All this time the mowing-machine kept up a click-clack-click-clack!
And Cuffy thought that he had better get out of sight.
So he plunged into the forest and started toward home.
He felt very uncomfortable, for he began to wonder
whether he would ever get rid of that troublesome
pot. What puzzled him most was this thought:
How would he ever be able to eat again, with that
horrid thing over his nose? Cuffy was very fond
of riddles; but here was one that he did not like at
all.
When he reached home his father and mother and Silkie
all laughed so hard at the sight of him that Cuffy
began to whimper. And a big tear rolled from
each eye, ran down the bean-pot, and dropped off the
bottom of it.
And then, with just one tug Mr. Bear pulled the bean-pot
off his son’s nose; and Cuffy was himself again.
He escaped a punishing, too, that time. And Mrs.
Bear was very glad to get such a nice iron pot.
She had wanted one for a long time.
HUNTING FOR A BEE-TREE
It was a very hot summer’s day. Even up
on Blue Mountain Cuffy Bear felt the heat. And
he wished that he might get rid of his thick coat.
But though Cuffy was beginning to believe himself
a very wise little bear, he could think of no way
to slip off his heavy black fur. So he sat down
in the shade of a big tree, where the breeze blew upon
him, and tried to be as cool as he could.
Except when he was asleep it was not often that Cuffy
was still for so long. But now he sat motionless
for some time, with his bright red tongue hanging
out of his mouth like a dog’s. Yes, he was
quite still—all but his little, beady,
bright eyes. They kept moving about all the
time. And they saw many things, for something
or other is always happening in the forest.
Cuffy saw a gray squirrel stick its head up from the
crotch of a tree nearby and peep at him. And
he watched a wary old crow as he rested high in a
tree-top and cawed a greeting to some of his friends
who were flying past on their way to Farmer Green’s
cornfield. And Cuffy noticed a bee as it lighted
on a wild-flower right in front of him and sucked
the sweetness out of it. But Cuffy didn’t
pay much attention to that. And since he soon
began to feel cooler he was just wondering what he
would do next when it occurred to him that several
bees had lighted upon the flowers near him, and that
they had all flown off in the same direction.
All at once Cuffy forgot how hot and uncomfortable
he had been; for now he was wondering if those bees
weren’t all of them flying home to make honey
out of the sweet juices they had drawn from the flowers.
And if they were—and if he could only follow
them—then he would find the tree where
they lived and he could have all the honey he wanted
to eat.
So Cuffy followed on a little way in the direction
in which the bees had disappeared. And then he
sat down again and waited and watched very carefully.
