Books: Little Bear at Work and at Play
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Frances Margaret Fox >> Little Bear at Work and at Play
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[Illustration: _Little Bear walked up and shook hands with Grandpa
Tortoise_ ]
LITTLE BEAR
AT WORK AND AT PLAY
By
FRANCES MARGARET FOX
Author of "Doings of Little Bear," "Adventures of Sonny Bear"
and "The Kinderkins"
Illustrated by
WARNER CARR
Lovingly dedicated to the
FIRST GIRLS
Who lived in the Martha Cook Dormitory,
Ann Arbor, Michigan, because they loved
LITTLE BEAR
CONTENTS
WHEN LITTLE BEAR BRAGGED
WHEN MOTHER SKUNK HELPED LITTLE BEAR
WHEN LITTLE BEAR WOULD NOT WORK
HOW LITTLE BEAR LEARNED TO SWIM
LITTLE BEAR AND THE LOST OTTER BABY
WHEN LITTLE BEAR VISITED SCHOOL
LITTLE BEAR GETS HIS WISH
THREE BEARS COME TO BREAKFAST
LITTLE BEAR'S PROMISE
LITTLE BEAR'S SURPRISE PARTY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks are extended to the _Youth's Companion_ for
permission to reprint the following stories: "When
Little Bear Bragged," "When Mother Skunk Helped Little
Bear," "When Little Bear Would Not Work," "How Little
Bear Learned to Swim," "Little Bear and the Lost Otter
Baby," "When Little Bear Visited School," "Little Bear
Gets His Wish," and "Little Bear's Surprise Party"; and
to the _Christian Observer_ for permission to reprint
the following stories: "Three Bears Come to Breakfast"
and "Little Bear's Promise."
[Illustration: _Between times Little Bear asked questions_ ]
LITTLE BEAR
AT WORK AND AT PLAY
WHEN LITTLE BEAR BRAGGED
One rainy day the three bears were sitting by the fire
in their comfortable house in the woods, telling stories.
First Father Bear would tell a story, and then Mother
Bear would tell a story, and then Father Bear would
have a turn again. Between times Little Bear asked
questions.
The three were happy and merry until Mother Bear
told the old story about the race between the hare and
the tortoise, and how the slow-going tortoise was the
first to reach the goal because the hare took a nap and
did not wake up until after the tortoise had passed him
and had won the race.
"You see," Mother Bear explained, "the hare was so
sure he could win that he did not even try to reach the
goal quickly. He was so swift-footed that he thought
he could go to sleep if he chose and still come out ahead
of the patient tortoise."
"Wasn't he silly!" exclaimed Little Bear. "If I were
going to run a race with Grandpa Tortoise, I should go
this way until I reached the goal!" And Little Bear
pranced up and down the room until he made even the
porridge bowls rattle in the cupboard. "I guess I should
know enough to know that Grandpa Tortoise would
keep stepping ahead and stepping ahead and get to
the goal in time! You would not catch me taking any
naps if I started out to run a race with anyone! No,
sir-ree!"
Mother Bear laughed heartily, but Father Bear looked
very solemn. He did not like to hear Little Bear brag
at all.
"So you think, Son Bear," said he, "that, if you
should run a race with Grandpa Tortoise, you would be
wiser than our old friend, Peter Hare? Is that what
you mean?"
"I know I should," bragged Little Bear. "I'd say,
'Good-by, Grandpa Tortoise!' and off I'd start, and I
should beat him before he had time to think. Then,
afterward, if I were sleepy and wanted to, I should take
a nap."
"Very well," said Father Bear, "I shall see Grandpa
Tortoise, and if he is willing to run a race with a silly
little fellow like you, you shall have your chance, and
Peter Hare shall be the judge."
So it came about that, when the rain was over, the
friends of the Three Bears and of the hare and the
tortoise met in the woods to see the fun.
Little Bear noticed that, before the race began, the
hare and the tortoise were laughing about something,
but he did not even wonder what it was. He had nothing
to worry about.
At last the word was given: "One, two, three, go!"
[Illustration: He was out of breath before he had passed the first
oak tree]
Away went the tortoise, slow and easy. Off started
Little Bear, running so fast that he was out of breath
before he had passed the first oak tree, and was glad to
stop a second and have a drink of dew from an acorn cup
that Friend Treetoad offered him.
"Thank you," remarked Little Bear, as he returned
the cup, "but that was not enough. I shall have to step
over to the spring."
"Remember how the hare lost the race," Friend
Treetoad warned him.
"Oh, I shall not go to sleep," answered Little Bear,
"and, really, Grandpa Tortoise walks slower than I
thought he did."
