uitful and multiply.' And it's only a two b'ar ranch.
Thar ain't no England handy whar she can dump spare cubs.

"So the landlord gets provident and eats the cubs. Naturally thar's a
sort of coolness arises over that, so that she's feeding north, while
he's around south. Then the salmon season happens. There's only two
fishing rocks in our reach, the same being close together. The landlord,
he fishes at the back-water rock. The landlady fishes at the rapids
rock. They has to pretend they've not been introjuiced.

"There's been heavy rains, and up on the edge of the bench I seen a new
crack opening across Apex Rock. I'd have put up a danger notice, only
these people thinks it's for scratching their backs on. There's the
crack getting wider, and the landlady fishing right underneath, and me
hollerin,' but she's too full of pride to care about my worries. So I
thinks maybe if I just drop her a hint she'll begin to set up and take
notice. I run home for my rifle, posts myself at big pine, takes a
steady bead, and lets fly, knocking a salmon out of the lady's mouth.
Then I remembers that the shock of a gunshot is enough to loose the end
of Apex Rock. It does, and while the scenery is being rearranged, the
landlady sets up, wondering what's the trouble. When the dust clears,
Apex Rock up here is reduced to a stump; down thar by the rapids the
fishing rock's extended with additions; the landlord's a widower,
running for all he's worth; and the landlady is no more--not enough left
of her to warrant funeral obsequies."

"Why is the landlord called Eph?"

"Christian name. Most b'ars is Ephraim, but he's Ephrata which means
'be open.' I tried to get him to be open with me instead of stealing
chickens. That's when the bad year come."

"Were you in difficulties?"

"Eph was. Them canneries down to salt water, had fished the Fraser out,
and the hatchery didn't get to its work until the fourth year, when the
new spawn come back to their home river. Yes, and the sarvis berries
failed. I dunno why, but the silver-tips of this districk ain't partial
to the same kinds of feed as they practises in Montana and Idaho. Down
south they'll lunch on grubs, ants, or dog-tooth violets, but Eph ain't
an original thinker. He runs to application, and shies at new ideas.
He'd vote conservative. So when the salmon and berries went back on him,
he sort of petered out. He come to the cabin and said, plain as talk, he
was nigh quitting business."