“Will he bite?” asked Don, innocently. “Teddy doesn’t bite!”
“Will he bite?” repeated Alex, and retreated to the end of the cave, for the big bear was entering, snuffing and growling, evidently angry because there were intruders in his bedchamber! Soon he began nosing at the blankets where the boys had lain.
The fire outside flared up and they saw Teddy advancing toward the larger animal. The cub was walking sidewise, turning his head from right to left, as playful puppies do when not quite certain of the character of the reception their advances are to meet with.
The big fellow looked critically at the cub. The boys were sure they could see an interrogation point in each eye! To them, at least, he seemed to be asking:
“Now, whose baby are you, and what right have you to come into my bachelor quarters, where babies are never allowed to come?”
Still sniffing the air, bruin rose on his rear feet as if to take the intruder into a crushing embrace. This was too much for the little cub who had been taught boxing lessons by three reckless boys.
He shot out of the obscurity of the interior of the cave, ambled up to the person of the house, and gave him a cracking box on the ear! The big bear went down under the impact of the blow, not having been prepared for it, and Teddy stood there ready for another round! There was added peril in every instant now, but, in spite of all, Alex snickered and Don broke into a ringing laugh.
“Go it, Teddy!” Alex cried. “Give him another! Hand him one on the bread basket!”
Just such words, just such advice, just such encouragement, had the cub often heard while facing one of his instructors! He knew no more now than to obey. Bruin received another wallop on the ear, but poor Teddy went down for the count, and the larger animal sprang at him!
It seemed for an instant as if the last days of the cub had come, but fortune favored him. Bruin hesitated for a moment whether to attack the cub he had floored or to take a bite out of the boys who had invaded his home. He chose the latter course and sprang for Don.