Beside the spring were a number of Little Bear's
old friends dressed in green satin coats, who were playing
leapfrog. They asked Little Bear to play with them,
and soon he was showing the frogs what long leaps he
could make. And then, in a little while, many baby
rabbits came and joined in the fun. The next that Little
Bear knew, he was chasing baby rabbits over the rocks
and catching nuts that the squirrels threw to him from
the tree tops and having a joyful playtime.
An hour passed quickly, and then Little Bear suddenly
remembered that he had started out to run a race.
Back he ran to the path and away he flew toward the
goal, while the baby rabbits laughed and danced and
danced and laughed. Father Bear had sent them to
play with Little Bear, but they did not know why he
had sent them until that minute.
[Illustration: Grandpa Tortoise had reached his goal]
Stepping along, stepping along, slowly but surely,
Grandpa Tortoise had reached the goal, just as he had in
the long-ago day when he ran the race with the hare.
Little Bear, as he came near the goal, heard the neighbors
shouting, "Hurrah for the champion! Hurrah
for the champion! Hurrah for Grandpa Tortoise!"
Even Father Bear was shouting.
Little Bear remembered his manners and, as his
father had told him what to do if he lost the race, straightway
walked up and shook hands with Grandpa Tortoise.
And the hare, although he must have been laughing in
his sleeve, remembered his manners, too, and did not
let anyone see him laugh.
After that the old friends and neighbors went home
with the Three Bears to eat blackberries and honey and
to tell stories round the fire. Grandpa Tortoise went
too. He had traveled so slowly that he was not even
tired. Little Bear asked a few questions, as usual,
that afternoon when the stories were told, but he did
not brag. And when Peter Hare winked at him once
or twice he laughed.
WHEN MOTHER SKUNK HELPED
LITTLE BEAR
Once upon a time Little Bear went for a long walk
along the river path. He was alone, and so did not
know that he had gone far from home until Father Kingfisher
saw him and called:
"It is time for you to turn round and go back, Little
Bear! You must remember that it will soon be dark
in the woods, and you might get lost, for you have no
wings with which to fly home quickly."
Little Bear looked for the sun. Sure enough, it was
sinking behind the trees and leaving a long, shining
trail on the river. It was time to go home.
"Thank you, Father Kingfisher," answered Little
Bear. "I was having such a good time that I forgot
I was far from our little house, but I shall run back
fast now. So good night!"
And away he ran. But before he had passed more
than three bends of the river he saw a man fishing,
and in the woods near by was a tent, with a bright
camp fire burning, and beside the camp fire, a man
cleaning a gun.
Little Bear was so frightened that he sat down and
[Illustration: Father Kingfisher saw him]
cried. Mother Skunk heard him, for she and her six
children were out hunting beetles for supper.
"What is the trouble?" she asked. "What is the
matter, Little Bear?"
Little Bear told her about the two men, one on either
side of his path. "And I am afraid to go by them!"
he wailed.
"Come, come, child, dry your eyes," said Mother
Skunk. "You have always been kind to my children, and
now I will take care of you. Stop crying and follow me."
"But won't the men catch you?" asked Little Bear.
"Oh, no," answered Mother Skunk, "They will not
touch us. You follow me. Come, children."
On walked Mother Skunk, slowly and comfortably,
with Little Bear and her six pretty children following
one behind another, as she had told them to do.
When the man who was fishing saw Mother Skunk walking by
with her children and Little Bear, he sat still as a
mouse. All he did was wink. The man by the fire stopped
cleaning his gun when he saw Mother Skunk walking by
with her children and Little Bear, and he, too, sat
still as a mouse.
All he did was wink. "Now, Little Bear," said Mother
Skunk, when they had gone a few steps more, "The
children and I will [Illustration: On walked Mother
Skunk] stay here a while and catch beetles, but you must
run along home. The men will not trouble you while we
are in their path, never fear!" "I thank you, Mother
Skunk!" Little Bear called over his shoulder, as he pit-
patted for home as fast as he could travel. And when he
reached home, he told what had happened to him and
walked up and down in front of the fireplace to show
Father Bear and Mother Bear how Mother Skunk had walked
past the two big men, as if she were not afraid of
anyone in the woods. And how the Three Bears laughed!
But when Mother Bear tucked Little Bear into bed
that night, she kissed him and said:
"Let us always be thankful for good, kind friends!"
One morning when Little Bear wanted to play, his
mother sent him out to pull weeds in the blackberry
patch. When his mother went out to see how he was
getting on, she found him lying on the ground and
looking at the sky.
