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diff --git a/22816.txt b/22816.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a46dea --- /dev/null +++ b/22816.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2288 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Adventures of Buster Bear, by Thornton W. Burgess + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Adventures of Buster Bear + +Author: Thornton W. Burgess + +Illustrator: Harrison Cady + +Release Date: September 30, 2007 [EBook #22816] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF BUSTER BEAR *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Thomas Strong, Linda McKeown +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + BURGESS TRADE QUADDIES MARK + The Bedtime Story-Books + + + THE ADVENTURES OF + BUSTER BEAR + + BY + + THORNTON W. BURGESS + + Author of "The Adventures of Reddy Fox," "Old Mother + West Wind," "Mother West Wind 'Why' Stories," etc. + + + _With Illustrations by + HARRISON CADY_ + + + + BOSTON + LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY + 1920 + + _Copyright, 1916_, + BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. + + _All rights reserved_ + + + + +[Illustration: Buster blinked his greedy little eyes and looked again. +_Frontispiece_.] + + + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. BUSTER BEAR GOES FISHING 1 + + II. LITTLE JOE OTTER GETS EVEN WITH BUSTER BEAR 7 + + III. BUSTER BEAR IS GREATLY PUZZLED 12 + + IV. LITTLE JOE OTTER SUPPLIES BUSTER BEAR WITH A BREAKFAST 17 + + V. GRANDFATHER FROG'S COMMON-SENSE 22 + + VI. LITTLE JOE OTTER TAKES GRANDFATHER FROG'S ADVICE 27 + + VII. FARMER BROWN'S BOY HAS NO LUCK AT ALL 33 + + VIII. FARMER BROWN'S BOY FEELS HIS HAIR RISE 38 + + IX. LITTLE JOE OTTER HAS GREAT NEWS TO TELL 43 + + X. BUSTER BEAR BECOMES A HERO 48 + + XI. BLACKY THE CROW TELLS HIS PLAN 53 + + XII. FARMER BROWN'S BOY AND BUSTER BEAR GROW CURIOUS 58 + + XIII. FARMER BROWN'S BOY AND BUSTER BEAR MEET 63 + + XIV. A SURPRISING THING HAPPENS 68 + + XV. BUSTER BEAR IS A FALLEN HERO 73 + + XVI. CHATTERER THE RED SQUIRREL JUMPS FOR HIS LIFE 78 + + XVII. BUSTER BEAR GOES BERRYING 83 + + XVIII. SOMEBODY ELSE GOES BERRYING 88 + + XIX. BUSTER BEAR HAS A FINE TIME 93 + + XX. BUSTER BEAR CARRIES OFF THE PAIL OF FARMER BROWN'S BOY 99 + + XXI. SAMMY JAY MAKES THINGS WORSE FOR BUSTER BEAR 104 + + XXII. BUSTER BEAR HAS A FIT OF TEMPER 110 + + XXIII. FARMER BROWN'S BOY LUNCHES ON BERRIES 115 + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + BUSTER BLINKED HIS GREEDY LITTLE EYES RAPIDLY AND + LOOKED AGAIN _Frontispiece_ + + "HERE'S YOUR TROUT, MR. OTTER," SAID HE PAGE 5 + + "YOU TAKE MY ADVICE, LITTLE JOE OTTER," CONTINUED + GRANDFATHER FROG 26 + + REDDY GLARED ACROSS THE SMILING POOL AT PETER 45 + + BUSTER BEAR WAS RUNNING AWAY TOO 71 + + THOSE WHO COULD FLY, FLEW. THOSE WHO COULD CLIMB, + CLIMBED 112 + + + + +THE ADVENTURES +OF BUSTER BEAR + +I + +BUSTER BEAR GOES FISHING + + +Buster Bear yawned as he lay on his comfortable bed of leaves and +watched the first early morning sunbeams creeping through the Green +Forest to chase out the Black Shadows. Once more he yawned, and slowly +got to his feet and shook himself. Then he walked over to a big +pine-tree, stood up on his hind legs, reached as high up on the trunk of +the tree as he could, and scratched the bark with his great claws. After +that he yawned until it seemed as if his jaws would crack, and then sat +down to think what he wanted for breakfast. + +While he sat there, trying to make up his mind what would taste best, he +was listening to the sounds that told of the waking of all the little +people who live in the Green Forest. He heard Sammy Jay way off in the +distance screaming, "Thief! Thief!" and grinned. "I wonder," thought +Buster, "if some one has stolen Sammy's breakfast, or if he has stolen +the breakfast of some one else. Probably he is the thief himself." + +He heard Chatterer the Red Squirrel scolding as fast as he could make +his tongue go and working himself into a terrible rage. "Must be that +Chatterer got out of bed the wrong way this morning," thought he. + +He heard Blacky the Crow cawing at the top of his lungs, and he knew by +the sound that Blacky was getting into mischief of some kind. He heard +the sweet voices of happy little singers, and they were good to hear. +But most of all he listened to a merry, low, silvery laugh that never +stopped but went on and on, until he just felt as if he must laugh too. +It was the voice of the Laughing Brook. And as Buster listened it +suddenly came to him just what he wanted for breakfast. + +"I'm going fishing," said he in his deep grumbly-rumbly voice to no one +in particular. "Yes, Sir, I'm going fishing. I want some fat trout for +my breakfast." + +He shuffled along over to the Laughing Brook, and straight to a little +pool of which he knew, and as he drew near he took the greatest care not +to make the teeniest, weeniest bit of noise. Now it just happened that +early as he was, some one was before Buster Bear. When he came in sight +of the little pool, who should he see but another fisherman there, who +had already caught a fine fat trout. Who was it? Why, Little Joe Otter +to be sure. He was just climbing up the bank with the fat trout in his +mouth. Buster Bear's own mouth watered as he saw it. Little Joe sat down +on the bank and prepared to enjoy his breakfast. He hadn't seen Buster +Bear, and he didn't know that he or any one else was anywhere near. + +Buster Bear tiptoed up very softly until he was right behind Little Joe +Otter. "Woof, woof!" said he in his deepest, most grumbly-rumbly voice. +"That's a very fine looking trout. I wouldn't mind if I had it myself." + +Little Joe Otter gave a frightened squeal and without even turning to +see who was speaking dropped his fish and dived headfirst into the +Laughing Brook. Buster Bear sprang forward and with one of his big paws +caught the fat trout just as it was slipping back into the water. + +"Here's your trout, Mr. Otter," said he, as Little Joe put his head out +of water to see who had frightened him so. "Come and get it." + +[Illustration: "Here's your trout, Mr. Otter," said he. _Page 5._] + +But Little Joe wouldn't. The fact is, he was afraid to. He snarled at +Buster Bear and called him a thief and everything bad he could think of. +Buster didn't seem to mind. He chuckled as if he thought it all a great +joke and repeated his invitation to Little Joe to come and get his fish. +But Little Joe just turned his back and went off down the Laughing Brook +in a great rage. + +"It's too bad to waste such a fine fish," said Buster thoughtfully. "I +wonder what I'd better do with it." And while he was wondering, he ate +it all up. Then he started down the Laughing Brook to try to catch some +for himself. + + + + +II + +LITTLE JOE OTTER GETS EVEN WITH BUSTER BEAR + + +Little Joe Otter was in a terrible rage. It was a bad beginning for a +beautiful day and Little Joe knew it. But who wouldn't be in a rage if +his breakfast was taken from him just as he was about to eat it? Anyway, +that is what Little Joe told Billy Mink. Perhaps he didn't tell it quite +exactly as it was, but you know he was very badly frightened at the +time. + +"I was sitting on the bank of the Laughing Brook beside one of the +little pools," he told Billy Mink, "and was just going to eat a fat +trout I had caught, when who should come along but that great big +bully, Buster Bear. He took that fat trout away from me and ate it just +as if it belonged to him! I hate him! If I live long enough I'm going to +get even with him!" + +Of course that wasn't nice talk and anything but a nice spirit, but +Little Joe Otter's temper is sometimes pretty short, especially when he +is hungry, and this time he had had no breakfast, you know. + +Buster Bear hadn't actually taken the fish away from Little Joe. But +looking at the matter as Little Joe did, it amounted to the same thing. +You see, Buster knew perfectly well when he invited Little Joe to come +back and get it that Little Joe wouldn't dare do anything of the kind. + +"Where is he now?" asked Billy Mink. + +"He's somewhere up the Laughing Brook. I wish he'd fall in and get +drowned!" snapped Little Joe. + +Billy Mink just had to laugh. The idea of great big Buster Bear getting +drowned in the Laughing Brook was too funny. There wasn't water enough +in it anywhere