Mooween the Bear. ig5 



There, not six feet away, a huge head and shoulders 

 were thrust out of the bushes on the bank, and a pair 

 of gleaming eyes were peering intently down upon 

 me in the grass. He had been watching me at arm's 

 length probably two or three minutes. Had a muscle 

 moved in all that time, I have no doubt that he would 

 have sprung upon me. As it was, who can say what 

 was passing behind that curious, half-puzzled, half' 

 savage gleam in his eyes.? 



He drew cjuickly back as a sudden movement on 

 my part threw the rifle into position. A few minutes 

 later I heard the snap of a rotten twig some distance 

 away. Not another sound told of his presence till he 

 broke out onto the shore, fifty yards above, and went 

 steadily on his way up the lake. 



Mooween is something of a humorist in his own 

 way. When not hungry he will go out of his way to 

 frighten a bullfrog away from his sun-bath on the 

 shore, for no other purpose, evidently, than just to see 

 him jump. Watching him thus amusing himself one 

 afternoon, I was immensely entertained by seeing him 

 turn his head to one side, and wrinkle his eyebrows, 

 as each successive frog said kcdiink, and went splash- 

 ing away over the lily pads. 



A pair of cubs are playful as young foxes, while 

 their extreme awkwardness makes them a dozen times 