"Little Bear," said his mother, "Have you finished your
weeding?"
"No, Mother Bear," was the answer, "It is too hard
work. I shall pull no more weeds."
Never before had Mother Bear heard Little Bear
speak like that. So she took him by the hand and
led him into the house, where Father Bear sat in his
big chair.
"Father Bear," she said, "Little Bear will not work."
Then behind Little Bear's back she made motions that
meant, "But please do not spank him!"
"Ah-hum! Ah-hum!" began Father Bear, gazing
hard at Little Bear. "Do I understand that you will
not pull weeds, Son Bear?"
"It is too hard work," explained Little Bear. "I
am not big enough to pull weeds in the blackberry
patch."
[Illustration: She found him lying on the ground ]
"Ah-hum! Ah-hum!" repeated Father Bear, who was really
too surprised at first for words. Then he said, "Son
Bear, I ought to spank you and send you out to work, and
that is what I will do if your mother is willing. But--"
Father Bear said "But" in such a loud, loud voice that
Little Bear jumped at the tone. "But little bears who
will not pull weeds in the blackberry patch shall not
eat blackberries." So upstairs went Little Bear,
followed by his mother, who carried a plate of bread and
a brown pitcher full of water from the spring. Mother
Bear said nothing when she left Little Bear upstairs
with the bread and the water, but he did not mind that,
because at first he thought it was all a joke. At dinner
time, when he smelled fish frying he felt hungry. But
his mother did not bring him any fish, and his father
said nothing. So Little Bear ate bread and drank water.
The afternoon lasted a long, long time. Little Bear
was asleep when his mother brought him more bread
and water.
When he awoke, he again smelled fish frying. He
felt hungry, but still his mother did not bring him any
fish, and his father said nothing. Then he called his
mother and his father.
"What is the trouble with Son Bear?" inquired
Father Bear, when Mother Bear led the little fellow
downstairs.
"I am hungry!" wailed Little Bear.
"Have you no bread?" asked Father Bear.
"I cannot eat just bread," answered Little Bear,
"not when I smell fish. Besides, I am lonesome. I
will weed the blackberry patch and the whole garden,
and I'll hoe the corn, and I'll work like Sally Beaver,
if you'll just let me have fish for my supper, and
blackberries, and honey, and milk."
"Very well, Son Bear," agreed Father Bear. "You
shall sit down to supper, and weed the blackberry
patch before dark."
Little Bear passed his plate, and Father Bear filled
it with trout, and mashed potatoes, and currant jelly.
Mother Bear passed him the johnnycake, and gave
him a big dish of blackberries and a brown mug full
of milk.
Little Bear was so hungry that he ate two whole
speckled trout, and five pieces of johnnycake, and three
heaping dishes of blackberries, and drank two mugfuls
[Illustration:"I am hungry!" wailed Little Bear]
of milk before he went out and weeded the blackberry
patch. He was tired when he went to bed that night,
and on many other nights afterward, but he said
nothing about it, nor did he ever stop his work in the
garden until he had done it all as well as he could. For
he soon found out that when he had worked hard, even
bread and water tasted good, but that when he had not
worked, there was no taste in fish, or honey, or milk,
or in a heaping dish of blackberries.
Last summer Little Bear went on a long journey
with his father and mother. The Three Bears had a
beautiful time traveling through the big forest until
they reached the banks of a deep, swift river. Then
there was trouble, for Little Bear could not swim, nor
did he wish to learn how to swim. He said he was
afraid of the water.
"Father Bear can easily carry me over the river," he
suggested.
"Nonsense!" replied big Father Bear in gruff tones.
"Nonsense, my son! You are old enough and strong
enough to learn to swim. I will not carry you across
the stream. Neither shall your mother."
Just then there came Father Otter, swimming like
a seal, and twisting and turning in the water like a
fish.
"Perhaps the good otter will teach Little Bear to
swim," Mother Bear said, and then called to him.
"It is the easiest thing in the world to teach a little
bear how to swim," answered Father Otter. "Just
throw him in!" And away he went, laughing over his
shoulder.
[Illustration: "Just throw him in!" said Father Otter. ]
"He must be joking," observed Mother Bear quickly,
because she was afraid that Father Bear would toss
Little Bear into the river, and she did not like the idea.
At that moment Mother Otter came swimming
down the river with her children. One of them climbed
upon her shoulders and stared solemnly at Little Bear
on the river bank.
"Good morning!" said Mother Bear.
"Good morning!" answered Mother Otter.
"Your children are fine swimmers," added Mother
Bear.
