Now the teacher had never heard of Mr. Sandford’s bear. He was not aware that one was kept in the village. He supposed that this one had strayed from the forest, and was dangerous. Alas! that I should record it—instead of bravely turning, and facing the animal, Theophilus turned pale with terror, and exerting his long limbs to the utmost, fled incontinently, shooting ahead of the boys, whom he didn’t pause to rescue, coattails flying, and, having lost his hat in his flight, with his red hair waving in the wind.
When John and Julius saw the tall figure speeding before them, and saw the panic into which their eminent{152} instructor had been thrown through their mischievous means, a sense of the ridiculous so overcame them that they sank down in the path, convulsed with laughter. But Mr. Slocum didn’t see this, for he never stopped till he had run half a mile, when he bolted into the village store, panting and out of breath, and answered the eager inquiries of the men who were congregated there, by giving an alarming account of a ferocious bear which had closely pursued him for two miles.
“Is it Sandford’s bear?” asked one of his auditors.
“Does Mr. Sandford keep a bear?” asked Theophilus.
“Yes; he has a large one. But it is quite tame. It wouldn’t hurt a child.”
“Why,” said the teacher, bewildered, “Mr. Sandford’s son, John, was running away from him. Julius Taylor was with him. They told me that a bear was after them, and asked me to save them.”
Mr. Slocum was hardly prepared for the laugh which followed. The joke was understood at once.
“I think, Mr. Slocum,” said the storekeeper, “that the boys were playing a trick upon you. They probably let out the bear just after you passed by. You didn’t stop to save them, did you?”
“No,” stammered Theophilus, beginning to look foolish, for he, too, understood the joke now, and saw that it would be hard to reconcile his conduct this evening with his bravery as a boy.{153}
For almost the first time in his life he had absolutely nothing to say. He left the store, and retraced his steps in the hope of finding his hat. In this he was successful, but neither John, Julius, nor the bear was visible. The boys were in Mr. Sandford’s barn, laughing over the joke, and beginning to wonder whether Mr. Slocum would say anything about it in school the next day.{154}