72 The Grizzly Bear 



sniffed about for a while, and then walked out on a log 

 that lay across the creek just below, or at the foot of, a 

 riffle, where there was quite a long and deep hole. In such 

 holes the salmon sometimes collect until there are as many 

 as fifty. Then, all together, they will begin to climb the 

 riffle, and for an hour it is "Step lively, please," all along 

 the line. Soon after this bear walked out on the log, an- 

 other one made its appearance and it, too, walked out on 

 the log and sat there watching the salmon in the hole below. 

 I had never, then, seen bears catch salmon, and so, for the 

 time being, refrained from shooting. The fish, however, 

 did not seem to be in any hurry to get up the stream, and 

 I waited for an hour or more before anything happened. 

 Finally I saw one of the bears gather himself, look eagerly 

 into the stream, and move his head as if following some- 

 thing that was stirring there. Then I saw the back of a 

 salmon on the riffle, and the water began to boil as the 

 fish tried to force its way through the shallows. When it 

 was some feet above the log, and about half-way over the 

 riffle, one of the bears gave a spring and a stroke of its 

 paw, and the trick was done. The salmon was hurled 

 through the air to the bank and out of sight in the brush, 

 where the bear followed it. The other bear was now in 

 the act of grabbing a salmon, and he was equally success- 

 ful. By that time the first one was back again. There 

 was no loafing. Those bears were paid by the piece and 

 seemed to know it. I was altogether too interested to 

 think of shooting, but sat, open-mouthed, watching the 

 finest fishing I had ever seen. 



The racket on the riffle soon brought another bear 

 out from the brush, and before the show closed there were 



