<h2>CHAPTER XXIV<br/> <small>BOXER STARTS OUT TO GET EVEN</small></h2>
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<div class="poetry">
<div class="stanza">
<div class="verse">Wait a minute; count the cost.</div>
<div class="verse">Wasted time is time that’s lost.</div>
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<div class="stanza">
<div class="verseright"><i>Mother Bear.</i></div>
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<p><span class="smcap">Boxer</span> lay curled up in a corner
of the bedroom under the great
windfall, and there he sulked and
sulked and sulked and tried to
make himself believe he was the
worst treated little Bear in all the
Great World. But sulking all
alone isn’t any fun at all. No one
can truly enjoy being sulky, with
no one to see it. So in spite of
himself Boxer was soon wondering
what Woof-Woof and Mother Bear
were doing. He had seen them<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</SPAN></span>
start off toward the Laughing Brook
and though he wouldn’t own up to
it, even to himself, he wished that
he was with them. He dearly
loved to play along the Laughing
Brook.</p>
<p>When he could stand it no longer,
Boxer stole out to the entrance and
poked his head out from under the
great windfall. There he stood for
the longest time looking, listening,
smelling. Everything looked just
as usual. There were no strange
sounds. The Merry Little Breezes
brought him no new smells. There
were no signs of Mother Bear and
Woof-Woof. He didn’t know
whether they had gone up the
Laughing Brook or down the
Laughing Brook. He tried to pretend<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</SPAN></span>
that he didn’t care where they
were or what they were doing.</p>
<p>But he didn’t succeed. You
know it isn’t often you can really
and truly fool yourself. You may
fool other people, but not yourself.
So after a while Boxer gave up trying
to pretend he didn’t care. And
then sulkiness gave way to temper,
bad temper.</p>
<p>“I-I-I’ll go way, way off in the
Great World and never come back.
Then I guess Mother Bear and
Woof-Woof will be sorry and wish
they had been good to me,” muttered
Boxer.</p>
<p>He stood up for an instant to
look and listen. Then that silly
little Bear scampered off as fast as
he could go, without paying any<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</SPAN></span>
attention at all to his direction.
His one thought was to get as far
as possible from the great windfall
before Mother Bear should return.
He would show Mother Bear that
he was too big to be spanked and
sent to bed. He would show Woof-Woof
that he could take care of
himself and didn’t need to tag along
after Mother Bear.</p>
<p>So Boxer ran and ran until his
little legs grew tired. The only
use he made of his eyes was to keep
looking behind him to see if Mother
Bear was after him. Not once did
he use them to take note of the way
in which he was going. So it was
that when at last he stopped, because
his legs ached and he was out
of breath, Boxer was as completely<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</SPAN></span>
lost as a little Bear could be. He
didn’t know it then, but he was.
He was to find it out later.</p>
<p>“Now,” said Boxer, talking to
himself as he rested, “I guess
Mother Bear will be sorry she
spanked me. And I guess Woof-Woof
will wish she hadn’t laughed
at me and made fun of me. Maybe
they’ll be so sorry they’ll cry. If
they come to look for me, I’ll hide
where they won’t ever find me.
Then they’ll be sorrier than ever
and I’ll be even with them. I
won’t go home until I am as big as
my father, Buster Bear. Then I
guess they’ll treat me nice.”</p>
<p>So Boxer rested and planned the
wonderful things he would do out
in the Great World and was glad<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</SPAN></span>
he had run away from home. You
see, it was very pleasant there in
the Green Forest, and after all, if
he really wanted to, he could go
back home. That is what he
thought, anyway. You see, he
hadn’t the least idea yet that he
was lost.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</SPAN></span>
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