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."