bolo crept carefully through the tall grass. with one brown hand he parted the stalks before him, and in the other he carried a noose made from a slender willow withe. his bright, black eyes peered cautiously about at every step.

some distance ahead of him a small gray rabbit was hopping slowly along, stopping here and there to take a nibble of tender, young grass, or to stand up on his hind legs and look about him. bolo was hungry and he thought a little rabbit would make him a good dinner.

closer and closer he crept. he raised the noose for a throw. then all at once the little animal pricked up his long ears, gave one startled look ahead and plunged off into the thick grass.

at the same moment a boy about as large as bolo broke through the grass just beyond where the rabbit had stood. he did not see the rabbit. all he saw was bolo standing with arm upraised and an angry frown on his dark face.

bolo struck at the boy with his willow wand. he was very angry at him for scaring away the rabbit.

[4]

“why do you strike at me?” said the boy, whose name was fisher.

“you drove away my dinner,” said bolo fiercely.

“i did not see any dinner,” replied fisher.

“it was a fine rabbit,” said bolo sulkily, “and i am very hungry.”

“so am i,” said the boy. “let us go and catch a fish.”

bolo’s face grew less angry.

“i cannot catch fish,” he said. “i can only catch rabbits.”

“i will show you how,” said fisher.

bolo saw that fisher had something in his hand. it was a long, stout cord of reindeer sinew, and on one end of it was tied a splinter of bone. the splinter was sharp at both ends and the cord was fastened to the middle of it.

the boys left the thick grass and ran down the slope to the river.

there were many trees growing near it, and some of them had long branches which hung out over the water. fisher caught hold of a branch and swung himself nimbly into a tree. then he crawled out on a limb that reached out over the river. bolo followed him.

“we must be very still now,” said fisher.

he unwound the roll of sinew and dropped the bone splinter into the water. it was only two or three minutes before bolo saw a shining fish leap up and catch it.

fisher laughed and pulled the fish out of the water. but before he could get hold of it, it had struggled loose and fallen into the river again.

[5]

“i think i can catch a fish,” said bolo.

he slid down the tree and crept close to the edge of the water. he kept very still. in a few minutes he saw a big fish come very close to the shore. he made a quick spring and caught it in his hands.

fisher came down the tree quickly.

“i could not catch a fish like that,” he said.

“i catch rabbits that way sometimes,” said bolo.

the boys were so hungry that they did not wait to catch any more fish. they climbed back into the tree and sat down on a limb. they rubbed the fish against the rough bark to loosen the scales, then they tore pieces of flesh out with their fingers and ate them raw.

after they had eaten all they wanted they threw the rest on the ground.

“now i will catch you,” said bolo.

“come on then,” cried fisher.

what a queer race it was! they did not run on the ground as boys do now, but swung from limb to limb through the trees. fisher was very strong and quick, and he dodged and climbed so nimbly that bolo was soon left some distance behind.

at last they came to the edge of the woods. there were no more trees very close, and bolo thought fisher would have to turn back.

“i will get you now,” shouted bolo.

but fisher slipped down to the end of a long, slender limb and hung with his hands. he swung back and forth farther and farther at each swing. before bolo could reach him he had flung himself far out toward a[6] tree that stood by itself several yards from the edge of the woods, and with a daring leap, had landed among its branches.

bolo laughed and started to slide down the limb too. he thought he could leap as far as fisher could. then he glanced down to the ground and began to climb back up the tree as fast as he could go.

“the cave bear! the cave bear!” he shouted.

fisher glanced down, too, and his face had a look of great fear on it as he realized the danger he had been in.

there on the ground below them was an immense black bear, growling and reaching up the trunk of the tree as far as she could.

bolo was badly frightened. he did not think any more about the race. he clambered back among the trees as fast as he could.

but fisher did not dare to leap back the way he had come. he thought he would stay where he was. he knew if he should fall the bear would very quickly tear him to pieces.

when bolo had got quite a distance from the bear he stopped. he could still hear her growling and tearing at the bark. he was glad he was safe, but he was sorry fisher could not get away, too. he thought that if fisher did not get away he would no longer have a playmate.

then he thought of something else and ran on through the branches as fast as he could go.