VII 



FIVE IN FIVE SHOTS 



1 SHALL never forget the first grizzly-bear trail I ever 

 saw. Not only because it was the first, but because 

 for many months it and its maker interested me, cost me 

 untold exertions, brought me uncounted disappointments, 

 and finally figured in the most successful encounter I ever 

 had with grizzlies. 



It was a very distinct trail across the bottom of a 

 canon, perhaps a hundred yards wide, and had been worn 

 by an old and very large animal. The ground on either 

 side of the gully was too hard to show his footprints, but, 

 coming and going, he always seemed to cross at the same 

 spot, and I thought it would be an easy matter to watch 

 the trail and shoot the bear. This was when my first 

 greenness was a thing of the past and I was beginning to 

 take notice on my own account; but after watching off 

 and on for a week and over, and seeing nothing, I con- 

 cluded that the bear no longer used the trail, and dismissed 

 the matter from my mind. A few weeks later, however, in 

 passing the spot again, I saw fresh tracks, and knowing 

 that the bear was still in the vicinity, resumed my watch- 

 ing, but without result. Then I tried still-hunting the 

 canon. I crawled through every thicket and looked into 

 every place where I thought a bear could hide, but aside 



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