Wilderness Ways

dull green with a yellowish vest-which showed that he was a male-but with the most brilliant ear drums I had ever seen. They fairly glowed with iridescent color, each in its ring of bright

slightly, turning from time to time so as to warm the entire body at nature's fireplace. But the fourth was more deliberate and philosophical, thinking evidently that if he simply sat still long enough the sun would do the turning. When I came, about

st to see me, and came pushing his way among the lily pads toward the canoe. But when I dangled a red ibis fly in front of h

ame place. The sun had turned round; it was now warming his other side. His all-day sun bath surpris

m. For two or three long minutes neither moved so much as an eyelid. Then one seemed to wake suddenly from a trance, or to be touched by an electric wire, for he came

sport. The red seems to excite them tremendous

l minutes; then the second frog, a little smaller than the other, got the grip he wanted and held it. He clasped his fore legs tight about his rival's neck and began to strangle him slowly. I knew well how strong Chigwooltz is in his forearms, and that his fightings and wrestlings are desperate affairs; but I did not know till then how

frog, knowing that he was no match for the other in strength, had waited cunningly till he was all absorbed in the red fly, and then stole upon him, intending to f

as he who first showed me a curious frog trick. When I lifted him from the water on the end of my line, he raised his hands above his head, as if he had been

the same stone, his fore feet at the edge of the same bronze lily leaf. At noo

just behind him, stealing along in my canoe to see what queer thing he would do. He was in no hurry, as most other bears were, but went nosing along shore, acting much as a fat pig would in the same place. As he approached the alder point he stopped suddenly, and twisted his head a bit, and set h

sly, high above his head. Down it came, souse! sending up a shower of mud and water. And Chigwooltz the restful, who could sit still thirty-two hours without getting stiff in

to the bay where the big frogs lived. There were scores of them there; the chorus at night, with its multitude of voices running from a

flies and beetles and water snails, young frogs, and crawfish, and turtles, and fish of every k

t insects. Then, if you watched sharply, you would see gleaming points of light, the eyes of Chigwooltz, stealing out, with barely a ripple, to the edge of the pads. And then, when some big feedi

very one, watch out from the shadowy fringe of water plants. If you drop a little frog there, in clear water, he will shoot in as fast as his frightened legs will drive him, swimming first

aroo dance over the lily pads, going round and round the canoe as if bewitched, and would do his best to climb in after the bit of color when I pulled it up slowly over the bark. He afforded me so much good fun that I could not eat him; though I always stopped to give him another dance, whenever I went fishing for other frogs just like him. Further along shore lived another, a perfect savage, so wild that I could never catch him, which strangled or d

etimes to set a candle on a piece of board for a float, and place it in the water close to shore, where the ripples would set i

, his eyes growing bigger and brighter with wonder. He would place his forearms akimbo on the edge of the float, and lift himself up a

ng points, and two more, till twelve or fifteen frogs were gathered about my beacon, as thick as they could find elbow room on the float, all staring and blinking like so many strange water o

ht. Then there would be a loud sizzle, a jump, and a splash; the candle would go out, and the wondering circle of frogs scatter to

frog that threatened too soon to climb onto the float, and examine him at leisure. But Chigwooltz is wedded to his idols; the m

It was so there in the wilderness. The first morning after our arrival at the birch grove I was down at the shore, preparing a trout for baking in the ashes, when Chigwooltz, of the ear drums, biggest

with my finger when he would come from beside a green stone, or from under a log or the lily pads-f

metimes of staring hard at a thing without seeing it) he would crouch and creep towards it, nearer and nearer, softly and more softly, like a cat stalking a chipmunk. Then there would be a red flash and the meat would be gone. The

ittle while he grew uneasy, sitting up and rubbing his belly with his fore paws. Presently he brought his stomach up into his mouth, turned it inside out to get rid of the tobacco, washed i

w him resting on the lily pads, looking very full, with a suspicious-looking object curling out over his under lip. I wiggled my finger in the water, and he came from pure sociability, for he was beyond eating any more. The suspicious-looking object proved to be a bird's foot, and beside it was a pointed wing tip. That was too much for my curiosity. I opened his

the water almost at his nose, near one of his numerous lurking places. Still it puzzled me a good deal till

nd just ahead of me, and hopped to the water to drink. I watched him a moment curiously, then with i

yes showed above water. The ripple that flowed away on either side was gentle as that of a floating leaf. Then, just as the bird had sipp

lily pads, winking sleepily now and then, with eight little sparrow's