Chapter II: Part 2

"The Papa Bear told the little bear not to touch anything in the saw-mill, for if he did he would be sure to be hurt. The little bear said that he would not touch a single thing, for he didn't want to be hurt any more than his papa wanted him to be hurt. So the Papa Bear said that he would rather that his little bear would stay away from the mill; but the little bear teased so hard, that finally the Papa Bear told him he could go into the mill if he would be sure _not to touch a single thing_. The little bear said that he would be very careful, so Papa Bear let him go into the saw-mill, where all of the wheels were going around and around. My! How the little bear did enjoy the mill.

"The great wheels and saws were going around so fast, with a whir-r-r-r, whir-r-r-r, and buz-z-z-z, buz-z-z-z. The great saws looked like shining wheels, and they went around so quickly that you could not see their teeth at all. A big log would come up to the saw on a sort of a carriage, and then buz-z-z-z, buz-z-z-z the saw would go clear through the big log from one end to the other, and before the little bear could think, the log would be made into boards. At first the little bear was very careful, for he remembered what his papa had told him, but after a while the little bear went close to the biggest saw in the whole mill and watched it go through the logs.

"Now, you know that bears always smell of a thing when they want to know what it is, so this little bear said to himself, 'Papa didn't tell me not to smell of the saw; he told me not to _touch_ it. I think that I will smell of this wonderful thing that eats through the logs and makes them into boards.' He went closer and closer. He was a little afraid even to smell of the saw after all that his papa had told him, but he went closer and closer to the saw, until finally he reached out as far as he could with his nose to smell. Ouch! ouch! ouch!! The awfullest howling and squealing that you ever heard from a little bear.

"The Papa Bear ran in as fast as he could, and what do you think he saw? The poor little bear's face was all covered with blood, and he was howling and screaming as hard as he could. You see, the little bear could not see the teeth of the great saw, for they were going around so fast, and he had put his nose too close, and the saw had sawed the end of his nose right in two.

"Well, the poor Papa Bear was very, very sorry. He licked the blood off the little bear's face, and took him over to the house that the man had made for them. After a long time the little bear went to sleep. But his nose hurt so badly that he awoke in the night many times.

"The next morning the little bear said to his papa, 'Papa, I am sorry that I didn't obey you; you knew best; you always do, and I'll try not to be a bad little bear again.' The Papa Bear said, 'That's right, my little one, I am sorry that you were so badly hurt; I will not scold you, for I am sure that you have learned it is really best to do what papa tells you to do, and not to do the things that your papa tells you not to do.' The little bear said, 'I have, papa.' What do you suppose they called the little bear after that. They called him the 'Split-Nosed Bear.'"

When the Papa Bear had finished the story, he said to the Cub Bear, "What do you think of that story?"

And the little Cub Bear answered, "I think that it is best to do what papa says."

Then the Papa Bear said, "That is right. Now you must run back into the cave and go to sleep."

That night the little Cub Bear dreamed a bad dream. I do not know what it was, but he spoke aloud in his sleep and said, "I am always going to mind my papa," and then he felt the end of his nose with his paw. Can you guess what he was dreaming about?

The next morning the little Cub Bear wakened very early and rubbed his eyes and wondered whether any of the animals would come from the circus. He listened and listened.

Pretty soon he heard a very faint little patter, as if made by very small feet, and the Cub Bear listened and listened, and then he went to the door and looked out, and he said:

"I see a very strange animal coming. He has the shortest little legs. He is smaller than a very small dog, about as large as two cats, and he has a funny little sharp nose, and he has black and white stripes down his back."

Just then the owl saw the animal, and he said, "Who-o-o? who-o-o?" but the animal didn't answer him. He came right along to the mouth of the den.

Just as he reached there, the Circus Bear said, "I know who that is. That is Mr. Badger. Ask him to come in."

So the little Cub Bear said very politely, "Come in, Mr. Badger;" and the badger came in.

The Cub Bear said, "We are going to try to build a house large enough for all the animals, so if they come to see us we will have a place for them to stay. Can you help us?"

And the badger said, "I would be very glad to help you if I could, because your brother was very good to me when we were in the circus."

And the little Cub Bear said, "What can you do?"

And the badger said, "I can dig a round hole, just as big around as I am, and dig very fast."

And the little Cub Bear said, "That is nice. Perhaps you can make us a chimney. Here is a place in the side of the den where there is nothing but earth and dirt."

He took the badger over and showed him, and the badger said, "Yes, I can make you a fine chimney." So he commenced to scratch, and he scratched and he scratched very fast, digging up, instead of down; and he scratched and scratched, and the first thing you know, when the little Cub Bear looked, he didn't see any badger, but he saw the dirt falling out of the hole where the badger was; and the badger scratched and scratched, and more dirt came down. First thing you knew, no more dirt came down, but the little Cub Bear went and looked up the hole, and he could see clear out to the blue sky. Just then they heard a patter at the door, and there was Mr. Badger. He had made a hole clear out into the open air, a nice chimney, and he came in and sat down with the other animals.