except down in the Smiling Pool, and that was on the +Green Meadows, where Buster had never been known to go. "Let's go see +what he is doing," said Billy Mink. + +At first Little Joe didn't want to, but at last his curiosity got the +better of his fear, and he agreed. So the two little brown-coated scamps +turned down the Laughing Brook, taking the greatest care to keep out of +sight themselves. They had gone only a little way when Billy Mink +whispered: "Sh-h! There he is." + +Sure enough, there was Buster Bear sitting close beside a little pool +and looking into it very intently. + +"What's he doing?" asked Little Joe Otter, as Buster Bear sat for the +longest time without moving. + +Just then one of Buster's big paws went into the water as quick as a +flash and scooped out a trout that had ventured too near. + +"He's fishing!" exclaimed Billy Mink. + +And that is just what Buster Bear was doing, and it was very plain to +see that he was having great fun. When he had eaten the trout he had +caught, he moved along to the next little pool. + +"They are _our_ fish!" said Little Joe fiercely. "He has no business +catching _our_ fish!" + +"I don't see how we are going to stop him," said Billy Mink. + +"I do!" cried Little Joe, into whose head an idea had just popped. "I'm +going to drive all the fish out of the little pools and muddy the water +all up. Then we'll see how many fish he will get! Just you watch me get +even with Buster Bear." + +Little Joe slipped swiftly into the water and swam straight to the +little pool that Buster Bear would try next. He frightened the fish so +that they fled in every direction. Then he stirred up the mud until the +water was so dirty that Buster couldn't have seen a fish right under his +nose. He did the same thing in the next pool and the next. Buster Bear's +fishing was spoiled for that day. + + + + +III + +BUSTER BEAR IS GREATLY PUZZLED + + +Buster Bear hadn't enjoyed himself so much since he came to the Green +Forest to live. His fun began when he surprised Little Joe Otter on the +bank of a little pool in the Laughing Brook and Little Joe was so +frightened that he dropped a fat trout he had just caught. It had seemed +like a great joke to Buster Bear, and he had chuckled over it all the +time he was eating the fat trout. When he had finished it, he started on +to do some fishing himself. + +Presently he came to another little pool. He stole up to it very, very +softly, so as not to frighten the fish. Then he sat down close to the +edge of it and didn't move. Buster learned a long time ago that a +fisherman must be patient unless, like Little Joe Otter, he is just as +much at home in the water as the fish themselves, and can swim fast +enough to catch them by chasing them. So he didn't move so much as an +eye lash. He was so still that he looked almost like the stump of an old +tree. Perhaps that is what the fish thought he was, for pretty soon, two +or three swam right in close to where he was sitting. Now Buster Bear +may be big and clumsy looking, but there isn't anything that can move +much quicker than one of those big paws of his when he wants it to. One +of them moved now, and quicker than a wink had scooped one of those +foolish fish out on to the bank. + +Buster's little eyes twinkled, and he smacked his lips as he moved on +to the next little pool, for he knew that it was of no use to stay +longer at the first one. The fish were so frightened that they wouldn't +come back for a long, long time. At the next little pool the same thing +happened. By this time Buster Bear was in fine spirits. It was fun to +catch the fish, and it was still more fun to eat them. What finer +breakfast could any one have than fresh-caught trout? No wonder he felt +good! But it takes more than three trout to fill Buster Bear's stomach, +so he kept on to the next little pool. + +But this little pool, instead of being beautiful and clear so that +Buster could see right to the bottom of it and so tell if there were any +fish there, was so muddy that he couldn't see into it at all. It looked +as if some one had just stirred up all the mud at the bottom. + +"Huh!" said Buster Bear. "It's of no use to try to fish here. I would +just