But even a small cub is a good swimmer, and most of the time he really enjoyed the excitement.
These autumn days, however, he was to learn a new way of swimming. Now that the worst danger of forest fires was over and the Ranger had more leisure, he took two weeks off and the whole family went on a camping trip to a grove of Big Trees, and Fuzzy-Wuzz went with them.
Dapple was left to browse with the cattle, and Clickety-Clack was given the freedom of the barn; while the Ranger, his wife and boy rode horseback, and the little girl behind her father. The brown bear cub was placed on top of the pack Bucky’s mother carried. Young Bucky followed after.
CHAPTER XX
THE PACK-HORSE TRIP
EVERY one enjoyed the camping trip, from the Ranger’s little girl, whose first long trip it was on horseback, to Fuzzy-Wuzz, whose natural love of exploring made it a real treat to ride all day atop the burro’s pack.
The sun felt good on one’s fur in the crisp autumn weather, as they threaded the clean aisles of pine and fir,—and my what appetites they had! Then the starlit evenings around the bon-fire, when the little bear was allowed to snooze on the saddle blankets!
He got himself in bad one night, though, by helping himself to a plate of flapjacks before the family had had their share. If it hadn’t been for that—but wait!
Bucky, the young burro, was also fond of flapjacks. In fact, he was fond of anything that could be eaten, and he was everlastingly fond of eating. The Ranger used to say there was no bottom to his stomach,—the more he put into it, the more he wanted. But then, he was growing fast.
That little gray donkey would eat anything from a thistle to a piece of paper smeared with bacon grease. As each night two or three cans of vegetables were opened, he would eat the paper off the cans for the flour paste with which they had been pasted on.