That day the animals all worked as hard as ever, and at night when the Papa Bear sat down to rest, the little Cub Bear ran over to him and said, "Papa, please tell me another story about the 'Little-Split-Nosed-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa.'"

"All right," said the Papa Bear, "I will, if you will promise me to go to bed as soon as I have finished."

The little Cub Bear said, "I will, papa." So the Papa Bear told:

THE STORY OF THE "LITTLE-SPLIT-NOSED-BEAR-THAT-WOULD-NOT-MIND-HIS-PAPA"

"You remember that the little bear that had his nose split by the great circular saw lived with a man who owned a large saw-mill. For a long time after the little bear had his nose sawed in two, he kept away from the mill.

"He said to himself, 'I will never go in that mill to be hurt again, and I will mind my papa.' For his papa had told him to keep out of the saw-mill.

"But one day the little Split-Nosed Bear was playing with a dog that belonged to the man who owned the saw-mill. They were having a fine time, playing bear hunt. The little Split-Nosed Bear was playing the bear, and the little dog was playing that he was a big bloodhound dog running after the bear. The dog was really a very small dog, white, with brown ears, and a stub tail. You see he lived in a saw-mill, too. The little Split-Nosed Bear would growl, g-r-o-w-l, g-r-o-w-l, and the little dog would run away as if he was terribly frightened. Then the dog would run after the little Split-Nosed-Bear and bark, and he could bark very, very loud for so small a dog. Bow! wow! wow! Bow! wow! wow! Then the little Split-Nosed-Bear would run away just as if he was terribly frightened. Then the little Split-Nosed-Bear would hide, and it would take the dog a long time to find him.

"They were having a splendid time jumping around and running in and out of the dark places, when the little Split-Nosed-Bear ran into the saw-mill, for he was playing so hard that he forgot all about the saw and what his papa had told him. The little dog was so close to the little Split-Nosed-Bear that the little bear ran as fast as he could, and jumped up on to an iron platform that looked just as if it were made on purpose for a little bear to jump up on, and there the little Split-Nosed-Bear stood looking down at the dog and g-r-o-w-l-i-n-g, g-r-o-w-l-i-n-g, at him. The little dog jumped up as far as he could and bit the Split-Nosed-Bear on his heel. Then the little Split-Nosed-Bear whirled around like a flash, and what do you suppose happened?

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

"And such growling and howling and squealing you never heard. The little dog ran away as fast as he could, for he was really frightened this time. 'K-i-yi! K-i-yi! K-i-yi!' he howled, as he ran out of the door.

"The Papa Bear heard the noise. He was afraid that the Split-Nosed-Bear was really killed this time, so he ran as fast as he could to the little bear, and--what do you suppose he saw? There was the little Split-Nosed-Bear rolling about on the floor, and up on the iron platform where he had been playing was a little brown bear's ear. Oh! how sorry the Papa Bear felt to think his poor little bear had lost his ear, just because he had forgotten to do as his papa had told him to do. You see the little Split-Nosed-Bear had been standing on the iron platform of a band saw. What he thought was a strap whirling around two wheels was really a saw. When the Split-Nosed-Bear had turned around quickly, his ear had come against the saw, and it was sawed off quicker than you could think, with a zip-p-p and a buz-z-z.

"The Papa Bear licked the stump of the ear and said, 'I am so sorry, dear little Split-Nosed-Bear, that you forgot and did not mind your papa.'

"As soon as he could talk the little Split-Nosed-Bear said, 'I'll always mind my papa after this.'

"The Papa Bear put him to bed, but his ear hurt so that he wakened several times in the night. After the little Split-Nosed-Bear got well they always called him the little 'One-Eared-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa.'

"This is the end of my story about the little Split-Nosed-Bear," said the Papa Bear, as he finished. "Now, little Cub Bear, run to bed in the back of the cave, and go to sleep as quickly as you can."

The little Cub Bear ran quickly to bed, and went to sleep in the dark alone, for he wanted to be a brave little bear. But after he had been sleeping a while, he talked in his sleep and said, "I am always going to mind my papa." Then he felt of his ear and m-o-a-n-e-d. Can you guess what the little Cub Bear was dreaming about?

The next morning the little Cub Bear wakened very early, and as soon as he had rubbed his eyes, he wondered if any of the animals would come that day. He listened, the Circus Bear listened, and Susie Bear listened. Pretty soon they heard something coming up the path, and little Cub Bear rushed to the mouth of the den to see what it was, and he said:

"I see a very strange animal coming up the path. It has the most beautiful fur I ever saw, ever so much finer than bear's fur, and the animal looks something like Mr. Badger, only its fur is all one color, and it has the funniest tail, almost as big as a shovel, flat and broad."

