“Get the children!” he shouted to Mrs.
Bear, as soon as he came in sight. And pretty
soon Cuffy and Silkie and their father and mother were
hurrying along on their way to the lake that lay on
the other side of the mountain.
Cuffy was delighted. He thought that perhaps
he would see the naughty little bear Peter again;
for he remembered that Peter lived around the mountain,
right where they were going.
They had travelled several miles when Mr. Bear stopped
suddenly. And he said, “Hah!” And
he looked up at the sky. Something had hit him
right in the eye. You might think that Mr. Bear
was angry. But no! He was very glad.
For it was a drop of rain that had fallen upon him.
And in a few minutes there were countless drops pattering
down. Yes, soon it was raining hard. And
to Cuffy’s great disappointment they all started
homewards again, for Mr. Bear knew that the rain would
soon put the fire out.
Mr. Bear had known all the time that his house wouldn’t
burn; for it was made of rock, and went straight into
the side of the mountain. But he knew that if
the woods all around caught fire it would be several
days before they could go out and get anything to
eat, or even a drink of water. And that was why
he had started to lead his family away.
When they were back in their house once more Cuffy
could think of only one thing that would make up for
his not having seen the small bear Peter again.
And he climbed up on his father’s knees and said—
“Will you go and get a little pig, Father?”
“A pig?” Mr. Bear exclaimed.
“Well, now—why on earth do you want
a pig? What would you do with a pig?”
“I’d eat it,” Cuffy answered promptly.
“It’s your birthday, you know. And
we ought to have a pig so we can have a real feast.”
Mr. Bear smiled. And pretty soon he went out
of the house. He was gone a long time. But
at last he came back again, fairly staggering beneath
the load that he carried.
When Cuffy saw what his father dropped down onto the
floor he hopped up and down in his delight. There
was no pig there, but Cuffy didn’t mind that.
For Mr. Bear had brought home four rabbits, and four
squirrels, and four porcupines, and four raccoons.
And Cuffy ate and ate until his skin grew so tight
that he was afraid it would burst. He ate all
of one rabbit, and one squirrel, and one raccoon.
But he never touched his porcupine at all. It
made him think of the time he had tried to kill a
porcupine himself, and had got his paws stuck full
of quills. But he had a real feast, just the
same.
CUFFY BEAR GROWS SLEEPY