waste my time. I'll try the next pool." + +So he went on to the next little pool. He found this just as muddy as +the other. Then he went on to another, and this was no better. Buster +sat down and scratched his head. It was puzzling. Yes, Sir, it was +puzzling. He looked this way and he looked that way suspiciously, but +there was no one to be seen. Everything was still save for the laughter +of the Laughing Brook. Somehow, it seemed to Buster as if the Brook were +laughing at him. + +"It's very curious," muttered Buster, "very curious indeed. It looks as +if my fishing is spoiled for to-day. I don't understand it at all. It's +lucky I caught what I did. It looks as if somebody is trying to--ha!" A +sudden thought had popped into his head. Then he began to chuckle and +finally to laugh. "I do believe that scamp Joe Otter is trying to get +even with me for eating that fat trout!" + +And then, because Buster Bear always enjoys a good joke even when it is +on himself, he laughed until he had to hold his sides, which is a whole +lot better than going off in a rage as Little Joe Otter had done. +"You're pretty smart, Mr. Otter! You're pretty smart, but there are +other people who are smart too," said Buster Bear, and still chuckling, +he went off to think up a plan to get the best of Little Joe Otter. + + + + +IV + +LITTLE JOE OTTER SUPPLIES BUSTER BEAR WITH A BREAKFAST + + + Getting even just for spite + Doesn't always pay. + Fact is, it is very apt + To work the other way. + +That is just how it came about that Little Joe Otter furnished Buster +Bear with the best breakfast he had had for a long time. He didn't mean +to do it. Oh, my, no! The truth is, he thought all the time that he was +preventing Buster Bear from getting a breakfast. You see he wasn't well +enough acquainted with Buster to know that Buster is quite as smart as +he is, and perhaps a little bit smarter. Spite and selfishness were at +the bottom of it. You see Little Joe and Billy Mink had had all the +fishing in the Laughing Brook to themselves so long that they thought no +one else had any right to fish there. To be sure Bobby Coon caught a few +little fish there, but they didn't mind Bobby. Farmer Brown's boy fished +there too, sometimes, and this always made Little Joe and Billy Mink +very angry, but they were so afraid of him that they didn't dare do +anything about it. But when they discovered that Buster Bear was a +fisherman, they made up their minds that something had got to be done. +At least, Little Joe did. + +"He'll try it again to-morrow morning," said Little Joe. "I'll keep +watch, and as soon as I see him coming, I'll drive out all the fish, +just as I did to-day. I guess that'll teach him to let our fish alone." + +So the next morning Little Joe hid before daylight close by the little +pool where Buster Bear had given him such a fright. Sure enough, just as +the Jolly Sunbeams began to creep through the Green Forest, he saw +Buster Bear coming straight over to the little pool. Little Joe slipped +into the water and chased all the fish out of the little pool, and +stirred up the mud on the bottom so that the water was so muddy that the +bottom couldn't be seen at all. Then he hurried down to the next little +pool and did the same thing. + +Now Buster Bear is very smart. You know he had guessed the day before +who had spoiled his fishing. So this morning he only went far enough to +make sure that if Little Joe were watching for him, as he was sure he +would be, he would see him coming. Then, instead of keeping on to the +little pool, he hurried to a place way down the Laughing Brook, where +the water was very shallow, hardly over his feet, and there he sat +chuckling to himself. Things happened just as he had expected. The +frightened fish Little Joe chased out of the little pools up above swam +down the Laughing Brook, because, you know, Little Joe was behind them, +and there was nowhere else for them to go. When they came to the place +where Buster was waiting, all he had to do was to scoop them out on to +the bank. It was great fun. It didn't take Buster long to catch all the +fish he could eat. Then he saved a nice fat trout and waited. + +By and by along came Little