CHAPTER VIII 



THE BLACK BEAR COMEDIAN 



A BLACK bear came into a United States 

 Survey camp one Sunday afternoon 

 while all the men were lounging about, 

 and walked into the cook's tent. The cook was 

 averse to bears; he tried to go through the rear 

 of the tent at a place where there was no door. 

 The tent went down on him and the bear. 

 The bear, confused and not in the habit of wear- 

 ing a tent, made a lively show of it a sea in a 

 storm as he struggled to get out. 



All were gathered round and watched the 

 bear emerge from beneath the tent and climb a 

 tree. Out on the first large limb he walked. 

 He looked down on us somewhat puzzled and 

 inclined to be playful. 



This was at the Thumb in the Yellowstone 

 National Park, in the summer of 1891. I was 

 the boy of the party. For some years I had been 

 interested in wild life, and while in the Park I 

 used every opportunity to study tree and animal 

 life. I frequently climbed trees to examine the 

 fruit they bore, to learn about the insects that 



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