Now you know a bear's nose is his most tender part. You could hit him on his head, or on his back, or on his paw—that is if you were brave enough to hit a bear at all—but you would not hurt him, hardly any, unless you hit him right on the end of his soft and tender nose. That's the best place to hit a bear if you want to drive him away, out of your tent, or anything like that. Hit him on the nose.
"Whack!" went Mrs. Brown's shoe on the end of the bear's nose.
"Wuff!" grunted the bear, and down he dropped on all four paws.
Now Mrs. Brown really did not mean to hit the bear. She was just tossing her shoe over the curtain so her husband might have something to throw at the bear, and, as it happened, she hit the bear by accident.
Of course it might have been better if one of Mr. Brown's shoes had hit the bear. I mean it would have been better for the Brown family, but worse for the bear. Because Mr. Brown's shoes were larger and heavier than his wife's. But then, it turned out all right anyhow.
For, no sooner did the bear feel Mrs. Brown's shoe hit him on the nose, than he cried out:
"Wuff!"
Then he turned quickly around, and ran out of the tent.
"Did you throw my shoe at him? Did you make him go away?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Because if you didn't, Walter, I've found my other shoe now, and I'll throw that to you."
"You won't need to, my dear," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. "One shoe was enough. You hit the bear yourself!"