Johnny Bear 



him a tremendous blow on the ear. The 

 Grizzly was surprised ; but he replied with a 

 left-hander that knocked her over like a sack 



of hay. 



Nothing daunted, but doubly furious, she 

 jumped up and rushed at him. 



Then they clinched and rolled over and over, 

 whacking and pounding, snorting and growling, 

 and making no end of dust and rumpus. But 

 above all their noise I could clearly hear Little 

 Johnny, yelling at the top of his voice, and 

 evidently encouraging his mother to go right in 

 and finish the Grizzly at once. 



Why the Grizzly did not break her in two I 

 could not understand. After a few minutes' 

 struggle, during which I could see nothing but 

 dust and dim flying legs, the two separated as 

 by mutual consent,— perhaps the regulation time 

 was up,— and for a while they stood glaring at 

 each other, Grumpy at least much winded. 



The Grizzly would have dropped the matter 

 right there. He did not wish to fight. He 

 had no idea of troubling himself about Johnny. 

 All he wanted was a quiet meal. But no! 

 The moment he took one step toward the gar- 



169 



