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[Pg 29] <h2>HOW "LITTLE-CUB-BEAR-THAT-WOULD-NOT-MIND-HIS-PAPA" WAS NEARLY DROWNED AMONG THE LOGS</h2> "Just on the edge of the stream which flowed by the saw-mill where the 'Little-Cub-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa' lived, there was a pond of still water, and in this pond there were a great many logs that floated down from the forest away up the river. These logs were in this pond waiting to be sawed up into boards and timber, to be used in building houses. Now, this was a very dangerous place for little boys, and for little bears. The Papa Bear had told his little son never to go out on the logs, and the little fellow had promised that he never would go out on the logs. But, day after day, the little Cub Bear saw men going out on the logs with long sticks that had big spikes in the end of them, and long sticks with hooks on the end of them; and they pushed the logs here and there, to bring them over to the saw-mill, where they were hoisted into the mills by great chains, and then were moved over in front of a great saw to be sawed into lumber. "As the little Cub Bear watched these men every day he would think how easy it was, and how nice it was to ride around on those logs, and to step[Pg 30] from one log to another, and how foolish his papa was to tell him not to go down on the logs, when it was so easy. "One day after watching the men for a long while, the little Cub Bear thought he would go down very, very carefully and walk out on one of the logs, and this he did. There he waited for a long while, sitting on the log. It was great fun, and didn't hurt at all, so finally he stepped over on to another log, and then on to another. My! how he enjoyed it. The little bear felt sure that his papa had make a great mistake in telling him to keep off the logs. "Just then, as the little bear stepped from one log to another, both logs rolled, and down he went into the water. But he didn't mind that much because he could swim very well. The little bear swam to the surface as quickly as he could, but instead of getting his head out of the water, he bumped his head into the logs, for the surface of the water was all covered with floating logs. "Then the little bear saw why his papa had told him never to play on the logs, because if he once fell into the river, he was very apt to be drowned. The little Cub Bear didn't give up and drown like that. He began to swim as hard as he could, and held his breath as long as he could, and after he had swum just as far as he possibly could, he came up to the surface again, and this time his[Pg 31] nose came out between two logs, and there was just room enough for his nose to get up out of the water, so he had a chance to breath again. And oh, how good it seemed. And he took such long, deep breaths, and it seemed as though he could never get enough air. Then he thought he would see if he couldn't find a way out, and he tried and tried, but there wasn't room between the logs for his head to come up out of the water. He couldn't even get his eyes above the surface of the water, and so he couldn't see where he was. Pretty soon the logs began to move closer and closer together, and then he knew if he stayed where he was he would surely be killed. So he took a long breath, just as deep a breath as he could. "Can you take a long, deep breath, little Cub Bear?" (And the little Cub Bear said, "Yes, papa," and he took a long, deep breath to show his papa how the little bear breathed when he just had his nose above the water.) "Then the little bear dropped down again under the water, and he swam as hard and fast as he could, hoping that the next time he came up he might possibly find another place where he could breathe. He knew that if he did not, he surely would be drowned and would never see his papa again. "When the little Cub Bear came up, he found a place just big enough for his nose, and again he[Pg 32] took a very long breath, and waited until the logs began to come together again, then he dropped down and swam under the logs. And as he was swimming he could feel the logs scrape his back, and he knew that he was still underneath the great log raft. "Finally, just as he had to breathe anyway, whether he breathed water and drowned, or breathed air and lived, he saw a little light place under the water where the light shone down between the logs and he swam to the surface, and this time his whole head came out of the water, and he got a deep breath of fresh air, and another and another, but he couldn't get out. He stayed there, and pretty soon he found that the logs were moving apart just a little bit at a time, so that his head could come up farther and farther. And finally he got his whole back out of the water. Then the logs moved so that the little bear was able to crawl clear out of the water; and there he lay on the logs, tired out, and it was a long, long time before he could move or walk or do a thing. He was terribly frightened. But after a while, he managed to walk clear to the shore on the logs, and he was very careful not to fall in the water again. He walked home and lay down and went to sleep. His papa came home after a while with something to eat for supper. He shook the little bear, but the little bear was so tired he didn't[Pg 33] wake up. And so his papa let him sleep all night." When the Papa Bear had finished telling his little cub the story about the "Little-Cub-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa," he said: "Little Cub Bear, what do you think of this story?" And our little Cub Bear scratched his head, and thought quite a long while, and then he said, "I think it is best to try, try again, and not to give up too easily, or you might get drowned." The Papa Bear said, "I think so, too, little Cub Bear. Now, run to bed and go to sleep." So the little bear went to bed, and went to sleep. During the night he seemed to be dreaming. He moved his paws just as though he was swimming, and then he snorted like a whale, and took long, deep breaths, and then he moved his paws again, and then he breathed deep breaths again, and finally he sighed a great sigh, and slept quietly. The little bear was dreaming about something? Can you guess what it was? The next morning the little Cub Bear waked up early and wondered if any other animal would come from the circus. He rubbed his eyes and listened. Just then he heard a sound of small hoofs pattering along the path. The little Cub Bear ran to the mouth of the cave and looked down to see what it was, and he saw something white. He said: "I see something coming up the path. It looks[Pg 34] something like a sheep, but has long, straight horns, and it has a beard, and long, straight hair." Just then the owl saw the animal, and said, "Who-o-o? who-o-o?" And the animal answered, "Ba-a-a, ba-a-a." And the Circus Bear said, "I know who that is; that is Billy the goat;" and just then the goat came to the mouth of the den, and the little Cub Bear said, very politely, "Come in, Mr. Goat," and the goat came in, and he looked around and saw the Circus Bear and the big bears. The little Cub Bear said to him, "Mr. Goat, we are going to try to build a house large enough for all the animals, so if they come to see us we will have a place for them to stay." And the goat said, "I will be very glad to help you in any way I can, because your brother was very good to me when we were in the circus." And the little Cub Bear said, "What can you do?" And the goat said, "I don't know. I can butt like everything." And then the little Cub Bear said, "Well, there is a very soft place in the ground, perhaps you can knock some of the dirt and rocks down, so we can carry it out and make more room." And then the goat said, "All right;" and he butted, and he butted, and he butted, and knocked down more dirt, and they carried it out, and he kept on and butted and butted and butted, and[Pg 35] when he got through butting, there was a fine large room. And the Cub Bear said, "Thank you. We will call this room Billy's room. I am very glad that my brother was good to Billy when he was in the circus, because if he hadn't been, maybe Billy would have butted me instead of the rocks." The animals worked hard all that day trying to make the cave bigger. They scratched and dug the dirt, and the rocks, and worked as hard as they possibly could, for they were sure that soon the animals would be there and the cave would not be large enough. At night they all sat down and rested, and just as soon as the Papa Bear was seated, the little Cub Bear ran over to him and asked for another story about the "Little-Cub-Bear-that-would-not-mind-his-papa." The Papa Bear was very tired, but he loved the dear little cub, and so he began the story: <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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