The Story of Ben 45 



that was more suited to his size and strength, a piece 

 of log a foot or more in diameter and sixteen to eighteen 

 inches in length. This stick he kept for a couple of 

 years and juggled so much that his claws wore hollows 

 in the ends of it. 



When Ben was four years old business compelled me 

 to move to the town of Missoula, Montana. I could 

 not bear to part with my pet, so shipped him by ex- 

 press to the town he had visited on horseback as a 

 tiny cub. Now, however, the express company charged 

 me for transportation on three hundred and thirty-two 

 pounds of bear meat. It was fall when we moved to 

 Missoula, and Ben was given a small room in one end of 

 a woodshed and, as he had no cave to sleep in, I had 

 the room filled with shavings. Ben^s arrival was quite 

 an event and roused much interest among the younger 

 element of the town; which at first was shown by about 

 forty boys attacking him with sticks and anything that 

 they could hurl at him or punch him with. I showed 

 them, however, how gentle and playful he was; got some 

 of the boys to wrestle with him; told them that if they 

 continued this rough treatment to which Ben was not 

 used I would be compelled to lock him up; and, hav- 

 ing had some experience with boys as well as with bears, 

 forbore to tell them what I proposed to do to those 

 who did not listen to me. This explanation and Ben's 

 evident readiness to make friends quite changed the 

 general attitude toward him, but there were a few 



