The Tale of Cuffy Bear Page 3

  That squealing rang in his ears for a long time. And if Cuffy's fatherhad brought home a pig that night Cuffy couldn't have eaten a mouthfulof it. He never wanted to see or taste of a pig again. And you may besure he never wanted to _hear_ one, either.

  XIII

  HAYING-TIME

  After Cuffy Bear's adventure with Mrs. Eagle he did not stray far fromhome for several weeks. You can see, from that, that he had been badlyfrightened. Yes--just to look at a crow flapping through the air madeCuffy dizzy now; and nothing would have tempted him to go up themountain again.

  But Cuffy became very tired of playing near his father's house all thetime. And at last he wandered down into the valley one day. There wassomething down there that Cuffy wanted to see. You'd never guess whatit was; so I'll tell you. Cuffy Bear wanted to see a mowing-machine.You may think that was queer. But you see, it was summer now. Anddown in the valley Farmer Green was making hay as fast as ever hecould. Early and late there sounded far up the mountainside the_click-clack-click-clack_ of Farmer Green's mowing-machine.

  When he first heard it Cuffy Bear had been very much alarmed; and he hadcome running into the house in a great fright. But his mother explainedwhat the sound was. And after that Cuffy had been very curious to seethat wonderful machine, which was pulled back and forth through themeadows by horses, leaving behind it a broad path of grass which layflat on the ground.

  So that was the reason why Cuffy stole away from home. He felt that hesimply _must_ see a mowing-machine. Nothing but the sight of amowing-machine would make him happy. He was sure of that.

  Now, where Farmer Green's meadow met the forest, Cuffy paused. He hidbehind a tree and looked out over the field. The _click-clack_ soundedquite loud now. And from the other side of the meadow Cuffy could seetwo horses coming towards him. There was a man driving them. And Cuffythought that they must be drawing the mowing-machine. So he waitedquietly. And all the time the _click-clack-click-clack_ grew louder thanever. And pretty soon, as he peeped slyly around the tree, Cuffy Bearsaw the mowing-machine. It came delightfully close to him, stopped,turned about, and moved away again toward the opposite side of thefield.

  Cuffy gave a great sigh of satisfaction. He had seen a mowing-machine.He was glad that he had come down into the valley. He was not the leastbit sorry that he had disobeyed his parents and stolen away from home.

  Yes, Cuffy was feeling very happy as he went prowling along the borderof the forest. He crept in and out of the bushes that fringed thehay-field, and was having altogether a most pleasant time; until all atonce he stopped short. Cuffy's nose sniffed the air for a moment, andthe hairs on his back bristled just like those on a dog when he isstartled. Cuffy had caught a strange odor in the air.

  At first he was frightened. But after he had sniffed the air a few timeshe decided that whatever it was that he smelled, it had a good, pleasantodor, and made him think of something to eat.

  So Cuffy Bear began to nose about among the bushes. And presently hediscovered, hidden away beneath a clump of ferns, a basket of deliciousfood. It was the haymakers' lunch that Cuffy had found. And he lost notime. He began to eat as fast as he could. Yes--I am very sorry to saythat Cuffy actually _gobbled_ Farmer Green's lunch. And he was so greedythat a strange thing happened to him.

  XIV

  CUFFY LIKES BAKED BEANS

  Cuffy Bear found many good things in Farmer Green's lunch basket. Hebolted all the bread-and-butter, and the doughnuts; and he found thecustard pie to be about as enjoyable as any dainty he had ever tasted.And then, with his little black face all smeared with streaks of yellowcustard, Cuffy began to poke a small iron pot which stood in one cornerof the big basket. Presently the pot tipped over, its cover fell off,and soon Cuffy was devouring the daintiest dish of all! Baked beans! Ofcourse, he didn't know the name of those delicious, brown, mealykernels. But that made no difference at all to Cuffy. So long as heliked what he was eating the name of it never troubled him. The onlything that annoyed Cuffy now was that the pot was not bigger. There werestill a few beans which clung to the bottom; and try as he would, Cuffycould not reach them, even with his tongue.

