The Tale of Cuffy Bear Page 2

  VII

  THE ICE GOES OUT OF THE RIVER

  Farmer Green had taken his sap-buckets off the maple trees and _that_meant the spring was fast going. At least, that was what Mr. Bear said.And Cuffy noticed that every day there was a little less snow than therehad been the day before.

  "The ice will soon go out," Mr. Bear said to Cuffy's mother at breakfastone morning, "and then when I cross Pleasant Valley I shall have to swimthe river."

  Cuffy knew that his father meant Swift River. In summer Cuffy could lookdown from Blue Mountain and see the stream as it flashed through thevalley.

  "Will the ice go out of the river to-day?" Cuffy asked.

  "Well, now--" Mr. Bear said, "it might. And then again, it might not."Mr. Bear never said a thing was _so_ unless he was sure of it.

  Now, Cuffy thought it would be great fun to go down into the valley andfind out for himself if the ice really did go out. He had an idea thatit caused a terrific splitting and crashing and thundering noise and hethought that perhaps some fish would be tossed up on the bank and thenhe would have a good lunch.

  When Mr. Bear had gone off down the mountain, "to see a bear," as heexplained to his wife, little Cuffy sneaked away from the house. Hismother was making the beds, and Silkie was pretending to help her. Now,nobody _sneaks_ unless he knows he is doing something wrong. Cuffy knewthat his parents would not let him go down into the valley alone, so hewent without asking. And when he did at last come to the river therewas ice along both banks; but between them ran a broad stream of swiftwater.

  "The ice must have gone out in the night," Cuffy said to himself. And helooked about in the hope of finding some fish on the banks. But not onefish could he find.

  He was disappointed. And he crept out onto the ice as far as he could goand peeped over the edge into the water. He thought maybe he could atleast catch a fish with his paw.

  Cuffy lay quite still for a long time. And then at last to his delighthe saw a fish right before him. He made a quick reach for it. And thenthere was a sharp _crack!_ The ice tipped and Cuffy clung to it with allhis claws to keep from falling into the river. He backed away from theedge and looked around. The bank was moving past him. He had never seensuch a thing and he was surprised.

  Then he gave a cry which sounded in his throat like _"Oug!"_ and endedwith _"I-s-s-s!"_ through his nose. It meant that Cuffy was frightened.For he saw that the ice he was on had broken away and was floatingrapidly down the stream.

  He had not caught the fish, either. But he forgot all about that now.

  VIII

  CUFFY LEARNS TO SWIM

  Yes! Cuffy Bear was floating down the river on a cake of ice! How hewished he had been a good little bear and stayed at home, instead ofrunning away to the river all alone! He was huddled up in a little blackheap in the center of the cake, and crying as if his heart would break.For Cuffy thought he would never see his mother and father and Silkieagain. If only he knew how to swim, like his father! But he didn't; andthere he was, being swept away down the valley, right toward FarmerGreen's house. It certainly was enough to make anybody weep.

  When Cuffy thought about Farmer Green he was more frightened than everand he began to scream. He remembered all the dreadful things he hadheard about men and the things they do to little bears.

  Pretty soon Cuffy saw something move up on the bank ahead of him. And hestopped screaming. He was afraid that it was Farmer Green himself and hethought he had better keep still. Then perhaps Farmer Green wouldn't seehim. But to his dismay the big black thing began to slide down the steepbank right toward the river.

  Cuffy's heart seemed to stand still. He shut his eyes tight and tried tomake himself as small as he could. And he hardly breathed.

  Then somebody called his name. Cuffy was so surprised that he looked up,and there was his father standing on the edge of the stream. Cuffy was_so_ glad to see him!

  Mr. Bear seemed very cross, but Cuffy did not mind that, he was _so_glad to see his father.

  "Oh, Father! What shall I do?" Cuffy cried.

  Mr. Bear said just one word. It was _"Jump!"_

  Cuffy could hardly believe his ears.

  _"Jump!"_ said Mr. Bear again.

  "I don't know how to swim," Cuffy whined.

  _"Jump, jump, jump!"_ Mr. Bear repeated very sternly.

