cautiously lent over, and, grasping it with her two bands, managed with some considerable exercise of force to detach it.  It was about six feet long and nearly as thick as her arm, making a formidable weapon.

Bruin regarded her movements disapprovingly, and resolved to begin operations.  The barrel which had helped the girl to gain the roof was naturally the first thing that attracted him.  With a mocking twinkle in his dark eyes, he slouched towards it.  He was in no hurry, for, being an intelligent bear, he appreciated the pleasures of anticipation.  He placed his two fore feet on it, and then, with a quick motion, jerked his cumbersome hind quarters up after him.