146 The Grizzly Bear 



the thread, they also stopped and went through a similar 

 performance. The one in front pushed out his nose and 

 sniffed gingerly at the suspicious object. Those in the rear 

 also stopped, but being curious to learn what was causing 

 the blockade, the second one placed his forefeet on the 

 rump of the one in front, in order to see ahead, while the 

 third one straightened up on his hind legs and looked over 

 the other two. They made a beautiful group, and just as 

 they had poised themselves, the one in front must have 

 touched the string a little harder than he had intended to, 

 for there was a sudden flash that lit up the surroundings, 

 and I expected to see the bears go tearing off through the 

 timber, but, to my utter surprise, nothing of the kind hap- 

 pened. They all three stood up on their hind legs, and 

 looked at each other as much as to say, "Now, what do you 

 think of that ?" and then they took up their investiga- 

 tion where it had been interrupted, followed the thread to 

 where it was fastened to the stick, clawed up the spool, 

 which I had buried in the ground, sniffed at it, and then 

 went back to the trail, where they had first found the 

 thread. Here they again stood up, and then, having either 

 satisfied their curiosity or becoming suspicious, they 

 turned around and trailed away through the timber. As 

 far as I could see them they went cautiously, and stopped 

 at frequent intervals to stand up and look behind them to 

 see if there were any more flashes or if anything was fol- 

 lowing them. Unfortunately this picture was utterly 

 worthless. I had failed to use enough flash powder, and 

 when I came to develop the plate, it showed only the dim- 

 mest outline of the animals. 



Soon after this an old she bear with three cubs came 