  He was sitting on the ground, with the pot between his legs, and hisnose stuck into it as far as Cuffy could get it. But still he could notreach those beans in the bottom. And pretty soon Cuffy began to lose histemper. He stood up and gave a good, hard push against the ground. Andso he managed to squeeze his nose a little further into the bean-pot.And now, to his huge delight, he could just reach the bottom of the potwith his long under-lip. In a twinkling Cuffy had all the beans in hismouth. And he would have grinned--he felt so happy--if his nose hadn'tbeen wedged so tightly into the pot that he couldn't even smile.

  Since there were no more beans to be had out of _that_ pot, Cuffy liftedhis head. And to his great astonishment the bean-pot came right up offthe ground too, almost as if it were alive. It startled Cuffy, until hesaw that it was he who lifted the pot, on his own nose.

  He seized the bean-pot and pulled. But his paws were so greasy withbutter that he couldn't get a good grip on it. The pot still stuck onhis nose as fast as ever.

  Cuffy grunted. He couldn't really have said anything, with his mouthdeep in the iron pot. So he just grunted in a pouting sort of way; andthen he gave the pot a sharp rap against a rock. That hurt his nose. Andthis time he growled--as well as he could. But all his grunting andgrowling didn't frighten the bean-pot the slightest bit. There itstayed, perched on his nose just as if it would never come off.

  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 plungedinto the forest and started toward home. He felt very uncomfortable, forhe began to wonder whether he would ever get rid of that troublesomepot. What puzzled him most was this thought: How would he ever be ableto eat again, with that horrid thing over his nose? Cuffy was very fondof riddles; but here was one that he did not like at all.

  When he reached home his father and mother and Silkie all laughed sohard at the sight of him that Cuffy began to whimper. And a big tearrolled from each eye, ran down the bean-pot, and dropped off the bottomof it.

  And then, with just one tug Mr. Bear pulled the bean-pot off his son'snose; and Cuffy was himself again.

  He escaped a punishing, too, that time. And Mrs. Bear was very glad toget such a nice iron pot. She had wanted one for a long time.

  XV

  HUNTING FOR A BEE-TREE

  It was a very hot summer's day. Even up on Blue Mountain Cuffy Bear feltthe heat. And he wished that he might get rid of his thick coat. Butthough 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 downin the shade of a big tree, where the breeze blew upon him, and tried tobe as cool as he could.

  Except when he was asleep it was not often that Cuffy was still for solong. But now he sat motionless for some time, with his bright redtongue hanging out of his mouth like a dog's. Yes, he was quitestill--all but his little, beady, bright eyes. _They_ kept moving aboutall the time. And they saw many things, for something or other is alwayshappening in the forest.

  Cuffy saw a gray squirrel stick its head up from the crotch of a treenearby and peep at him. And he watched a wary old crow as he rested highin a tree-top and cawed a greeting to some of his friends who wereflying past on their way to Farmer Green's cornfield. And Cuffy noticeda bee as it lighted on a wild-flower right in front of him and suckedthe 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 hewould do next when it occurred to him that several bees had lighted uponthe flowers near him, and that they had all flown off _in the samedirection_.

  All at once Cuffy forgot how hot and uncomfortable he had been; for nowhe was wondering if those bees weren't all of them flying home to makehoney out of the sweet juices they had drawn from the flowers. And ifthey were--and if he could only follow them--then he would find the treewhere they li
ved 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 haddisappeared. And then he sat down again and waited and watched verycarefully.

  For a long time nothing happened. And Cuffy was just about to give uphis plan when a bee came buzzing past him and lighted on a mulberryblossom right above his head. And when the bee flew away, Cuffy followedhim until he lost sight of him. And then Cuffy sat down once more. Againhe waited and watched. And again, just as he was getting discouraged,another bee flew past him and Cuffy jumped up and followed _him_ justas fast as he could.

