“Ha! No!” laughed George. “Dido would never climb up to bite or scratch you. He is too good a bear for that. He is just climbing the pole, as that is one of his tricks.”
“What! Is this a trick bear? Is he tame?” asked the man high up on the pole.
“Of course he is tame,” said George.
“And he won’t hurt me?”
“Not a bit. He just wants to be friends with you.”
“Oh, then I am very sorry,” said the lineman quickly.
“Sorry for what?” asked Tom, curiously.
“That I threw my screwdriver and my pliers at your bear,” answered the man on the telegraph pole. “I hit him on the nose. I thought he was a wild bear after me, or I never would have done it. I did not see any men with him.”
“Well, I guess Dido will forgive you for hitting him,” spoke George. “Come on down, Dido, if the man is afraid of you.”
“Oh, I am not afraid any more,” the telephone man said, laughing.