206 TRUE BEAR STORIES.

of a slugger himself, and he quickly re-
covered and returned the blow with such
good will that had the grizzly’s head been
in the way it would have ached for a week
afterward.

Then the fur began to fly.

It was impossible to follow the move-
ments of the combatants in detail, as they
sparred, clinched and rolled about, but in
a general way Six-Toed Pete seemed to be
trying to make his superior weight tell by
rushing at the grizzly and knocking him
over, while the latter avoided the direct
impact of the cinnamon’s great bulk by
quick turns and a display of agility that
was scarcely credible in so unwieldy look-
ing an animal. Once the cinnamon seized
the grizzly by the throat and for a moment
hushed the latter’s fierce growls by chok-
ing off his wind, but the grizzly sat down,
threw his arm over Pete’s neck, placed his
other forepaw upon Pete’s nose, sunk his
claws in deep, and instantly broke the hold.
As they parted, the grizzly made a vicious