"Certainly," answered Mother Otter. "Every one of
them knows that our people have all been famous
swimmers for centuries."
"I suppose, then," ventured Mother Bear, "that
your children were born swimmers. You probably had
trouble in keeping them out of the water when they were
babies."
Mother Otter laughed. "The trouble was to get
them into the water," she said, "because the silly little
things were afraid. All young otters are afraid of the
water and have to be put into it by force."
"You do not mean it!" exclaimed Mother Bear, with
great amazement in her tones.
"Indeed I do," replied Mother Otter. "We had to
push every one of our children into the water. Does
Little Bear know how to swim?"
"No," answered Mother Bear, shaking her head, "he
is afraid to try."
"Duck him," advised Mother Otter, "duck him.
There is no other way to teach a little bear to swim."
And away she went, down the stream, intending to
overtake Father Otter.
The little Otters kept looking back, hoping to see
Father Bear toss Little Bear into the river. But Mother
Bear begged him not to teach Little Bear to swim that
day, and so the little Otters missed the fun.
That night the Three Bears camped beside the deep,
swift river. After Little Bear was cuddled down in his
bed of leaves and springy boughs, Mother Bear made
Father Bear promise not to toss Little Bear into the river
unless Little Bear said he wanted him to.
The next morning Father Bear was sorry that he had
made the promise, because an honest-looking polecat
who came across the stream and went into the woods
told Father Bear and Mother Bear that the largest,
sweetest blackberries in the forest were ripe on the other
shore.
"And now," whispered Mother Bear to Father Bear,
"aren't you sorry that you told him that we wouldn't
carry him over?"
"Sure enough, I am," agreed Father Bear. And then
he laughed at the joke on himself.
"Well," suggested Mother Bear at last, "I shall coax
Little Bear to let you toss him gently into the river, and
I shall catch him if he finds he cannot swim."
"Nonsense!" grumbled Father Bear, and stopped
laughing. "While you coax," he said, "I shall go for a
walk."
Coaxing did not do any good. When Little Bear saw
his father wander away, he told his mother that he
did not feel like going into the water that morning. He
hoped she would please excuse him. And so she excused
him.
Soon Father Bear came back, smiling and happy. "I
have found a bridge," said he. "An old log has fallen
across the river a little way upstream, where, on the other
side, blackberries are almost as big as ducks' eggs.
Little Bear can walk across on the log."
"All right, I'll do it," promised Little Bear, and gladly
followed his father until the Three Bears reached the
bridge.
[Illustration: In a little while he bobbed up]
But while Little Bear was skipping joyfully over the
log, trying to reach the opposite bank before his father
and mother could swim across, the log turned over and
sent Little Bear head first into the river. Fortunately,
he knew enough to keep his mouth shut, and in a little
while he bobbed up, shaking his head to get the water
out of his eyes and his ears and paddling like a duck.
That was all there was to it, because, ever after, Little
Bear could swim.
Mother Bear believes to this day that Father Bear
knew that the log would roll over. She believes it
because, whenever anyone asks him, he says nothing,
but just laughs.
One morning, while Little Bear was out camping with
his father and mother, he went into the woods to pick
daisies and bluebells with which to decorate the entrance
to their cave. His hands were full of flowers, and he was
ready to go back with them to his mother, when he
heard a baby crying. Little Bear stood still and listened.
Then he knew that the child who was crying was an Otter
baby. He had heard Otter babies cry before.
"What is the matter, baby one?" called Little Bear.
"What are you crying about and where are you? Did
you bump your nose?"
"I am lost! Come and find me!" answered Baby Otter.
"You are hiding behind the oak stump!" exclaimed
Little Bear, as he scrambled through the thicket and
fairly pounced upon Baby Otter. "I spy!" he shouted.
"It isn't a game!" wailed the Otter baby. "I tell
you I am lost! I don't know where my mother went
and I can't find my father! I want to go home. Oh,
boo-hoo-hoo!"
"There, there, don't cry!" said Little Bear. "Tell
me where your camp is, and I will take you home just as
fast as we can go."
"But we do not live here!" complained the lost baby.
"Our home is Brookside, a long way off across country,
and we are only camping out, and I do not know where
our camp is! Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo!"
"Come, come, cheer up!" said Little Bear, using the
very words his father often used when speaking to him.
"I tell you I will take you home, and if it is too far away
I'll ask my father to go. We are camping out, ourselves,
down the river a little way. Now tell me how you
happened to get lost."
So the Otter baby told him that the Otter family had
gone out together after breakfast that morning, and that
while they were laughing and chatting Baby Otter had
strayed away from the path to pick flowers. The next
thing that he knew he had been alone, and, not knowing
what else to do, he had sat down and cried.
