OF WILD ANIMALS 293 



they fraternized through the bars, licked each other's noses, 

 and ate their meals side by side. At night the male always 

 slept as near as possible to his new companion. There was 

 not a sign of ill temper; but, for all that, my doubts were ever 

 present. 



At last, after three full weeks of close acquaintance, it was 

 agreed that there was nothing to be gained by longer delay 

 in admitting the female to the large den. But we made 

 preparations for trouble. The door of the sleeping-den was 

 oiled and overhauled and put in thorough working order, so 

 that if the female should dash into it for safety, a keeper could 

 instantly slide the barrier and shut her in. We provided 

 pike-poles, long iron bars, lariats, meat, and long planks a 

 foot wide. Heartily wishing myself a hundred miles away, 

 I summoned all my courage and gave the order: 



"Open her door, a foot only, and let her put her head out. 

 Keep him away." 



The female bear had not the slightest fear or premonition 

 of danger. Thrusting her head through the narrow opening, 

 she looked upon the world and the open sky above, and found 

 that it was good. She struggled to force the door open wider; 

 and the male stood back, waiting. 



"Let her go!" 



Forcing the door back with her own eager strength, she 

 fearlessly dropped the intervening eighteen inches to the floor 

 of the den, and was free. The very next second the male flung 

 his great bulk upon her, and the tragedy was on. 



I would not for five thousand dollars see such a thing again. 

 A hundred times in the twenty minutes that followed I bitterly 

 regretted my folly in acting contrary to my own carefully 

 formed conclusions regarding the temper, the strength, and the 

 mental processes of that male bear. 



He never left her alone for ten seconds, save when, at five 

 or six different times, we beat him off by literally ramming 

 him away. When she first fell, the slope of the floor brought 



