The first they saw or heard of him was the yell which Skinny gave when the limb broke. It scared them.
"Take the reins," said Mr. Richmond. "There is trouble over there. Turn around and if anything comes run the old horse down the road."
Say, he was paralyzed, when he found the bear tied to a tree and Skinny standing on a limb, cawing.
"I was that flabbergasted," said he afterward, "that I hardly could pull the trigger."
But he pulled it, all right, and that was the end of Mr. Bear.
Skinny didn't like it because Mr. Richmond killed the bear. He wanted to tame it and give a show in our barn. He was bound to take it home, anyhow, so as to save the skin.
It took a lot of pulling and hauling to get the cub out to the road, and Mary had to help before they could lift him into the wagon.
"Jump in," said Mr. Richmond, when everything was ready. "It is time that I was getting home."
"I can't," said Skinny. "You see, I am doing a stunt for the Scouts and I have to walk."
Just before they started Mary thought of something.