  Still Cuffy did not jump. He was so afraid of that rushing water!

  Then Mr. Bear became very, very angry. He gave a great roar and plungedinto the icy water. With a few strong strokes--for Mr. Bear was a fineswimmer--he reached the middle of the river. And as he swam close up toCuffy he reached out and gave that naughty, frightened little bear ashove that sent him flying into the stream.

  Cuffy started to scream. But his shriek was cut off short as he sank,head and all, into the cold, cold river. In another moment his nose cameup out of the water. It was only an instant, but to Cuffy it seemed along, long time before he could breathe again. And now, to his greatsurprise, he found that he was swimming as well as his father.

  Now, little bears are different from little boys and girls. They don'thave to _learn_ to swim. Cuffy didn't know it. But his father did. Thatwas why Mr. Bear told him to jump. He knew that as soon as Cuffy foundhimself in the water he could swim as well as anybody.

  In another minute Cuffy and his father were safe on the bank, and inanother second after that they were running toward home as fast as Cuffycould go, so they wouldn't take cold, you know.

  Cuffy had to go to bed for the rest of the day, as a punishment. And ashe lay on his little bed he could hear his father and mother laughing inthe next room. He didn't see how they could laugh. But you know, Cuffydidn't realize how funny he had looked, floating down the river on thecake of ice.

  IX

  A SURPRISE

  One day Cuffy Bear and his little sister Silkie had been making sandpies. And now, having grown tired of that, they were squatting down onthe ground and had covered their legs with the clean white sand. Perhapsthey would have heaped the sand all over themselves, if Silkie had notspied her father as he came climbing up the mountain. When they noticedthat he was carrying something they both sprang up and ran to see whatMr. Bear was bringing home.

  Mr. Bear's mouth was stretched quite wide in what Silkie and Cuffy knewto be his most agreeable smile. You and I might not have felt socomfortable if we had looked past Mr. Bear's great white teeth into hisbig red mouth. But it was different with Cuffy and Silkie. They saw atonce that their father was feeling very pleasant.

  "What's that?" Silkie asked. As for Cuffy, he had not stopped to ask anyquestions. He was already smelling of the small white animal his fatherhad, and he poked it gently with his paw. He had not forgotten about theporcupine. But this strange animal seemed quite harmless. It was coveredwith things that looked a little bit like quills, only they were ever somuch shorter and smaller. And Cuffy found that they were much softer,too, for they did not prick him at all.

  "What is it?" This time it was Cuffy who asked.

  "You'll see," Mr. Bear said again.

  "Is it a new kind of rabbit?" Silkie inquired.

  "Huh! A rabbit!" Cuffy laughed. "Of course it isn't a rabbit," he said.

  "Well--it's white, and its tail is short--" Silkie began, "and--"

  "Its ears are too small," Cuffy told her, "and its tail is all curledup."

  "You'll see, children," Mr. Bear said again. "It's a surprise."

  "A surprise!" Cuffy and Silkie both shouted. They thought that was thename of the--oh! I almost told what the little animal really was.

  Well! As Mr. Bear walked on toward his house, Cuffy and Silkie ran aheadand burst in upon their mother, both of them shouting at the top oftheir voices, "A surprise! A surprise! Father's bringing home asurprise!"

  "Why, Ephraim Bear!" Mrs. Bear exclaimed, as soon as she saw herhusband. "Wherever did you get that lovely little pig?"

  There--now you know what it was that Mr. Bear had.

  "It came from Farmer Green's, my dear," Mr. Be
ar said. "I rememberedthat this was your birthday, and so I thought I would bring homesomething 'specially nice, so that we could have a real feast."

  Cuffy and Silkie had never eaten any pig before. And when there wasnothing left of the surprise except a few bones, Cuffy couldn't helpwishing that every day could be a birthday.

  X

  CUFFY CLIMBS BLUE MOUNTAIN

  Cuffy Bear had never been very far up Blue Mountain beyond the placewhere his father's house nestled among the evergreens. You know, thesummer before he had been a very small little bear indeed, and thehigher one goes up Blue Mountain the harder the climbing becomes. Butnow Cuffy was growing very fast; and he was able to scramble up placeshe could never have even crept a year ago. Each day now Cuffy climbed alittle nearer the top of Blue Mountain. And at last the day came when hereached the very top. It was so high that the trees did not grow there.He found nothing but rocks everywhere, with just a little earth to fillthe cracks.