Joe Otter, chuckling to think how he had +spoiled Buster Bear's fishing. He was so intent on looking behind him to +see if Buster was coming that he didn't see Buster waiting there until +he spoke. + +"I'm much obliged for the fine breakfast you have given me," said Buster +in his deepest, most grumbly-rumbly voice. "I've saved a fat trout for +you to make up for the one I ate yesterday. I hope we'll go fishing +together often." + +Then he went off laughing fit to kill himself. Little Joe couldn't find +a word to say. He was so surprised and angry that he went off by himself +and sulked. And Billy Mink, who had been watching, ate the fat trout. + + + + +V + +GRANDFATHER FROG'S COMMON-SENSE + + +There is nothing quite like common sense to smooth out troubles. People +who have plenty of just plain common sense are often thought to be very +wise. Their neighbors look up to them and are forever running to them +for advice, and they are very much respected. That is the way with +Grandfather Frog. He is very old and very wise. Anyway, that is what his +neighbors think. The truth is, he simply has a lot of common sense, +which after all is the very best kind of wisdom. + +Now when Little Joe Otter found that Buster Bear had been too smart for +him and that instead of spoiling Buster's fishing in the Laughing Brook +he had really made it easier for Buster to catch all the fish he wanted, +Little Joe went off down to the Smiling Pool in a great rage. + +Billy Mink stopped long enough to eat the fat fish Buster had left on +the bank and then he too went down to the Smiling Pool. + +When Little Joe Otter and Billy Mink reached the Smiling Pool, they +climbed up on the Big Rock, and there Little Joe sulked and sulked, +until finally Grandfather Frog asked what the matter was. Little Joe +wouldn't tell, but Billy Mink told the whole story. When he told how +Buster had been too smart for Little Joe, it tickled him so that Billy +had to laugh in spite of himself. So did Grandfather Frog. So did Jerry +Muskrat, who had been listening. Of course this made Little Joe angrier +than ever. He said a lot of unkind things about Buster Bear and about +Billy Mink and Grandfather Frog and Jerry Muskrat, because they had +laughed at the smartness of Buster. + +"He's nothing but a great big bully and thief!" declared Little Joe. + +"Chug-a-rum! He may be a bully, because great big people are very apt to +be bullies, and though I haven't seen him, I guess Buster Bear is big +enough from all I have heard, but I don't see how he is a thief," said +Grandfather Frog. + +"Didn't he catch my fish and eat them?" snapped Little Joe. "Doesn't +that make him a thief?" + +"They were no more your fish than mine," protested Billy Mink. + +"Well, _our_ fish, then! He stole _our_ fish, if you like that any +better. That makes him just as much a thief, doesn't it?" growled +Little Joe. + +Grandfather Frog looked up at jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun and slowly +winked one of his great, goggly eyes. "There comes a foolish green fly," +said he. "Who does he belong to?" + +"Nobody!" snapped Little Joe. "What have foolish green flies got to do +with my--I mean _our_ fish?" + +"Nothing, nothing at all," replied Grandfather Frog mildly. "I was just +hoping that he would come near enough for me to snap him up; then he +would belong to me. As long as he doesn't, he doesn't belong to any one. +I suppose that if Buster Bear should happen along and catch him, he +would be stealing from me, according to Little Joe." + +"Of course not! What a silly idea! You're getting foolish in your old +age," retorted Little Joe. + +"Can you tell me the difference between the fish that you haven't caught +and the foolish green flies that I haven't caught?" asked Grandfather +Frog. + +Little Joe couldn't find a word to say. + +"You take my advice, Little Joe Otter," continued Grandfather Frog, "and +always make friends with those who are bigger and stronger and smarter +than you are. You'll find it pays." + +[Illustration: "You take my advice, Little Joe Otter," continued +Grandfather Frog. _Page 26._] + + + + +VI + +LITTLE JOE OTTER TAKES GRANDFATHER FROG'S ADVICE + + + Who makes an enemy a