Father Bear and Bobby Bear.

by Howard B. Famous.

THE BEARS' CAVE

Over where the sun sank to rest every night like a great ball of fire, there lived three brown bears.

There was Father Bear, with a great, gruff voice. And Mother Bear, whose voice, while not so loud nor so gruff as father's, yet was not nice for little boys and girls to hear. And there was little Bobby Bear. His voice was sweet, for he was very young.

All of the bears had lovely, brown skins. When the sun shone on them they looked like rich, brown velvet. And when they were curled up, asleep, they looked like great b.a.l.l.s of brown fur.

The bears' eyes were big, and round, and black as coals.

They had great, strong claws on all their paws.

With bears, you know, hands and feet are very much alike, and are called forefeet and hindfeet--or front feet and back feet. So instead of finger nails and toe nails they have claws.

But you are anxious to know something about Bobby Bear's home. It was in a great, gloomy cave. Only the front part had the sunshine.

Away in the back part it was dark, pitch dark, like night.

The bears didn't mind this, of course, for when night came, instead of reading books like children and grown-ups, they just went right off to sleep.

BOBBY GROWS UP

Bobby Bear was growing to be a big bear, fast. Soon he would be a big-boy bear.

Most of the time he stayed at home with Mother Bear, helping her in the house when he wasn't playing.

It wasn't much fun for Bobby Bear to play. He had no other little bears for company. So he had to play and pretend bears were with him.

He would say, "You sit there, Little Gray Bear," or "Now, Little Black Bear, you be quiet."

One day Bobby Bear wandered down by the river, lonesome and sad. The rippling waters seemed to say to him that some day he would have a little playmate, just like little human children had.

And when he was in the forest he would stop and listen to the whispering of the trees. They, too, seemed to tell of the time when a little girl would bring a great joy to him--poor, lonely, little Bobby Bear.

So, in his own way--the way that all bears have of thinking--he felt sure that some day he would not be lonely any more, nor quiet, nor sad.

It may have been that very day, while Bobby Bear wandered in the forest, that Jane Bird was thinking of him, too. Such things do sometimes happen.

You see, Jane Bird lived with her father and mother, near the great forest where the Bear family made their home.

Jane Bird played with the other little children who lived near. Such fun as they had--running, jumping, skipping. And they played "school," and "keeping house," and pretended they were grown-up people. The days were full of laughter and of joy.

Neither Jane Bird's father, nor Jane Bird's mother nor, of course, Jane Bird herself, knew of what was soon going to happen.

They should have feared something, though, for one evening, just at dusk, when the sun was going down, away over by the dark woods, could have been seen three great forms. These were the bears going home to their cave.

BOBBY BEAR HAS TO HELP IN THE HOUSE

Early one morning, Bobby was wakened by his mother who called sharply: "Come, it is time to get up. You know you must help me with the dishes today. If you want to go with your father to get some corn you must look sharp."

My, but Bobby was sleepy, for he had walked so far in the woods the day before that he was quite tired out. So when his mother called him, instead of jumping right out of bed as he usually did, he turned over and went to sleep again.

Ten minutes later, his mother went into his bedroom to see if he was nearly dressed. Imagine how annoyed she was to find him still asleep.

"Bobby, Bobby, get up at once. I will not call you again. Your father is all ready to go, and you cannot go with him until you have helped me around the house."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "BOBBY, BOBBY, GET UP AT ONCE"]

At this Bobby Bear jumped right up, for he had been looking forward to the trip to the place where the corn grew. Besides he always liked to go walking with his father because he loved him so much.

It was a beautiful morning and Bobby soon forgot how tired he was when he saw the fine breakfast his mother set before him. But when, breakfast over, he saw the pile of dishes and knew he had to wash all those before he could go on his trip, he could not help crying.

Bobby Bear didn't like washing dishes.

The tears would come somehow and there was a big lump in his throat which seemed to be there all the time although he swallowed it over and over again.

"Now, my boy," cried his father, "how much longer are you going to be? I have almost finished my pipe. Just as soon as I am through smoking I am going to start."

Bravely forcing back his tears, Bobby Bear hurried with the drying of the dishes which by this time were all washed.

A few minutes later, he cried joyfully: "All through! Now we're ready to go," and he began to jump up and down, so pleased was he.

"Wait, my boy, till I fill my pipe, for we have a long way to go."

Father Bear took the little tobacco bag from his trouser pocket, filled his pipe, pushed the tobacco down with his thumb and, striking a match, was soon puffing away contentedly.

Bobby, meanwhile, was so glad to be going for a walk with his father, that he was skipping merrily about, just like a little dog.

"You seem glad this morning," said Father Bear. Then, with a glance at Mother Bear, who was standing by smiling he added: "Perhaps it is because you're all through with your house work, eh?"

At this, Bobby Bear grew red in the face, for after all just washing dishes wasn't much help to his mother with the housework.

He asked timidly, "Mother, perhaps before I go, I should help you some more."

At this, both Father Bear and Mother Bear smiled. "Oh no, my boy,"

said his mother kindly. "You have helped me quite a lot as it is and I am very willing to have my little Bobby Bear run off now and enjoy himself."