Just then the owl saw the animal and said, "Who-o-o? who-o-o?"

But the animal didn't answer at all, except he gave two slaps with his broad flat tail on the ground.

And the Circus Bear said, "I know who that is. That is Mr. Beaver. Ask him to come in."

Mr. Beaver came to the door, and the little Cub Bear said very politely, "Come in, Mr. Beaver."

The beaver came in, and the little Cub Bear said, "We are going to try to build a house big enough for all the animals, so if they come to see us we will have a place for them to stay. Can you help us?"

And the beaver said, "I will be very glad to, because your brother was very good to me when we were in the circus."

The little Cub Bear said, "What can you do?"

And the beaver said, "I can build dams across streams so as to make beautiful lakes, such as they have in parks, and I can build a nice, round house in the lake to live in and large enough for a little bear to live in, if he can only get inside without getting wet."

And the Cub Bear said, "That would be fine, because we could have a park for the animals to play in, and some of the animals would rather live in the water, anyway, than live in a cave."

So the beaver said, "All right; I will make you a dam and a beautiful lake."

So they all went down to the stream, and the beaver went up to a tree, and he commenced to bite it. He bit, and he bit, and he bit, and the chips just flew, and he bit, and he bit, and he bit, and the chips just flew, and the first thing they knew, the tree fell over. Then he went to another tree, not a very large tree, only about so thick (three inches). Then he went to another tree, and he bit, and he bit, and bit, and the first thing they knew, that tree fell over. So he kept on until he had cut down a great many trees, and then he took them down and put them in the stream, and he put in leaves; and then the water began to rise higher and higher, and the beaver kept piling in and piling in leaves and trees, and soon he had a high dam clear across the stream. The next morning when they looked, the water had filled up above the dam and made a beautiful lake. Soon the beaver went to work, and made a house out of mud. He used his fore feet like hands, walking on his hind feet, and he used his flat tail to make a beautiful mud house, big enough to live in himself, and big enough for little Cub Bear to get in, if he could only get in without getting wet. Could you make so nice a mud house?

And the little Cub Bear said, "Thank you, Mr. Beaver," very politely. "I am very glad my brother was good to Mr. Beaver in the circus."

As soon as they had seen the dam built by the beaver, all of the animals began to work again as hard as they could work to make the cave larger, because it was much too small for the animals that were already there, and the elephant could not get in at all.

At night they were all very tired, but as soon as the Papa Bear sat down, the little Cub Bear ran over and got as close as he could to his papa and asked him to tell another story about the "Little-One-Eared-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa." So although he was very tired, the Papa Bear began the story of:

THE "ONE-EARED-BEAR-THAT-WOULD-NOT MIND-HIS-PAPA"

"You remember that the little bear had promised that he would not go into the saw-mill at all; but one day the little One-Eared-Bear was very lonesome. He wanted to go into the mill, but he remembered that his papa had told him again, that very morning, that he must be sure to keep away from the saw-mill. He thought a while, and then he said to himself, 'Papa didn't tell me to keep out of the _planing-mill_. I think that I will go in there.'

"Now the planing-mill was just as bad a place for little bears as the saw-mill itself, and the little One-Eared-Bear knew this, but you see he _wanted_ to go in, and so he went in any way. What do you suppose happened to the One-Eared-Bear this time?

"He played for a while, and had a very fine time. He enjoyed it so much that he said he would come again; he liked to see the wheels go round and round with a whiz-z-z-z-z-z and whir-r-r-r. Just then the little One-Eared-Bear saw a funny machine with a thing buzzing around that looked like a roller such as a cook uses to roll out cookies with.

"The little bear said, 'I want to feel the wind that must be made by this roller going so fast, but I'll not get close enough to touch the thing, for I might get hurt, and I don't want to get hurt again.'

"So the little One-Eared-Bear reached out his paw very carefully, closer and closer. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Such howling and squealing you never heard. What do you think had happened? The little One-Eared-Bear had touched the sharp knives or planes that whirl round and round in a planer. You see they go around so fast that you can not see them at all, for they look just like a solid roller. Well, the poor little One-Eared-Bear's foot was bleeding and looked terrible.

"The Papa Bear heard the little One-Eared-Bear's howling, and ran in to the mill as fast as he could, and there he saw that the little one had lost all the toes of one foot. The Papa Bear licked the little one's foot, and did everything that he could to make his little bear feel better, but he could not put back those poor little toes. The little One-Eared-Bear was very, very sorry, too. Once he whimpered, and told his papa that he was ever so sorry that he had not done as his papa had told him to do, and said that he would never, never again do anything that his papa told him not to do. But that didn't make his toes grow again.

