during the first bright moonlight
nights of June, when the run of fish is largest on account of the
higher tides at the river mouth. And Mooween knows, as well as any
other fisherman, the kind of night on which to go fishing. He knows
also the virtue of keeping still. As a big salmon struggles by,
Mooween slips a paw under him, tosses him to the shore by a dexterous
flip, and springs after him before he can flounder back.

When hungry, Mooween has as many devices as a fox for getting a meal.
He tries flipping frogs from among the lily pads in the same way that
he catches salmon. That failing, he takes to creeping through the
water-grass, like a mink, and striking his game dead with a blow of
his paw.

Or he finds a porcupine loafing through the woods, and follows him
about to throw dirt and stones at him, carefully refraining from
touching him the while, till the porcupine rolls himself into a ball
of bristling quills,--his usual method of defense. Mooween slips a paw
under him, flips him against a tree to stun him, and bites him in the
belly, where there are no quills. If he spies the porcupine in a tree,
he will climb up, if he is a young bear, and try to shake him off. But
he soon learns better, and saves his strength for more fruitful
exertions.

Mooween goes to the lumber camps regularly after his winter sleep and,
breaking in through door or roof, helps himself to what he finds. If
there happens to be a barrel of pork there, he will roll it into the
open air, if the door is wide enough, before breaking in the head with
a blow of his paw.

Should he find a barrel of molasses among the stores, his joy is
unbounded. The head is broken in on the instant and Mooween eats till
he is surfeited. Then he lies down and rolls in the sticky sweet, to
prolong the pleasure; and stays in the neighborhood till every drop
has been lapped up.

Lumbermen have long since learned of his strength and cunning in
breaking into their strong camps. When valuable stores are left in the
woods, they are put into special camps, called bear camps, where doors
and roofs are fastened with chains and ingenious log locks to keep
Mooween out.

Near the settlements Mooween speedily locates the sweet apple trees
among the orchards. These he climbs by night, and shakes off enough
apples to last him for several visits. Every kind of domestic animal
is game for him. He will lie at the edge of a clearing for hours, with
the patience of a cat, wa