378 



The Story 

 of Kopseep 



in the rocks. But Kopseep was not looking 

 for any more lobsters in that neighborhood, 

 and he was a wiser and more wary fish as 

 he glided away on his solitary hunting. 



So the long summer passed by, and Kop- 

 seep grew daily larger with his comfortable 

 and lazy living. When his brothers and sisters 

 came down from the river they found him 

 more than twice their size and a full twenty- 

 pounds in weight. By spring he had added 

 five pounds more, and when the first shoal 

 of big salmon moved riverward with the tides 

 of full moon Kopseep was among them. For 

 on this run, when the river is full and strong 

 with the spring floods, only the largest fish 

 are equal to the hard work of climbing the 

 falls and rapids. 



So the years went by with little change in 



Kopseep's methods of living. Only he grew 



bigger and bigger, and his long summer in 



the sea had made him even more full of 



moods and whims than most salmon. Once, 



when a flood had blocked the river 



with logs, so that the salmon 



could neither swim 