"The little One-Eared-Bear went to bed that night, but he didn't sleep very well, because his foot hurt him so much. After a long while the foot healed, so that the little bear could walk around, but he always limped as long as he lived. He said that he could never again forget to do as his papa told him to do, because every step that he took he remembered that foot, and how he had lost all his toes by not doing as his papa told him. After that they didn't call the little bear the little One-Eared-Bear any more. They always called him--what do you suppose? The Club-foot Bear."

When the little Cub Bear's papa had finished telling the story of the little One-Eared-Bear, the little Cub Bear said, "I think that it is best to do what papa says."

And the Papa Bear said, "That's right, dear little cub. Now run back into the cave and go to sleep."

The little Cub Bear ran quickly to the back part of the cave, where it was all dark, and went to bed on some roots and brush and was soon asleep. When he was fast asleep, he talked in his sleep and said, "I am always going to do what my papa tells me to do." And then he felt of one of his paws and moaned, m-o-a-n-e-d, a sad little moan. Can you guess what the little Cub Bear was dreaming about?

The next morning the beaver and the owl and the monkey were talking together, and the beaver said:

"I am going down to live in that beautiful mud house that I made yesterday in the lake. The house has several rooms inside, and the door is under the water. I can swim out there, and then dive under the water and come up inside the house. No one could find me in there. When I am swimming around in the lake, or working on the dam, if I see any one coming, I will jump into the water and hit the water two great slaps with my tail."

And the monkey said, "Yes, I know how that sounds. That sounds just like a gun."

The owl said as soon as he saw any one coming he would say, "Who-o-o? who-o-o?"

And the monkey said that he thought he would go out every morning and see if he couldn't find some of the animals and bring them up to the cave, and see if they would like to live there in the cave, if it could be made big enough for them.

So the beaver went down to the dam to work, and the monkey went out to see if he could find any of the animals, and the old owl flew up into the tree, and sat out on the end of a dead limb and waited.

Before very long the little Cub Bear heard, "Bang! Bang!" He knew the beaver had seen some animal coming, and had struck the water with his tail, so he ran to the mouth of the cave to see what it was. Soon he heard a rustling noise and looked down the path.

"I see a large animal coming," he said. "He looks very fierce. He is as large as a large bear, but he is yellow all over, and has long, shaggy hair all over his head, and beautiful, large eyes, and a long tail, with a tassel on the end of it."

Just then the owl saw this animal and said, "Who-o-o? who-o-o?"

The animal opened his mouth and gave the most awful, "Roar!! Roar!! Roar!!! Roar!!!!" you ever heard. It frightened the little Cub Bear so that he didn't stop to hear what the Circus Bear said, or find out what kind of an animal it was at all, but he ran clear back in the very back of the cave, into Jenny's room, and there he waited, almost frightened to death.

As soon as the little Cub Bear got over his fright, he noticed the air blowing through a crack. It seemed to come right out of the mountain. He did not understand, and thought he would ask his brother about it. Just then the Circus Bear said, "Come out, come out, little Cub Bear; don't be afraid; the animal is a lion, and he won't hurt you, because he is a tame lion, and is a very good friend of mine."

So the little Cub Bear came out and went to the mouth of the cave, just in time to meet the lion and the monkey, and he said very politely, "Come in, Mr. Lion." And the lion came in, and the little Cub Bear said, "We are going to try to build a house big enough for all the animals, so if they come to see us, we will have a place for them to stay. Can you help us?"

And the lion said, "I would be very glad to help you if I could, because your brother was very good to me when we were in the circus."

And little Cub Bear said, "What can you do?"

And the lion said, "I don't know. I never built a house, because I always lived in the jungle, where there are lots of trees and grass, and we found our houses already built, just like your den. But I will do anything you want me to. I can jump ever so far."

And the little Cub Bear said, "That is nice. Let's see how far you can jump."

Then the Papa Bear and the Mamma Bear, and the little Cub Bear, and the monkey all went out to see how far the lion could jump. The owl flapped his great wings and said, "To-whit! To-whit! To-whit!"

The lion crept away, then he said:

"Now, I will show you how I catch things to eat."

And he pointed to a log of wood ten or fifteen feet away, and he said, "I will show you what I would do if that log were a deer."

The lion crouched and lay as still as a little mouse, and the bears were all still, waiting to see what the lion would do. There was not a sound in the forest. Suddenly, little Cub Bear saw a yellow flash through the air and heard a thud. Then he looked at the log of wood, and there was the lion on the log with his claws stuck into it.

And the little Cub Bear said, "My! I am glad I am not a deer, and that the lion does not want me for his dinner."

