THE "LITTLE-CUB-BEAR-THAT-WOULD-NOT-MIND-HIS-PAPA"
"A saw-mill, you know, is a very dangerous place for any little bear to play, because there are so many saws and knives and wheels, whirling around in every direction. This little bear, you remember, lived near a saw-mill, and belonged to his papa, who belonged to the man that owned the mill.
"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: