oking
animal came out of a hole in the ground and rushed at him, hissing and
growling. Wahb did not know it was a Badger, but he saw it was a fierce
animal as big as himself. He was sick, and lame too, so he limped away and
never stopped till he was on a ridge in the next canyon. Here a Coyote saw
him, and came bounding after him, calling at the same time to another to
come and join the fun. Wahb was near a tree, so he scrambled up to the
branches. The Coyotes came bounding and yelping below, but their noses told
them that this was a young Grizzly they had chased, and they soon decided
that a young Grizzly in a tree means a Mother Grizzly not far away, and
they had better let him alone.

[Illustration]

After they had sneaked off Wahb came down and returned to the Piney. There
was better feeding on the Graybull, but every one seemed against him there
now that his loving guardian was gone, while on the Piney he had peace at
least sometimes, and there were plenty of trees that he could climb when an
enemy came.

His broken foot was a long time in healing; indeed, it never got quite
well. The wound healed and the soreness wore off, but it left a stiffness
that gave him a slight limp, and the sole-balls grew together quite unlike
those of the other foot. It particularly annoyed him when he had to climb a
tree or run fast from his enemies; and of them he found no end, though
never once did a friend cross his path. When he lost his Mother he lost his
best and only friend. She would have taught him much that he had to learn
by bitter experience, and would have saved him from most of the ills that
befell him in his cubhood--ills so many and so dire that but for his native
sturdiness he never could have passed through alive.

[Illustration]

The pinons bore plentifully that year, and the winds began to shower down
the ripe, rich nuts. Life was becoming a little easier for Wahb. He was
gaining in health and strength, and the creatures he daily met now let him
alone. But as he feasted on the pinons one morning after a gale, a great
Blackbear came marching down the hill. "No one meets a friend in the
woods," was a byword that Wahb had learned already. He swung up the nearest
tree. At first the Blackbear was scared, for he smelled the smell of
Grizzly; but when he saw it was only a cub, he took courage and came
growling at Wahb. He could climb as well as the little Grizzly, or better,
and high as Wahb went, the Blackbea