LET US GO AFIELD 



mon stock about at par now, and the market strong ! 



Alas! Again there yawned before us another 

 canon, deep and narrow. We were on one edge; 

 directly on the other were the three bears, walking, 

 pausing, grumbling, digging, feeding, but still un- 

 easy. It was over three hundred yards ; and now it 

 was half -past eleven in the night, the pale Alaska 

 light being just strong enough to permit the chance. 

 The Grizzly Bear Company, Limited, worked the 

 open shop, and recognized neither labor unions nor 

 the eight-hour day. In Alaska the summer night 

 is almost no night at all. 



There was nothing for it but to shoot. If we 

 tried to cross the canon we would be seen, smelled 

 and heard, and the bears would be gone long before 

 we could get across. I do not believe in long-range 

 shooting if it can be helped, but now it could not 

 be helped. I picked out a nice place in a pool of 

 ice water at the edge of the canon, and whispered, 

 "You may fire when you are ready, Kuroki; but 

 if you shoot before I do, I'll blow your head 

 off!" 



Of the bears which now looked excellently large 

 and interesting one was lying down, a second was 

 still facing us squarely, and apparently deliberately 

 watching us. The third, a brisk, dark one, big and 

 burly, was walking through the brush toward the 



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