A GRIZZLY’S SLY JOKE. 111

old mother sitting down quietly waiting
for him!

After recovering his breath as best he

could in his hot and contracted quarters,
he elbowed and corkscrewed himself back
to the place by which he first entered. But
lo! the bear was there, sitting down, half
smiling, and waiting to receive him
warmly. This, the old Indian said, was
repeated time after time, till he had no
longer strength left to struggle further,
and turned on his face to die, when she
put her head in, touched the top of his head
gently with her nose and then drew back,
took her cub with her and shuffled on.
I went to the spot with the Indian a day
or two afterward, and am convinced that
his story was exactly as narrated. And
when you understand that the bear could
easily have entered the hollow log and
killed him at any time, you will see that
she had at least a faint sense of fun in
_ that “cat and mouse” amusement with the
frightened Indian.