The animals worked all morning, trying to make the cave larger, but the Papa Bear went off with little Susie Bear to see what they could find to eat. When dinner time came, the animals all rested for a while.

As they were sitting there talking, little Cub Bear said to the lion, "Mr. Lion, I wish you would tell me a story about the most narrow escape you ever had in your life."

THE LION'S STORY OF HIS MOST NARROW ESCAPE

"Well," said the lion, "you know I used to live in Africa, and used to eat deer and other animals. You remember I showed you this morning how I would catch deer?

"Well, one night it was very dark, and I climbed up on a bank, and there I waited. I could not hear a sound. Everything was just as still as could be. Suddenly, a long way off, I heard a sound as if an animal was moving. Below the bank there was a path that the animals took when they went to get water, and it seemed to me that this animal was coming along the path, and would soon be right under the place where I was waiting. I watched and watched, and the animal came nearer and nearer and nearer; but it was very dark, and I couldn't see a thing, and I was very sure, any way, that it was a deer, and that I could have him for my supper. The animal came nearer and nearer, and, finally, I gave a great leap; and what do you suppose I landed upon? The back of a rhinoceros.

"You know a rhinoceros has a skin almost as hard as iron, and right on the end of his nose two horns, very sharp. If I had landed on those horns, it surely would have killed me. The rhinoceros was terribly frightened, and so was I. He snorted and roared almost like a locomotive. I tried to dig my claws into his back, but I couldn't get through his tough hide at all. It was just like trying to scratch a locomotive. He jumped and rolled over and hurt my foot, and I found I couldn't move, because he had one of his great feet on my claws."

Then the lion pointed to his claw and showed how it was all bent and twisted and scarred, and said, "That is where the rhinoceros stepped on my foot.

"Finally the rhinoceros grew so angry that he put his tongue out. I reached up and bit a hole clear through his tongue, and then he ran away as fast as he could, and I ran away as fast as I could, but I had to run on three feet. And that is the end of my story."

The little Cub Bear looked at the lion, then he looked at the lion's lame foot, and then he scratched his head and said, "I think it is a good plan to 'look before you leap.'"

And the lion said, "I wish somebody had told me that a long time ago."

After the lion had finished his story, and the animals had eaten their dinner, they commenced to work again, and worked all afternoon. Late that night the Papa Bear came home with a lot of strawberries that he had found, and all of the bears had a fine supper. The elephant ate hay and grass and the other animals found something they liked to eat.

After the lion had finished the story, the little Cub Bear commenced to tease his papa for a story about the "Little-Club-Foot-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa," but the Papa Bear said that he was tired of telling stories about the "Little-bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa," but would tell a story about a club-foot grizzly bear, if the little Cub Bear wanted to hear it. The little Cub Bear said that he did, and snuggled up as close as he could to his papa, for grizzly bears are as large as four or five grown-up brown bears all put together, and they have great teeth and claws. They like to eat little pigs, and little calves, and such things instead of berries and honey. When the little Cub Bear had snuggled up as close to his papa as he could the Papa Bear commenced.

THE TRUE STORY OF HOW TEN MEN DID NOT KILL CLUB-FOOT

"When I was a little cub bear, long before I met your mother, and long before you were born, I lived in a small cave near a store, where men used to meet and talk about the bears that they had killed, and mountain lions that they had seen, and all sorts of stories of that kind. Well, I used to come down in the dark sometimes, and put my ear up to the crack between the logs, and listen to what the men said.

"One evening, while the men were telling stories, one of them said, 'Did you ever hear of the big grizzly, called Club-Foot?'

"And all the men said that they had heard of Club-Foot, except one of the men that had not lived there very long. He said that he had never heard of this grizzly. The men told this newcomer that Club-Foot was a very large bear, one of the largest that had ever been seen. The men said that a great many men had tried to kill this giant grizzly, because he would kill their little pigs and their little calves and colts. Then, too, they wanted to get his great skin to make a carriage robe. But they had never been able to get the bear. For even if they hit him with bullets from their guns, it did not seem to hurt him much, but made him very angry. This grizzly, instead of running away from a man with a gun, would run right up to him and knock the gun out of his hand. No one could kill this bear.

"They said that the bear lived in the San Bernardino Mountains, and that his great tracks had often been seen, and that all of his toes were missing from one foot. That was the reason they called him 'Club-Foot.' Probably when he was a little bear he had been caught in a trap and lost his toes. They said that the bear made regular trips from Mount San Bernardino to the Antelope Valley, sixty miles away. He had made the trips so often, that he had made a sort of trail through the mountains. This trail, the men said, was only a mile or so back of the store.

"While the men were talking, another man came in and said, 'Old Club-Foot has started from his den, in the side of Mount San Bernardino, and is coming this way. He ought to be along here some time to-night.'

