132 The Grizzly Bear 



got within fifty feet of and wounded, and yet she scuttled 

 off and left her cubs to look after themselves. One other 

 instance I saw, a year later, at the same place. I was hunt- 

 ing with another party when we saw from the opposite 

 side of the creek an old grizzly and three cubs come out on 

 the snow, walk across, and go to digging roots. We began 

 a stalk, and when some two hundred yards away, they 

 got wind of us and started back. My companion and I 

 took several running shots at them, and one of the cubs 

 was slightly wounded across the back. The four fled up 

 the trail where I had chased the wounded bear the year 

 before, and in this trail our old friend the trapper, who was 

 in there again, had set a trap, and the wounded cub ran 

 right into it. He at once, and very naturally, began to 

 bawl, and we fully expected the old bear to charge us. As 

 she did not, I went up and forced the cub to continue his 

 bawling while the other man stood, with his gun ready to 

 shoot when the mother appeared. But she and the other 

 cubs continued their retreat and left the bawling cub to 

 his fate. 