  The Bees Were Right There Waiting for Cuffy]

  Cuffy Bear must have spent as much as two hours doing that same thingover and over again. But he didn't mind that. In fact, it didn't seemlong to him, at all, because he kept thinking of _honey_ all the time,and it made a sort of _game_ of what he was doing. If he won the game,you know, it meant that he was going to have something very nice for aprize.

  And sure enough, finally one of the bees Cuffy was following lighted onan old tree, and Cuffy saw him crawl into a hole in a queer nest whichhung from a limb, and vanish. And as Cuffy stood there, looking up atthe nest, he saw as many as seven bees come out of that hole and flyaway.

  Then Cuffy smiled all over his face, he felt so happy. At last he hadfound a bee-tree. There was no doubt about it. The time he had alwayswished for had come. He was going to have all the honey he could eat.

  XVI

  THE BEES STING CUFFY

  As Cuffy Bear stood there on his hind legs looking up at the nest in theold tree he saw so many bees come out and fly away that he thought thatthere could not be any bees left at home--at least, not more than ahalf-dozen. And Cuffy didn't believe that six bees would trouble him.There was one good thing in having a coat like his, he told himself:even if it was warm in summer, it was so thick that he didn't see how abee could sting him through it.

  And with that, Cuffy started to climb the old tree. It took him no timeat all to hitch himself up the trunk. He shinned up just as any littleboy would climb a tree. And in less time than it takes to tell it, Cuffyhad reached the limb from which the nest hung, and he had stuck his pawright through the side of it.

  You remember that something is always happening in the forest?Well--something happened now. Suddenly a terrible roar came from insidethe nest. It was a queer, far-off sort of sound, and it made Cuffy thinkof the noise Swift River made, where it tumbled over the falls. ButCuffy knew that there could be no water-fall inside the nest. Hewondered if there was some strange animal in there.... And he drew backhis paw very quickly. And then there came pouring out of the nest aperfect cloud of bees, every one of them buzzing as loud as ever hecould.

  Cuffy was startled at the sight. And he was more startled when theyflew right into his face and lighted on his nose and began to sting.

  Cuffy roared with the pain. Yes--he gave such a great roar that hecouldn't hear the bees at all. But the bees didn't seem to mind that._They_ weren't afraid. They just kept on stinging. And they went forCuffy's eyes, too. And some of them even crawled down his ears. _That_was the worst of all.

  Just for a few moments Cuffy slapped at the bees. And he tried to brushthem off his face. But as fast as he swept them away from one spot theysettled on another. And Cuffy felt exactly as if somebody was stickinghim with pins and needles. He forgot all about taking any of the honeyto eat. He only wanted to get away from those bees. So he began to slidedown the tree.

  But Cuffy soon saw that the bees intended to go right along with him.They seemed to have no idea at all of staying at home, and as hescrambled down the tree Cuffy thought very quickly. He hadn't put a pawon the ground before he knew what he was going to do. Cuffy Bear ranstraight for the brook that goes tumbling down Blue Mountain to meetSwift River.

  XVII

  CUFFY BEAR GOES SWIMMING

  As Cuffy Bear tore through the forest, with the bees clustering allabout his head, he thought he never would reach the brook. He was goingstraight for the deep pool, which he had often visited in order to watchthe speckled trout darting about in the clear water.

  Now and then Cuffy paused in his mad rush, to bury his face in the thickblanket of dead leaves that covered the ground. But just as soon as heraised his head the bees would settle on his face again. And Cuffy wouldrush off once more as fast as he could go.

  At last he came to the brook. And he leaped right off the big boulderthat hung high over the pool and landed _ker-splash!_ right in themiddle of it. How the water did fly in all directions! And Cuffy wentright down out of sight.

  Of course, the bees wouldn't go down into the water too. They knewthey'd be drowned if they did. So they lingered in a swarm above thewater. They hovered there in the air and waited. And when, after amoment, Cuffy's head came up out of the pool, they swooped down andbegan to sting him again.

  Cuffy promptly ducked his head. And he swam under water to the furtherside of the pool and came up once more. To his surprise the bees wereright there waiting for him. And he ducked under again, and swam to theopposite side, near the big boulder. And once more, when he came up tobreathe, he found the buzzing bees all ready to pounce upon his nose.