"Then one of the men that they called 'Alex' said, 'It is a fine moonlight night to-night. Let's all get our guns and go up to the old grizzly's trail, and see if we can't kill him. There is a pig-pen right near the trail, with little pigs in it, so that the grizzly will be sure to stop there long enough for us to shoot him.'

"Then the man that came in last and told about the Club-Foot's coming, said, 'There are two Irishmen that live a little farther on along the trail that are going to do the same thing. They are going to watch near another pig-pen that is farther on, and they think that they will kill Club-Foot.'

"'Well,' Alex said, 'there will be ten of us with guns of all sorts, and I think that those Irishmen will never see old Club-Foot, for he will never get as far as they are. We will have his skin by that time.'

"All the men said, 'We'll do it. It will be lots of fun, and Club-Foot will not bother the farmer's little pigs and calves, and colts any more.'

"All the men got their guns and rifles, and some lunch to eat while they were waiting for old Club-Foot to come along. I was very curious to see what the men would do and how they would kill the grizzly, and then, too, I wanted to see a great grizzly bear; so I followed the men, but I kept so far behind that they did not see me at all. As the men walked along they talked about how they would kill old Club-Foot, as they called the great grizzly bear. The men said they thought they would climb trees, and wait in the tops of them, where they would be safer, and where the bear could not get at them before they had had a chance to kill him. Two men, though, said that they were going to stay on the ground, and that the other men ought not to be afraid and climb in the tops of the trees; they ought to stay down on the ground and shoot the bear there, and they laughed at the men who said they were going to stay up in the trees.

"Finally they came to the path that old Club-Foot usually traveled, and there was the pig-pen with the little pigs in it. All the men but two climbed up into the trees, and there they waited. I went around and hid behind a rock, to see what would happen.

"Very soon there came a great crashing noise, and as I looked up along the path I saw old Club-Foot coming very fast. He didn't stop for anything. He went right through the bushes, and jumped over the tops of the small trees, and as he came out into the moonlight he seemed to be as big as Jumbo. I waited and thought I would hear the men shooting; but suddenly I heard the men who were on the ground crying out to the men who had gone up in the trees, 'Don't shoot; don't shoot. If you shoot the old Club-Foot and don't kill him, he will surely kill us.'

"And they dropped their guns and ran as fast as they could and commenced to climb trees. They climbed up a little way, but they were so frightened, and so hurried, that they would slip back.

"Old Club-Foot came right along, but he didn't notice the men at all, or pay any attention to them. He went right up to the pig-pen, and he hit it one blow and knocked it all to pieces. He took up two pigs, one in each of his two great forepaws, and off he went down the path, and not one of the men fired a single shot.

"Pretty soon the men came down from the trees, and then they all began to scold one another. One man said to Alex, 'Why didn't you shoot?'

"'Well,' he said, 'the old Club-Foot looked as big as an elephant, and I thought if I shot him and didn't kill him, that he would come and shake the tree down and eat me up.'

"And the other men said that was the reason that they didn't shoot. Then they said to the brave fellows who stayed on the ground, 'Why didn't you shoot?'

"'Well,' they said, 'we didn't know the bear was so big.'

"After the men had got nearly home, they sat down and talked it all over, and one of them said, 'What will you say to the two Irishmen that were going to kill Club-Foot? You know we thought we would kill him, and he would never get as far as the Irishmen?'

"And they all agreed that they would not say a thing about it to any one, but would wait and see what the Irishmen said when they came into the store the next evening.

"Well, the next evening, I went down and hid behind the house to hear what the men would say. And sure enough, very soon in came the two Irishmen. One Irishmen was named Mike, and the other, Pat. The men all said, 'Hello, Mike,' and 'Hello, Pat.' But no one said anything about old Club-Foot.

"After a while Alex said, 'Well, Mike, where is the bear skin you were going to bring us?' For Mike had said that he would have a bear skin for them that night. 'Didn't you see old Club-Foot?'

"'Yes,' Mike said, 'we saw Club-Foot. He came right by us, and we were sitting on the roof of the pig-pen. He knocked the pig-pen right out from under us, and took a little pig and ran off with it.'

"'Well,' Alex said, 'why didn't you shoot him?'

"And Mike said, 'Well--well, we couldn't find our guns.'

"And so that was the way that the ten men didn't kill old Club-Foot. And it is said that he is still living in the San Bernardino Mountains, and still goes over the same old trail every year. For some reason, no one has ever succeeded in getting him."

After Papa Bear had finished the story, little Cub Bear said, "I wish I were a great big grizzly bear, so that I would not be afraid of a gun." But the Papa Bear said, "It is always a good thing to be afraid of a gun, no matter how big you may be."

