ELKLAND. 



V. 



PUSS AND THE BEAR. 



ERNEST SETON THOMPSON. 



An interesting episode was reported to 

 me the other day, from the Fountain Ho- 

 tel. I am not sure it is true; but it is so 

 good I wish to believe it, and so will give 

 it pretty much as I heard it, regretting my 





i 



/ 



i 



"I WONDER WHOSE BIG YALLER DOG 

 THAT IS?" 



inability to translate it into standard Eng- 

 lish without losing much of its true senti- 

 ment.* 



HANDS UP!" SCREAMED THE KITTEN. 



They have a new cat at the Fountain 

 hotel this year, and this cat, herself a little 

 chit of a kitten, brought forth her first 

 brood of kits — of absolutely unparalleled 



* Since writing the above I have met 3 bronzed moun- 

 tain men who are willing to vouch for the story and who 

 are good revolver shots. 



" YOWL— SLAP— YEOW-W-W ! " 



beauty, she believed, and great Caesar, how 

 proud and happy she was! 



Before many days a monster cinnamon 

 bear loomed up against the distant land- 

 scape and darkened the sky with his vast, 



"BAH-AH-AH !" 



heaving bulk as he came toward the kitch- 

 en, as in days of yore. 



Kitty was with her kits; but when this 

 eclipse of the back veranda took place she 

 went out to see, and lo! the hugest, yaller- 

 est dog she had ever seen. To fly in terror 

 was her first thought; but "my kitties" 

 was her second; so, standing her highest 

 and trying to look like a porcupine, she 

 screamed, in excellent Wyomese, 



" You awkward, hulking, club-footed, 

 overgrown, bobtailed, yaller cur, you come 

 within 3 jumps of this shack and your 

 name is Dennis." 



The bear slacked up a bit and grumbled 

 something about a " miserable, spike-tailed 



33 



