All the next day Thor and Iskwao kept to themselves.  Early in the morning Muskwa began adventuring about a little in quest of food.  He liked tender grass, but it was not very filling.  Several times he saw Pipoonaskoos digging in the soft bottom close to the creek, and finally he drove the other cub away from a partly digged hole and investigated for himself.  After a little more excavating he pulled out a white, bulbous, tender root that he thought was the sweetest and nicest thing he had ever eaten, not even excepting fish.  It was the one bonne bouche of all the good things he would eventually learn to eat—­the spring beauty.  One other thing alone was at all comparable with it, and that was the dog-tooth violet.  Spring beauties were growing about him abundantly, and he continued to dig until his feet were grievously tender.  But he had the satisfaction of being comfortably fed.

Thor was again responsible for a fight between Muskwa and Pipoonaskoos.  Late in the afternoon the older bears were lying down side by side in a thicket when, without any apparent reason at all, Thor opened his huge jaws and emitted a low, steady, growling roar that sounded very much like the sound he had made when tearing the life out of the big black.  Iskwao raised her head and joined him in the tumult, both of them perfectly good-natured and quite happy during the operation.  Why mating bears indulge in this blood-curdling duet is a mystery which only the bears themselves can explain.  It lasts for about a minute, and during this particular minute Muskwa, who lay outside the thicket, thought that surely the glorious hour had come when Thor was beating up the parent of Pipoonaskoos.  And instantly he looked for Pipoonaskoos.

Unfortunately the Willie-bear came sneaking round the edge of the brush just then, and Muskwa gave him no chance to ask questions.  He shot at him in a black streak and Pipoonaskoos bowled over like a fat baby.  For several minutes they bit and dug and clawed, most of the biting and digging and clawing being done by Muskwa, while Pipoonaskoos devoted his time and energy to yelping.

Finally the larger cub got away and again took to flight.  Muskwa pursued him, into the brush and out, down to the creek and back, halfway up the slope and down again, until he was so tired he had to drop on his belly for a rest.

At this juncture Thor emerged from the thicket.  He was alone.  For the first time since last night he seemed to notice Muskwa.  Then he sniffed the wind up the valley and down the valley, and after that turned and walked straight toward the distant slopes down which they had come the preceding afternoon.  Muskwa was both pleased and perplexed.  He wanted to go into the thicket and snarl and pull at the hide of the dead bear that must be in there, and he also wanted to finish Pipoonaskoos.  After a moment or two of hesitation he ran after Thor and again followed close at his heels.