The little Cub Bear ran off to bed in the dark, and was soon fast asleep. In his sleep he reached out with his paw and gave a great slap, then a moment after he reached out again and gave another slap. Can you guess what he was dreaming about?

The next morning the little Cub Bear woke up very early, and rubbed his eyes, and wondered if any animal would come that day. He listened and listened, but he heard nothing.

Suddenly there was a loud "Bang! Bang!" and he knew that some animal was coming. The little Cub Bear ran to the mouth of the den, where he could hear a rustling sound. He looked down the path, but could see nothing. He looked again and this time he looked up among the branches of the trees, because he thought it might be a bird coming. And what do you think he saw? Away up among the branches of the trees he could see an animal's head. He said:

"I see an animal's head moving among the trees. His head has large ears and very large eyes, and two horns different from any horns I ever saw. They are blunt on the end, and stick straight up, and seem to have hair on the end of the horns. I can't see the animal, but I see a long, long neck, covered with big yellow spots. As the animal comes nearer, I can see more of his neck. And now I can see his legs and his body. His body looks something like a horse, only the hind legs are much shorter than the front legs. If you tried to ride on his back you would slip off behind, because it is slanting, like a hill, and all covered with those yellow spots."

Just then the owl saw this animal, and he said, "Who-o-o-o? who-o-o-o?"

The animal did not answer a word, but came right along. Just as he got to the mouth of the den, the Circus Bear said, "I know who that is. That is Mr. Giraffe. Ask him to come in."

So the little Cub Bear said very politely, "Come in, Mr. Giraffe."

But, of course, the giraffe could not come in.

Finally, he knelt down and stuck his long neck into the cave, and the Cub Bear said to him, "We are going to try to build a house big enough for all the animals, so if they come to see us we will have a place for them to stay. Can you help us?"

And the giraffe said, "I would be very glad to help you if I could, because your brother was very good to me when we were in the circus."

And the little Cub Bear said, "What can you do?"

And the giraffe answered, "I don't know. I never built a house in my life. I eat the leaves off the trees and live out-of-doors, just like horses and zebras and cows. I never had a home. But, I have the longest neck of any animal in the whole world, and if there is anything up in the air you want me to look for, or if there is anything a long way off that you would like to have me see, I think I can look for it for you."

And the little Cub Bear suddenly thought of the hole way back in the back part of the cave where the wind came from, and he said, "I wish you would come in and see if you can put your head through a hole in the back part of the cave. Maybe you will find something."

And the giraffe said, "I will be very glad to try."

And so he wriggled, and twisted, and got into the den, and got away back in the back part, and he found a hole, and it was just large enough for his head and his long neck. He stuck his head farther and farther into the hole, and stayed there so long that the little Cub Bear was afraid something was wrong, so, he and the monkey took hold of the giraffe's tail and pulled just as hard as they could.

The giraffe finally pulled his head out of the hole, and the Cub Bear said, "What did you see?"

And the giraffe said, "I found it very dark, and I had to keep my head in a long time so that my eyes would get used to the darkness, but I could see that there was a large room--a large cave back of this cave. I couldn't see the end of it at all. I think if we could only get into this room, we would have a place large enough for all the animals in the circus, if they wanted to come here to live."

And the little Cub Bear said, "My! Wouldn't that be nice? I wonder, if all the animals would help, if we couldn't break down the rock and get into this room?"

That night, after all the animals had done all they could to get things to eat and to make the cave large enough, the lion and some of the other animals came into the cave. The giraffe was still out trying to get enough leaves to eat, and the elephant was eating the last of the baled hay that had been brought from the train wreck.

"Papa, please tell me another story about the 'Little-Club-Foot-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa'." The Papa Bear sighed a great sigh, because he was very tired, but he wanted to please the little fellow so he told the story of:

THE "CLUB-FOOT-BEAR-THAT-WOULD-NOT-MIND-HIS-PAPA"--A GREAT SMASH-UP

"After the 'Little-Club-Foot-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa' had had his nose split, had lost an ear, had nearly drowned three times, and all of the toes had been cut off of one foot, the Papa Bear thought he had better move away to some place where there were not so many things to hurt little bears. So he moved a long, long way to a place where there was a great coal mine.

"There the men would go down in the ground and dig coal from away under the ground. The coal was to be burned in stoves to keep little boys and girls warm in the winter time, for they do not sleep all winter as little bears do. The coal was used also to cook what the little boys and girls and their papas and their mammas ate--bread, and meat, and pies, and cakes, and everything nice. The coal was used to make the railway monsters go back and forth on the tracks, hauling men, and circus trains, and freight trains. A railway monster could not go, 'T-o-o-t, t-o-o-t!' or 'C-h-u, c-h-u, c--h--u!' move, or do anything without coal or coal-oil.

