As the day wore on, he came into a valley where game was more plentiful. A herd of twenty caribou passed by within rifle range. He felt like running after them, but he knew such an effort would be senseless. Once he saw a fox with a bird in its mouth. He called loudly, hoping to frighten the fox into dropping the bird; but the fox, leaping away in fright, did not drop the bird.
He was weary and often wished to rest—to lie down and sleep, but he was driven on by his hunger. He searched little ponds for frogs and dug up the earth with his finger nails for worms, though he knew that neither frogs nor worms lived that far north.
In one area he walked along a creek, looking for fish. In a pool he found a small one. He dipped his arm into the water up to his shoulder, but the fish got away. Then he reached for it with both hands, stirring up the mud at the bottom. In his excitement he fell in, wetting himself to the waist. Since he could no longer see the fish, he had to wait until the water cleared.
When he tried again, the water became muddy. Then he took his tin pail and began to bail the pool. He bailed wildly at first, and some of the water ran back into the pool. Then he worked more carefully, though his heart was pounding in his chest and his hands were shaking. At the end of half an hour the pool was nearly dry. But there was no fish. It had escaped between the rocks into a larger pool.
Defeated in his effort, the man sat down upon the wet earth. At first he cried softly to himself. Then he cried loudly in his hopeless condition.
He built a fire and warmed himself and drank some hot water. His blankets were wet and cold, and his ankle was still painful, but his worst suffering came from his hunger. He tried to sleep, but he dreamed of food and many good things to eat.
He awoke cold and sick. There was no sun. The air about him grew white while he made a fire and boiled some water. It was wet snow, half rain, and the flakes melted quickly and put out his fire.
By this time he had become hunger-mad. He felt through the snow and pulled up some grass roots. He chewed the roots but they were tasteless or bitter.
He had no fire that night because he couldn’t find any dry wood, so he crawled under his blanket to sleep the broken sleep of hunger. The snow turned into a cold rain. He felt it on his face during the night.
Late the next morning the sun broke through the gray mist. Then the man realized he was lost. He turned northward to correct his course, hoping to find the river and the canoe. Then he wondered what had happened to Bill.
Though his hunger pains were no worse, he realized he was getting weaker. He had to stop frequently to rest. His tongue felt dry and large, and his mouth had a bitter taste. His heart gave him a great deal of trouble. He could feel its thump, thump, thump; and the painful beats choked him and made him feel faint.
In the middle of the day he caught two small fish in a pool by using his pail. He ate the fish raw, but the hunger pain was now dull and lifeless. His stomach had gone to sleep.
In the morning he caught three more small fish, eating two of them and saving one for his breakfast. Another night passed. In the morning he tied more strips of the blanket around his feet, and then he untied the string of the moose-hide pouch. From its open mouth poured a yellow stream of coarse gold dust and nuggets. He knew he must lighten his load. He hardly had the strength to carry the last remaining blanket. He roughly divided the gold into halves. He poured half of the gold into a piece of blanket and rolled it into a small package, which he hid in a rock ledge.
Then he walked on, barely able to place one foot ahead of the other.
He faced another day of cold fog. Half of his last blanket had gone to wrap his feet. He was now too weak to carry his small pack. Again he divided the gold, this time by spilling half of it on the ground. In the afternoon he threw the rest of it away. There remained only the half blanket, the tin pail, his knife, and the rifle.
He pushed on for an hour before he fell into a faint. Aroused by a noise, he could not believe his eyes. Before him stood a horse. A horse! Rubbing his eyes, he suddenly realized he was looking at a great brown bear.
The man brought his gun half way to his shoulder before he remembered it was not loaded. He lowered it and drew his hunting knife, wondering if the bear would attack. The man drew himself up to his full height, stared at the bear and waited. The bear advanced a few steps and then stopped. The man knew if he ran, the bear would run after him. With all his might the man swung the knife and growled like an animal. The bear did not understand the mysterious creature and walked away.
