14 The Black Bear 



announced that they had succeeded in freeing them- 

 selves and were pacing in front of their cave making 

 it impossible for us to sleep. I got up and put them 

 into another sack, and this sack inside another. Then 

 I put the bundle in the den and, with the shovel, buried 

 it more than a foot deep with dirt. Then I put rocks 

 over the top and front of their house. At first the 

 snuffing and snorting they made in working on the 

 sack was nearly as bad as the bawling, but we finally got 

 to sleep in spite of it; only, however, to be aroused 

 later on by familiar sounds that proclaimed that the 

 sacks had been clawed to bits, the cave dug open, and 

 that the trio were waiting to see what kind of game we 

 would next invent for their entertainment. This was 

 our last attempt to keep them quiet. After that we 

 fed them all they would eat and then let them howl. 



During the day they would play contentedly in front 

 of the den for a part of the time. But when the two 

 male bears settled down to sleep the little vixen of a 

 female would howl and fret and finally take to clawing 

 and biting them, so that at last they would come out 

 and join in her walking and bawling. As soon as we 

 discovered this we separated them, making another 

 cave for the female, and after this we were not bothered 

 so much with the crying, and in a few days this ceased 

 altogether. 



We stayed at this camp more than two weeks, 

 waiting for the weather to settle; and though we did 



