"Do you think I'm a great fighter?"
"Of course you are. Omnok says—" Huskie caught himself just in time. If Big White Bear knew all about Omnok, he'd run away.
"Why, I never fight anybody," said Big White Bear gravely.
"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Huskie. "That's a good story. You never fight any one. What a fib!"
"It's the truth."
"The truth? Ha! Ha! Of course that's not true. You're a bear. All bears are fighters, and great big bullies, besides! Why! I bet you've got claws three inches long."
"You think so?" Big White Bear put out his front paw which was as big as the trunk of a small tree. Huskie dodged.
"Look," said Big White Bear.
Huskie looked at Big White Bear's claws. They were not as long as his own. They were broad and blunt, just sharp enough for climbing over the ice.
"I don't know why they name me Bear," said Big White Bear; "Old Buster Grizzly, Buster Brown, and Buster Black, now, are very distant relatives of mine. Indeed, they have long claws and are great fighters. But my nearest relative, Tusks, the Walrus, is no fighter at all, and believe me, neither am I."