Dido thought he never had been so thirsty. His mouth was hot, and his tongue was dry. That was worse than being hungry. All day long he had no water, though he whined for it as he had whined when he was a little baby bear and wanted his mother to feed him.
On the second day the big man opened a little hole in the trap. Dido quickly put out his head—that was all he could put out. The man reached his hand toward Dido, who growled good and hard.
“Quiet now! Quiet!” said the man. “I won’t hurt you. Here is some water for you to drink.” He put down a basin of water where Dido could reach it, and the smell of that water was so good to Dido that he drank it even while the man was standing near. And as the bear drank the man patted him on the head and spoke softly to him. This time Dido did not growl, for he liked to be petted. But, best of all, he liked the water.
Then the hole in the cage was closed again, and Dido was left alone. He was getting quite hungry now, but there was nothing to eat. He had eaten all the honey, and licked clean the boards where it had been.
“Oh, how I wish I had some red berries or sweet roots,” thought the little bear cub. And just then he smelled something that made his nose quiver. It was fish.
“Oh, I wonder if my father has come for me and brought me a fish from the blue lake?” Dido asked himself.
But when the little hole in the trap was opened Dido saw the big man. Dido growled, and then he was sorry, for he saw the man holding out a piece of fish to him.
“I guess you’ll soon be tame,” said the man. “Come now, be a nice bear.” Then Dido ate the fish, and had more water to drink.
For nearly a week Dido was kept in the cage. Each day the man came to feed and water him, and the man always patted the bear cub on the head and spoke kindly to him. After a while Dido did not mind the man-smell at all. He got rather to like it, and to like the man who fed him. So that, in a few days, when the man opened the big door of the trap, and let Dido come out, the bear cub did not try to run away.
For he saw no place to which he could run. There were no woods, just a big barn, the doors of which were closed. Besides, Dido thought if he ran away he would get no more fish or water.