UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 



Los Angeles 

 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 



Form L9-116m-8,'62(D1237s8)444 



By PAUL E. TRIEM 



[D I ever hunt bears?" 

 old man Browning re- 

 peated. "Did you ever 

 hunt earthquakes?" 



Mr. Todd admitted 

 that he never had. 



"Well, it'd be just as 

 safe as bear hunting, and 

 there'd be more amuse- 

 ment in it, to my way of thinking," the old 

 man assured him. 



"But your nephew?" Mr. Todd suggested. 



"I'm not responsible for any of Charlie's 



foolishness," Mr. Browning said. Then 



catching a look of disappointment on Mr. 



Todd's face, the old man relented a little. 



"I suppose you're looking for information 

 about bears, and came to me because you 

 couldn't get Charlie to talk?" he queried. 



Mr. Todd admitted that he found the 

 younger Browning rather uncommunica- 

 tive. 



"Well," Mr. Browning said, "I had a 

 misunderstanding with a bear the first year 



after I came to live with Charlie that shows 

 how near a man can come to playing second 

 fiddle in a bear fight and still get out alive; 

 as that seems to be the main part of every 

 bear story I ever heard, it'll probably answer 

 as well as if I'd gone out for the very purpose 

 of getting into trouble." 



The old man made this remark tentatively; 

 apparently he was not sure that Mr Todd 

 would care to hear a bear story that savored 

 of the unorthodox. 



"The bear's the thing I'm interested in," 

 Mr. Todd assured him. "I don't care 

 whether you hunted him or whether he 

 hunted you." 



"Thank you," the old man said grimly. 

 "I cared considerable at the time, but I'm 

 getting to look at it the same as you do. As 

 I said, it was the first year after I came west; 

 I hadn't learned to shoot didn't care much 

 for meat, anyhow but I could fish and I'd 

 pretty well caught the knack of spearing 

 salmon." 