"Well, wipe your eyes now, and give me your paw!"
said Little Bear in big, grown-up tones. "My father
showed me your camp only yesterday, and, if you are
one of the campers, you live only a little way from here
and I can take you home."
Of course Baby Otter wiped his eyes and walked
happily behind Little Bear. He wished to travel in
single file, Otter fashion.
[Illustration: Baby Otter walked happily behind Little Bear]
It happened that Father Bear had been teaching Little
Bear how to follow the woods trails, and Little Bear knew
the Otters' path, because they always went round stumps
and under logs; besides, their legs were short and their
bodies so heavy they left well-worn trails behind them.
At last Little Bear reached the end of the crooked
path, and Baby Otter, without so much as saying "Thank
you!" to Little Bear, ran to the cave by the river bank
where his family was camping out.
"Some people always forget their manners," said Little
Bear to himself, as he ran home to tell his father and
mother what he had done.
"I am glad you were good to the baby," said Little
Bear's mother, as she took the bluebells and daisies that
he had brought and put them into a hollow stump beside
the cave door. She had filled the stump with water from
the spring while Little Bear was gone.
"The flowers are lovely!" said Mother Bear. "Now
please run into the woods for some green leaves and vines
to put with them, Little Bear."
Before he could do as she told him, Uncle John Kingfisher
came flying to invite the Three Bears to a party.
"The Otters," said he, "request your presence at a fish
dinner. Come now."
"We thank you, Uncle John Kingfisher," said Father
Bear. "We will start at once. Come, Little Bear, wash
your hands and face and get ready."
That is how it came about that the Three Bears dined
with the Otters that day, on trout, salmon, and eels, and
were served with only one bite from each fish, and that
bite taken from the meat just behind the head. Mother
Bear thought that the Otters chose only one dainty morsel
from each fish just because they had invited company
for dinner. But Father Bear told her afterward that she
was mistaken; Otters always serve fish in that way when
fish are plentiful.
After dinner the Otters and their guests rested for a
while, and then Father Otter urged the children to come
out and play with him and with Mother Otter. Much
surprised, the Three Bears followed the Otters to their
playground. And the next Father Bear and Mother
Bear knew, Little Bear was sliding down the Otters'
toboggan slide and shouting with glee. All the Otters
went down that slide, one behind the other, and landed
splashety-splash! in the river below.
It was a wonderful sight to see the Otters swimming
about in the stream, because they are beautiful swimmers.
But what Father and Mother Bear liked best
was the picture of Little Bear running up the roundabout
path to the top of the bank and going down the slide
three times as fast as the Otter children and their
parents. The Otters were more at home in the water than
Little Bear was, but they could not run on land as he
could.
Their next game they played with sticks. One Otter
took the end of a stick in his mouth and another Otter
took the other end, and then they pulled and pulled to
[Illustration: Little Bear was sliding down the Otter'
toboggan slide.]
see which was the stronger. Little Bear did not like
that game so well as he did the toboggan slide.
"We have had a delightful time at your party," said
Mother Bear to Mother Otter, at last, "and we thank
you for inviting us over. If you ever wander into our
home woods, come to our little house and have porridge
with us."
"We shall be glad to do so," said Mother Otter, "and
we shall always think kindly of Little Bear because he
brought our baby home when he was lost. If we do go
to visit you, you must let us make Little Bear a toboggan
slide."
"Ask them to come as soon as we get home!" urged
Little Bear in a whisper to his mother so loud that the
Otter children heard it, and laughed.
And that night Little Bear dreamed of taking home a
baby otter and of being invited to slide down that baby
otter's toboggan slide all the afternoon.
Once in midsummer when wild roses were blooming
along the river bank behind the Three Bears' house in
the forest and wild birds were singing from every thicket,
Father Bear built a raft and took his family floating
downstream. The raft was made of logs firmly fastened
together. It was big and strong, and had three rustic
chairs on it--a big, big chair for the big Father Bear,
a middle-sized chair for middle-sized Mother Bear, and
a wee, wee chair for wee Little Bear. There were also
poles to keep the raft from bumping against the river
bank: a rather heavy pole made just for huge Father
Bear, a middle-sized pole for middle-sized Mother Bear,
and a long, light pole for Little Bear.
Soon they were far from home, but it was afternoon
before anything special happened. There was a bend in
the river, and when the raft came swishing and tumbling
round that bend the Three Bears saw a little log house
on a hillside and many children playing outside the
door.
At that very moment, bump! went the raft into
the bank, and there it stuck among the willows!