"The 'Little-Club-Foot-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa' thought that the coal mine was very fine. He liked to watch the men as they went down into the ground in the cages or elevators, and to watch them come up at night with their little coffee-pot-like lamps, hanging in the front of their caps to show them where to go in the dark. (You see that it was always dark way down in the mine.)

"He liked to watch the engine as it went, 'Puff, puff, puff!' but this engine did not move back and forth, like a locomotive. It was called a stationary engine, because it stood in one place, and how do you suppose it moved the men? One part of the engine was called a drum, because it was round like a drum, and on this was a great steel rope, like a thread on a great spool. As the drum or spool turned around and round, the rope would be wound up or unwound, and the rope went up over a great wheel and then hung down in the hole and the cage with the men in it was on the end of the rope, and as the rope unwound, the cage went down into the hole in the ground, and as it wound up the cage came up to the top of the ground. But the man had to be very careful to stop in time, or the men and cage and all would be wound around the drum and smashed and killed.

"Now the Papa Bear was very careful to tell the little bear never, never to touch the engine, or anything about it; but one day the 'Little Club-Foot-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa' went into the engine room, when every one else had gone away to dinner. The engineer had just stepped out. It was a cold day, and the little bear enjoyed the warm room. The machinery was all so bright, some looked like gold, and some looked like silver, and some parts were a beautiful bright red, and others were a pretty green. After the 'Little-Club-Foot-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa' had been there a while, he saw a sort of handle, and before he stopped to think, he reached up and gave it a strong pull, to see if it would move. And what do you think happened?

"The engine went 'Puff, puff, puff!' The wheels went around and around, and the drums commenced to wind the rope up very, very fast. My! how frightened the little Club-Foot-Bear was. He ran away as fast as he could run, but he was scarcely out of the door before the cage came to the top of the ground. But there was no one to stop the engine, and so the cage went on up to the wheel, and there was a great crash, and down came the wheel and cage. And on and on to the great drum, and then there was the greatest tearing, and smashing, and breaking you ever heard--'Bang! Bang! Smash! Smash! Crack! Crack! Crash! Crash!' and then the noise stopped, for the beautiful engine was broken all to pieces, and the 'Little-Club-Foot-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa' ran and ran, and he didn't go home that night, nor the next night, for he was ashamed to meet his papa.

"And all the time he was saying, 'Oh, why didn't I mind my papa? The beautiful engine is all smashed, and the poor little donkeys that haul the coal cars way down in the mine will starve to death because no one can take them anything to eat.' But finally the 'Little-Club-Foot-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa' went home. He found his papa feeling very sad, because he thought his little cub was killed. The papa kissed him, and gave him a great bear hug, but he felt very sorry, and so did the little cub."

When the Papa Bear had finished telling the story to his little cub, the little bear said very sweetly, "Good night, papa dear; I am always going to do just what you tell me to do." And the Papa Bear said, "I hope so, little cub."

That night the little Cub Bear got up in his sleep and ran as fast as he could, but he soon ran against his papa, who was sleeping there in the cave. The Papa Bear saw that he had been running in his sleep, so he took him and put him back in his bed. He must have been dreaming. Can you guess what he was dreaming about?

The next morning, after the animals had their breakfast, the little Cub Bear told them that the giraffe had said that there was a fine cave back of the one where the bears lived. So the animals all agreed that they would do the best they could, and all work together, to see if they could not succeed in making a hole large enough for all the animals to get through into the next cave, for you remember that the hole was only large enough for the long-necked giraffe to get his head through.

They went to work to make the hole larger. The mule kicked down rocks; the goat butted down more rocks; the monkey, the bears, the Mamma Bear, the Papa Bear, Susie Bear, the Circus Bear, and the little Cub Bear all carried the rocks out of the cave. The elephant helped as well as he could with his trunk, but the mouth of the cave was so small that he could not get in to work. They all worked until they were tired, but they could not get through into the cave although the hole was made much larger.

That night, before they went to sleep, the little Cub Bear teased his papa for a story about the "Little-Club-Foot-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa," but the Papa Bear was so tired, that he asked if some of the animals would not be willing to tell the little Cub Bear a story. The parrot said that she had heard the story told by the lion about his most narrow escape, and that she would be willing to tell the story of her most narrow escape, if little Cub Bear would promise not to ask his papa for another story that night. Of course, the little Cub Bear promised, and so the parrot told the story of her most narrow escape from death.

THE PARROT'S MOST NARROW ESCAPE

"Well," said the parrot, "I lived in South America, where there were many beautiful trees and many strange animals, and some of the largest snakes in the whole world. The very largest snake that lives there is called the boa constrictor. He is so large that he can swallow a deer whole, and, of course, a poor little parrot, or a chicken, or a rabbit, would not make a meal for him. It would hardly make a dessert.