Hunting at High Altitudes 



insisted on his story, the two bears walked swiftly 

 up the opposite slope, again sat up, took a search- 

 ing view in my direction and commenced going 

 through the same gyrations as before. Had they 

 believed the coyote's tale at first, they would have 

 come up from the gulch on a run and disappeared. 



Their actions plainly showed their uneasiness 

 and their doubt as to what course to pursue. Be- 

 fore them was that mass of fat flesh they were 

 eager to fill up on ; yet, in the face of the story told 

 by that lying coyote, that their inveterate enemy 

 was lurking near, they hesitated to take the 

 chances. Finally, at a swift walk, they went up 

 the opposite bank, thus apparently intent on some 

 scheme. I kept them in sight with my field glasses 

 until, after going about two hundred yards, they 

 stopped, remained irresolute for a while, and then 

 retraced their steps and appeared on the point of 

 descending to where the coyote was enjoying 

 himself. 



They were evidently afraid to do so, and again 

 sat up and looked long and intently in my direc- 

 tion. My clothes were so much the color of dry 

 grass and I hugged the ground so closely, with my 

 head to them, that they did not discover danger. 

 Again they began to do what they had done be- 

 fore walking away fifty feet or more, then com- 



236 