  So poor Cuffy had to keep pulling his head down into the pool. He wouldkeep it there just as long as he could hold his breath; and then hewould simply _have_ to stick his nose out of the water in order to drawsome fresh air into his lungs.

  It was not long before Cuffy became very tired from so much swimming. Sohe found a shallow place where he could stand on the bottom of thebrook, with just enough water to cover him, and where he could poke hisnose out whenever he had to. And just as often as his little black nosecame up above the surface of the pool the bees lighted on it and stungCuffy again.

  All the rest of the afternoon poor Cuffy had to stay there in the water.For the bees did not leave him until sundown. And then, when the lastone had gone, Cuffy crawled out of the brook and started toward home.His little round body and his sturdy little legs were not warm now, asthey had been when he sat down beneath the tree to get cool. For themountain brook was ice-cold; and Cuffy felt quite numb from standing init so long. But cold as he was, his face felt like fire. And for somereason, which Cuffy couldn't understand, he could hardly see to pick hisway through the shadows of the forest.

  XVIII

  CUFFY FRIGHTENS HIS MOTHER

  When Cuffy Bear reached home, after his adventure with the bees, hefound that his father and mother and his sister Silkie were just sittingdown to their evening meal. Cuffy didn't speak to them as he came intothe room where they were. He felt too miserable to say a word, with hisface aching and burning, and a terrible smarting in his eyes. So he juststumbled inside the room and tried to make himself as small as he could,so he wouldn't be noticed.

  Cuffy's parents and his little sister all looked at the little bear whohad come into their house without even a knock. And his father said, ina cross voice--

  "Go away, little bear. Where are your manners?"

  Cuffy didn't know what to make of that. He didn't know what his fathermeant. So he just stood there and stared.

  "What do you want?" his father asked him. "Whose little bear are you?And whatever is the matter with your face?"

  Actually, Cuffy's own father didn't know him. And neither did his motheror his sister. You see, Cuffy's face was so swollen from the bees'stings that his face did not look like a little bear's face at all. Hisnose, instead of being smooth and pointed, was one great lump. And hehadn't a sign of an eye--just two slits.

  "What's the matter with you?" Mr. Bear asked again. "Are you ill? Haveyou the black measles?"

  At that, Mrs. Bear rose hastily from the table and snatched Silkie upfrom her high-chair and took her right out of the room. The thought ofblack measles frightened Mrs. Bear. You know, they are ever so muchworse than _plain_ measles. And she was afraid Silkie would catch them.

  Well, poor Cuffy felt more miserable than ever. He saw that
his ownfamily didn't know him. And he wondered what was going to become of him.Then, when his father told him very sternly to leave his house at once,Cuffy began to cry.

  "Oh! oh! oh!" he sobbed. "It's me--it's only me!" he cried. That verymorning, at breakfast, his father had told him to say "It is I," insteadof "It is _me_." But Cuffy forgot all about that, now.

  "What! Are you my Cuffy?" his father exclaimed. For he knew Cuffy atlast. You see, the bees hadn't stung Cuffy's _voice_. And in no time atall Cuffy was tucked into his little bed and his mother was gentlylicking his poor, aching face with her tongue. Among bears that isthought to be the very best thing to do for bee-stings.

  After a while Cuffy stopped crying. And it was not long before he hadfallen asleep.

  But it was two days before Cuffy Bear felt really himself again. Andthen his father went off into the forest with him and Cuffy led the wayto the bee-tree; for Mr. Bear knew enough about bees so that he couldtake their honey away from them without getting stung badly. He didn'tmind just a _few_ stings, you know.

  Well--what do you think happened? When they came to the old tree Mr.Bear took just one look at the nest into which Cuffy had thrust hispaw. And then he began to laugh, though he was somewhat disappointed, asyou will see.

  "Those aren't bees!" he told Cuffy. "That's a hornets' nest!... We'd getno honey there."