“Why, he can just run around here like Captain Joe does,” was the reply. “I was looking him over to see if the dog wounded him, but he appears to be all right. Good dog, that! He knew that I wanted to add this teddy bear to my collection. I’m going to give him to Captain Joe, the sailor man, not the dog, when I get back to Chicago. He’ll like him for his own sweet sake. Now, what do bears eat? Who knows?”
“Honey!” chuckled Case. “They rob beehives, I had a picture of one tipping over a hive in my school reader. Why don’t you call him honey?”
“No, sir; Teddy is his name,” replied Alex. “Come, now, you fellows, tell me what to feed him. Will he eat fish, do you think?”
“The Lincoln park bears eat fish,” Gran answered. “I’ve seen ’em.”
“They are polar bears,” Case explained. “The other bears eat bread and nuts and acorns. I’ve seen the black bears dip their bread in the pool and eat it in that way. Feed him pancakes, just for fun.”
So Alex seized a pancake from the table and held it under the nose of the bear. The cub seemed to take more pleasure in the “just for fun” experiment than the boy did, for he seized the cake and a good share of the hand that held it out to him.
Alex yelled for him to let go and gave him a cuff on the nose. The skin was not broken on his fingers, but the bear’s teeth had made indentations which were a trifle sore. Teddy devoured the pancake greedily and looked about for more. The boys threw him pieces, and he soon became so tame that he would put his paw on their laps and ask for food.
For a few days Captain Joe seemed to resent the intrusion of this new pet, but Alex so Case declared, explained to the dog that he, himself, had saved the cub’s life by riding him on his back, and after that there was peace between the two.
Teddy did indeed like honey, and everything sweet, for more than once he emptied the sugar bowl, and the very next forenoon he consumed half a pumpkin pie which Gran was saving for dinner. The cook rebuked him for this with a club, and Teddy was more careful after that.
Contrary to expectations, the mother did not make her appearance, and Teddy sailed away the next morning without a formal farewell—and seemed pleased with his new quarters and his new friends. Before many days he became a great pet with all the boys, though he always made unusual protestations of firm friendship to whoever was doing the cooking!