wrong side of the ledger in lean seasons. No, it isn't all 'peaches and
cream' in ranching."

"You spoke of grizzlies a minute ago," said Dick, whose sporting blood
had tingled at mention of the name. "Are there many of those fellows
around here?"

"Not so many as there used to be," replied Mr. Melton. "They're being
pushed further and further north as the country gets more settled. Still
there are enough around to make it advisable to keep your eye peeled for
trouble whenever you get a little way further up in the mountains. Every
once in a while we find the body of a steer partly eaten, and we can
always tell when a grizzly has pulled it down."

"How's that?" asked Tom.

"By the way he covers it up," answered Melton. "He always heaps up a pile
of brush or dried grass over the carcass. I reckon it's his sign manual
to tell other animals who may be skulking around that it's his kill, and
that there'll be trouble if any of them go monkeying around it. At any
rate, they don't fool with it. They know he's king in these parts.
Wherever the grizzly sits is the head of the table."

"Are they really as savage as they are cracked up to be?" asked Bert. "If
so, it must be great sport hunting them."

"Are they savage?" echoed their host pityingly. "Say, son, there's
nothing on four feet as full of hate and poison, unless perhaps a
gorilla. And if it ever came to a tussle between them two, my money
would go on the grizzly every time.