(Wlan^0 Bogaf (Companion 



and prevented by the semi-closed lid from touching 

 the contents, takes a stone between its paws and 

 smashes the lid, has claim to brains, even if that 

 animal be only a bear. 



"I have said that nothing untoward happened 

 during the four years. On second thought, an 

 untoward event did occur. One November, a quan- 

 tity of freshly preserved blueberries had been ob- 

 tained from the East. These berries were trans- 

 formed into twenty-four large deep-dish pies, one 

 for each man on the ranch. On the date of the an- 

 ticipated feast, an entertainment at a neighboring 

 camp depopulated the house, but did not degrizzly 

 its environs. In the early evening of that day, the 

 house was approached by a file of men, pie-bent, 

 expectant, joyous. Two house logs pulled from 

 without doors, bear-tracks done upon the snow in 

 vivid blue, forewarned that twenty-four pies had 

 passed into history. 



"At the end of the four years, Miss Jim fell vic- 

 tim to poison, whether set for her or for wolves we 

 never knew. Presently Mr. Bessie was once more 

 teased, this time by a visiting ranchman. After the 

 ranchman had been reassembled and revived, it 

 was decided that the bear must be done for. He 



225 



