earn something new."

[Illustration]

First she went to the lower end of the pool and stirred up a cloud of mud
which hung in the still water, and sent a long tail floating like a curtain
over the rapids just below. Then she went quietly round by land, and sprang
into the upper end of the pool with all the noise she could. The fish had
crowded to that end, but this sudden attack sent them off in a panic, and
they dashed blindly into the mud-cloud. Out of fifty fish there is always a
good chance of some being fools, and half a dozen of these dashed through
the darkened water into the current, and before they knew it they were
struggling over the shingly shallow. The old Grizzly jerked them out to the
bank, and the little ones rushed noisily on these funny, short snakes that
could not get away, and gobbled and gorged till their little bellies looked
like balloons.

They had eaten so much now, and the sun was so hot, that all were quite
sleepy. So the Mother-bear led them to a quiet little nook, and as soon as
she lay down, though they were puffing with heat, they all snuggled around
her and went to sleep, with their little brown paws curled in, and their
little black noses tucked into their wool as though it were a very cold
day.

[Illustration]

After an hour or two they began to yawn and stretch themselves, except
little Fuzz, the smallest; she poked out her sharp nose for a moment, then
snuggled back between her Mother's great arms, for she was a gentle,
petted little thing. The largest, the one afterward known as Wahb, sprawled
over on his back and began to worry a root that stuck up, grumbling to
himself as he chewed it, or slapped it with his paw for not staying where
he wanted it. Presently Mooney, the mischief, began tugging at Frizzle's
ears, and got his own well boxed. They clenched for a tussle; then, locked
in a tight, little grizzly yellow ball, they sprawled over and over on the
grass, and, before they knew it, down a bank, and away out of sight toward
the river.

[Illustration]

Almost immediately there was an outcry of yells for help from the little
wrestlers. There could be no mistaking the real terror in their voices.
Some dreadful danger was threatening.

Up jumped the gentle Mother, changed into a perfect demon, and over the
bank in time to see a huge Range-bull make a deadly charge at what he
doubtless took for a yellow dog. In a moment all would have been over with
Frizzle, for