180 The Grizzly Bear 



nose. And on this second visit we fared even worse, 

 until we hit upon the expedient of setting our flash-pans 

 just outside the canvas walls at night, and baiting them so 

 that thieving bears would set off a small pinch of powder 

 in their own faces. One night four grizzlies visited us in 

 succession, but by this device we were spared a repetition 

 of our first night's experience, when our camp arrange- 

 ments were literally wrecked and the inside of our tent in 

 the morning looked like a hurrah's nest. 



One of our keenest desires was to get a good picture 

 of the big bear that I had already taken once, and that had 

 frightened Frank the night he went out to help me. 

 Kerfoot had got one shot at him, but the powder burned 

 so badly that the bear had time to move his head clear 

 across the plate. This animal, the undisputed lord of the 

 range, was always the last one to appear, and now that it 

 was drawing toward fall it was very dark when he came 

 out. The night after I had photographed the two bears 

 last mentioned we had determined to place both cameras 

 upon the main trail from Mt. Washburn, hoping to get 

 a shot at this old fellow, and determined, if necessary, 

 to spend the night in our trees. I was stationed near the 

 foot-hills, and Kerfoot about a mile farther down, and we 

 hoped if one missed the bear that the other would be more 

 fortunate. We had contrived our seats in the afternoon, 

 and mine was high among the branches of a clump of firs 

 that screened me completely from the trail, but left me a 

 small hole through which to keep watch. 



For several hours nothing appeared, and finally it be- 

 came all but impossible to see except where the moon 

 cast a stray beam of light among the shadows. Then, at 