  Cuffy thought it great fun to clamber about all by himself and look downat the hills and valleys that stretched away in all directions. Indeed,he hated to leave that delightful spot. But he noticed that the sun wasgetting low in the west and he knew that he must hurry home. So Cuffystarted down the mountainside.

  He did not pick out the easiest way to go. Oh, no! He chose the verysteepest places to slide down. And as he went slipping down the steepestcliff of all he came upon something that gave him a great surprise. Forhe saw, built right in the crack of a ledge, a big bird's nest made ofsticks. It was the biggest bird's nest Cuffy had ever seen; and in itwere two great white eggs. They were the greatest white eggs Cuffy hadever seen, too.

  How lucky! At least, that was what Cuffy thought then. For he was veryfond of birds' eggs, and his climb had made him even hungrier thanusual. He stopped then and there and with one rap of the paw he brokeone of the eggs and began to eat it.

  Cuffy was enjoying his lunch very much. He had almost finished the firstegg and was just about to turn to the other when he heard a deafeningscream.

  Cuffy looked all around. He thought that perhaps there was a pig upthere on the mountain. But no! He couldn't see a thing. Then came thatcry again. This time it was louder. And it seemed to come from rightover Cuffy's head. He looked up then. And there was an enormous birddropping right down on top of him! It seemed to Cuffy that its wingsstretched as wide as the branches of the great pine tree in hisfather's front-yard. He never even dreamed that there could be as big abird in the whole world. And during that one instant that Cuffy's littlebeady bright eyes were turned upwards he saw that the great bird had awicked, hooked beak and claws that were as sharp as his own, and ever somuch longer.

  One look was enough for Cuffy. He turned and tumbled down the steepcliff, head over heels, with the eagle following him.

  XI

  MRS. EAGLE IS ANGRY

  Yes! It was an eagle's nest that Cuffy Bear had found, And Mrs. Eaglehad caught him eating her eggs. It was no wonder that she was wild withrage. And it was no wonder that Cuffy ran for his life.

  He landed in a heap at the foot of the first cliff, jumped up like aflash and in a twinkling he was rolling heels over head down anothercliff.

  Again Cuffy fell in a heap at the bottom. Again he jumped up. And againhe started to run. But this time, alas! Mrs. Eagle seized him. Shepounced down upon his back; and she sunk her claws right into Cuffy'sneck. Then Mrs. Eagle flapped her wings as hard as she could flap them.And Cuffy felt himself rising.

  Soon the earth was far, far beneath Cuffy. And he was the mostfrightened little bear you could imagine. He was afraid Mrs. Eagle woulddrop him, and that he would fall down, down, down onto the rocks below.And he was afraid that Mrs. Eagle wouldn't drop him, too. Because if shedidn't Cuffy felt only too sure that she would take him home and thatshe and Mr. Eagle would eat him for their dinner.

  You see, Cuffy Bear was in a sad fix. And for my part, when I firstheard of his plight I did not see how he was ever going to get out of italive.

  Well--this was what happened. Mrs. Eagle _did_ intend to take Cuffy homewith her and serve him up for dinner that very night At first, aftershe had seized Cuffy, she mounted higher and higher into the air, sothat she could at last swoop down on the top of the mountain, rightbeside her nest. But Cuffy was a very fat little bear. And soon Mrs.Eagle found that she had a heavy load. And it was only a few minutesbefore she discovered that she couldn't fly up any higher with Cuffy. Infact, she began to sink, little by little. Yes, Cuffy was so heavy thatas Mrs. Eagle grew tired his weight dragged her down toward the earthagain.

  Mrs. Eagle saw what was happening. But she didn't want to let Cuffy go.So she flew far out from the side of the mountain, hoping that she wouldsoon feel stronger. But all the time she kept growing weaker and weaker.And all the time she kept falling faster and faster, until all at onceMrs. Eagle was afraid that she would lose her balance and go tumblingdown onto the ground herself.

