The Bear Family at Home, and How the Circus Came to Visit Them

by Curtis Dwight Wilbur

"My dear little Cub Bear, the animal was not dead at all. That was just his way of fooling you, and making you think that he was dead, so that you would not bother him any more. The animal was an opossum. That is the way they always do when they are frightened, or when they think some one is going to take them and hurt them."

Then the little Cub Bear told his papa what a fine time he had had, and how he had found the berries and had eaten all he could, and that he was nearly ready to go to sleep.

Next morning, bright and early, the Papa Bear called the little Cub Bear again, for he wanted to teach him that he must work for himself, and find his own living, and he said:

"Little Cub Bear, do you want to go again into the woods to-day, and see if you can find some more berries?"

And the little Cub Bear said, "Yes, papa, I want to go, because I want to learn to work for myself, and take care of myself."

So the Papa Bear again told him to be very careful, and if he saw any men or any large animals, he was to come home as quickly as possible. The little Cub Bear said that he would do this, and then he started out joyously in the early morning light, while dew was on the ground, to see if he could not find another berry patch. And sure enough, before he had gone very far, he found a patch full of beautiful blackberries. He ate all he could of these, but he got scratched many times on his nose and on his paws. It did not hurt him any on his paws, because they were thick, but on the end of his nose, where the skin was very thin, sometimes the little Cub Bear was so badly scratched that he felt like crying. But he was a brave little fellow, and did not cry, and thought that as soon as he had enough to eat, he would go back and tell the Papa and Mamma Bear where they could find all they wanted to eat.

Pretty soon he left the berry patch, thinking he would go home a new way, and so he started, and very soon came to a beautiful lake, larger than the lake that the beaver had made near the den where they used to live. It was so wide at some places that he could hardly see across the lake. It was one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, and the most beautiful lake that this little Cub Bear had ever seen. The little Cub Bear sat down near a log to look at this lake, for it made him very happy and contented to see such a beautiful sight.

While he was waiting, he saw in the air a very large bird, larger than a hawk and larger than an eagle. This bird seemed to be flying about over the water, and around, and around; and the little Cub Bear wondered what this bird was trying to do. The most peculiar thing he noticed about the bird was that he had such a long bill. The bill was over a foot long, much larger than the bill of the ostrich, and larger than the bill of a goose, or any bird that the little Cub Bear had ever seen.

All of a sudden, this peculiar bird turned a sort of somersault and fell head downward into the water. While falling, the bird's wings were outstretched, and when it struck the water, there was a great splash and the bird disappeared, but soon reappeared floating on the surface, and shaking his head in a most peculiar way. The little Cub Bear wondered and wondered what the bird was doing. He waited until this strange bird began flying again, and then he noticed that there were a number of other birds which looked just like this one, and that they were flying about, and every once in a while one of these birds would turn a sort of a somersault and fall with outstretched wings into the water with a great splash, and then come up, and always bob his head in just that peculiar way, as though he were nodding at some one.

The little Cub Bear thought that when he got home he would tell the Papa Bear about it, and try to find out what kind of a bird it was. So he hurried and got home just as the sun set.