Public-domain ebook
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In: Children & Young Adult Reading·Adventure·American Literature
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #77049.
The opening · free to read
Two such roly-poly babies you never did see!
Mother Black Bear had named them Woof and Twinkly Eyes.—And you never in all your life met two such rollicking black balls of mischief as those two cubs!
Small wonder that Mother Black Bear needed such long black claws, long white teeth, and such a terrifying growl, with two such treasures to protect.
Why, she wouldn’t even let Father Black Bear come near them when they were so young, for fear some time they would plague him too far and make him lose his temper!
As the warm days of July ripened the blueberries along the slopes she used to lead the cubs down Mt. Olaf into the lowlands on berrying expeditions. And my! How they did enjoy these trips! How they stuffed themselves on the luscious fruit, snatching up great pawfuls of it, leaves and all, till their fuzzy sides rounded out like puff balls!
Then, too, there were often the most delicious sour-tasting ants under the logs and boulders that Mother Black Bear turned over for them! Life was one feast, what with the abundant food provided by Mother Black Bear herself and that found everywhere in the woods about them! Those cubs hadn’t a complaint to make!
True, they climbed right over one another in their eagerness to get the best of everything, and they growled little baby growls in imitation of their mother and squealed little piggish squeals of delight. But that was all a part of the game.
When there was nothing to eat in sight—or rather when they were too full to hold any more—they began to yawn and stretch and curl themselves up together like so many sleepy kittens.
Then when they had slept enough there were wrestling matches and boxing bouts and playing pranks on mother,—pulling her ears and clambering over her till she was forced to box their ears.
One lazy afternoon Twinkly was just nodding off to sleep, all curled up in a little fuzzy ball, when Woof came up from behind and gave him a shove. Now, as it happened, Twinkly had been lying at the top of a steep incline that led down to Lone Lake, and he went down that incline like a rubber ball, before ever Mother Black Bear could stop him. Bump—slide—splash!—and he plunged beneath the surface of the icy lake.
It is so wonderfully snug and comfy to be drowsing off on a warm afternoon, all curled up in a fuzzy little ball. So, at least, thought Twinkly Eyes, Mother Black Bear’s littlest cub.
But what an awful contrast to find oneself rolling down the bank like a rubber ball, till one came, bump, slide, splash, to the icy water!
And then to go down, down, down, gasping for breath and so horribly frightened that one thought the end had come!
It was certainly a terrible experience for the five-months-old cub, when his brother Woof gave him that mischievous shove!
Mother Black Bear was really frightened. Not that she was afraid of Lone Lake—not a good swimmer like Mother Black Bear; and not that she feared being unable to rescue the little fellow. But Mothers are always frightened when anything happens to their babies. Mother Black Bear was no exception.
She was just like any other mother in believing that her babies were the brightest and the handsomest and the most wonderful little creatures that anyone ever had.
So she didn’t even stop to think when she saw Twinkly’s little body rolling down the bank with its legs still wound around its nose. She just slid!—Afterwards there was a long trench where she had slid down that bank on her haunches!
She reached the water the very moment he did, and it wasn’t two seconds before she had plunged into the blue depths and grabbed the struggling youngster by the nape of his neck.
Dragging him straight back up the bank, she spread him out in the sunshine and began licking him dry, while he whimpered and coaxed for sympathy.
“This teaches you a lesson, young man,” she told him, when she had made sure he wasn’t hurt and wasn’t going to catch cold. “Never sleep on the edge of a bank. And Woof, don’t you ever again shove anyone over the bank like that,—not unless it’s someone you never want to see again,” and she gave Woof a good cuff on the ear to help him remember.
“But I’m glad, in one way, that this had to happen. Because it shows that you must learn to swim at once. Life is uncertain at best, in the woods, and you never can tell when you may need to know.”
“Ow! the water is too cold!” squealed Twinkly Eyes, backing away into the brush.
“We’ll go where it isn’t,” said Mother Black Bear firmly. “But we’re going this very afternoon. Come along!”
“Why don’t you?” asked Mother Black Bear, though she had quite made up her mind to give the cubs a lesson that very afternoon.
When Mother Black Bear had made up her mind to a thing, that was all there was to be said about it, so far as the cubs were considered.
Her word was law. Still, that did not prevent them from complaining at times. It is a certain amount of relief to complain, even when one knows it won’t do any good, isn’t it? At least the two cubs found it so.
“The water’s so-o-o-o cold,” wailed Twinkly Eyes, whose wet fur made him shiver.
“You won’t be cold, once you get to paddling about,” said Mother Black Bear. “Come on, quick! There’s a shallow place farther on where the sun has warmed the water.”
She led the way through the bushes, Woof trotting obediently at her heels. Twinkly tried to run away, but he didn’t get very far. Mother Black Bear quickly found his hiding place.
“Come!” she insisted away down deep in her throat, with that rumbly sound that the cubs knew meant business.
Since the accident she felt it was not safe to let another day go by without making sure that they could at least keep from drowning.
“Come here!” she growled to Twinkly in no uncertain tone. That small imp simply didn’t dare disobey!
Woods babies generally are that way, and it is a lucky thing for them, let me tell you, or no telling what would happen to them!
Puffing and panting as they tumbled after her, the fat cubs soon found their mother seated on her haunches beside a quiet pool, where the sun danced through the leaves till the water seemed all mottled. Tall ferns grew all about them and every now and again a frightened frog would say, “K’dunk!” and go splashing to the bottom of the pond.
“Twinkly Eyes, are you coming?”
“Now, then, just follow me,” said Mother Black Bear, when they had stared at the water for a moment. She waded off till she stood shoulder deep.
Twinkly braced himself firmly with all four feet and cocked one ear at the depths before him. His unexpected plunge when Woof had rolled him off the bank had shaken his faith in water, even for drinking purposes.
“Come!” commanded Mother Black Bear, and he knew he would have to wade in or get a good boxing. He whimpered, wondering which would be worse. He was a most unhappy little bear cub, for one so roly-poly!
Woof on the other hand, had waded in after his mother, and now—much to his own surprise—found his fat sides floating with just a stroke or two of his broad forepaws.
“Twinkly Eyes, are you coming?” called Mother Black Bear, wading back to where he stood.
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