  She was still very angry. And she hated to lose the fine dinner she hadbeen counting on. But she saw nothing else to do but let go of CuffyBear. So she gave one last scream of rage; and the next instant Cuffyfelt himself dropping through the air like a stone.

  Now, Cuffy had shut his eyes tight, just as he did when he was driftingdown the river on the cake of ice; so he did not see what was happening.But as luck had it, when Mrs. Eagle let him go she was flying right overthe top of a big fir-tree. And as Cuffy fell, he dropped _plump!_ intothe branches, and down he went, crashing through the soft, springingboughs.

  Cuffy clutched wildly at the branches. And though he tumbled throughthem one after another, at last he managed to hold tight to a big limb.And then, after he had caught his breath again, he crept carefully downto the ground.

  He wondered where he was. The place had a strangely familiar look. Itseemed to Cuffy that he must have been there before. And then, as hepeered cautiously around, what should he see but the door of hisfather's house, right in front of him! Yes! Mrs. Eagle had dropped Cuffyright in his father's door-yard! And Cuffy wasn't even late for dinner.

  As he grew older Cuffy often went to the top of Blue Mountain. Butnever, so long as he lived, did he get home again so quickly.

  XII

  CUFFY BEAR GOES TO MARKET

  "Mother! When is my birthday?" Cuffy asked, a few days after his fatherhad brought home the little pig.

  "Why, your birthday comes on the day the wild geese begin to fly south,"Mrs. Bear said.

  "Is that soon?" Cuffy asked.

  "Bless you, no! Not for months and months!" his mother said.

  "And when is Silkie's?" he continued.

  "The day of the first snow," she told him.

  Cuffy knew that that was a long way off--not until summer had come andgone.

  "And Father's?" he inquired once more.

  Mrs. Bear shook her head.

  "Your father hasn't many birthdays," she said. "He was born on the dayof the great forest fire. It may be a long time before he has anotherbirthday. I hope so, anyhow," she added, "for a great forest fire is adreadful thing."

  Now you see, having a birthday like that is a good deal like being bornon the twenty-ninth of February, when you have a birthday only once infour years. Yes--it's a good deal like that, only worse. For you mayhave to wait years and years before another great fire comes. Youunderstand, of course, that having no clocks or calendars or anythinglike that, the wild animals can keep track of birthdays only byremembering things that happen.

  All this made Cuffy Bear feel very sad. He had been hoping that somemember of the family would have a birthday soon, and then perhaps hisfather would bring home another little pig for another nice feast. Butnow he saw that there was no chance of that happening for a long, longtime.

  Mrs. Eagle Rose Higher and Higher]

  Cuffy went out of doors then and thought and thought and thought. I'malmost ashamed to have to say it--he was planning to go down to FarmerGreen's and get another fat, tender, little pig like the one his fatherhad brou
ght home.

  Now, when a very young bear starts out to steal a pig there are manythings to think of. In the first place, there was Farmer Green, andFarmer Green's boy Johnnie, and Farmer Green's hired man. Cuffy knewthat he must be very, very careful not to meet them.

  To his great relief, when he had gone down into Pleasant Valley Cuffysaw all three ploughing in a field. They did not see him at all. And sohe felt very brave as he went on toward the farm buildings.

  Farmer Green's pig-pen was in a little, low building next the cow-barn.Cuffy had no trouble in finding it. And he walked inside quite boldlyand before you could have winked, almost, he had seized a little, whitepig in his mouth and was loping off across the barnyard.

  The pig had looked very small to Cuffy when he first saw and seized it.But now it seemed to be as many as twenty times bigger than Cuffy washimself. That was because the pig made the most frightful noise Cuffyhad ever heard in all his life. Cuffy felt as if he had a hundred pigsin his mouth, with their hundred snouts squealing right in his ears.Though Farmer Green was at least a mile away, Cuffy was sure he couldhear. Indeed, Cuffy thought that all the world must hear that dreadfulracket. And he was so frightened that he let go of the little pig andran away towards home as fast as he could jump.