friend, + To fear and worry puts an end. + +Little Joe Otter found that out when he took Grandfather Frog's advice. +He wouldn't have admitted that he was afraid of Buster Bear. No one ever +likes to admit being afraid, least of all Little Joe Otter. And really +Little Joe has a great deal of courage. Very few of the little people of +the Green Forest or the Green Meadows would willingly quarrel with him, +for Little Joe is a great fighter when he has to fight. As for all those +who live in or along the Laughing Brook or in the Smiling Pool, they +let Little Joe have his own way in everything. + +Now having one's own way too much is a bad thing. It is apt to make one +selfish and thoughtless of other people and very hard to get along with. +Little Joe Otter had his way too much. Grandfather Frog knew it and +shook his head very soberly when Little Joe had been disrespectful to +him. + +"Too bad. Too bad! Too bad! Chug-a-rum! It is too bad that such a fine +young fellow as Little Joe should spoil a good disposition by such +selfish heedlessness. Too bad," said he. + +So, though he didn't let on that it was so, Grandfather Frog really was +delighted when he heard how Buster Bear had been too smart for Little +Joe Otter. It tickled him so that he had hard work to keep a straight +face. But he did and was as grave and solemn as you please as he +advised Little Joe always to make friends with any one who was bigger +and stronger and smarter than he. That was good common sense advice, but +Little Joe just sniffed and went off declaring that he would get even +with Buster Bear yet. Now Little Joe is good-natured and full of fun as +a rule, and after he had reached home and his temper had cooled off a +little, he began to see the joke on himself,--how when he had worked so +hard to frighten the fish in the little pools of the Laughing Brook so +that Buster Bear should not catch any, he had all the time been driving +them right into Buster's paws. By and by he grinned. It was a little +sheepish grin at first, but at last it grew into a laugh. + +"I believe," said Little Joe as he wiped tears of laughter from his +eyes, "that Grandfather Frog is right, and that the best thing I can do +is to make friends with Buster Bear. I'll try it to-morrow morning." + +So very early the next morning Little Joe Otter went to the best fishing +pool he knew of in the Laughing Brook, and there he caught the biggest +trout he could find. It was so big and fat that it made Little Joe's +mouth water, for you know fat trout are his favorite food. But he didn't +take so much as one bite. Instead he carefully laid it on an old log +where Buster Bear would be sure to see it if he should come along that +way. Then he hid near by, where he could watch. Buster was late that +morning. It seemed to Little Joe that he never would come. Once he +nearly lost the fish. He had turned his head for just a minute, and when +he looked back again, the trout was nowhere to be seen. Buster couldn't +have stolen up and taken it, because such a big fellow couldn't possibly +have gotten out of sight again. + +Little Joe darted over to the log and looked on the other side. There +was the fat trout, and there also was Little Joe's smallest cousin, +Shadow the Weasel, who is a great thief and altogether bad. Little Joe +sprang at him angrily, but Shadow was too quick and darted away. Little +Joe put the fish back on the log and waited. This time he didn't take +his eyes off it. At last, when he was almost ready to give up, he saw +Buster Bear shuffling along towards the Laughing Brook. Suddenly Buster +stopped and sniffed. One of the Merry Little Breezes had carried the +scent of that fat trout over to him. Then he came straight over to where +the fish lay, his nose wrinkling, and his eyes twinkling with pleasure. + +"Now I wonder who was so thoughtful as to leave this fine breakfast +ready for me," said he out loud. + +"Me," said Little Joe in a rather faint voice. "I caught it especially +for you." + +"Thank you," replied Buster, and his eyes twinkled more than ever. "I +think we are going to be friends." + +"I--I hope so," replied Little Joe. + + + + +VII + +FARMER BROWN'S BOY HAS NO LUCK AT ALL + + +Farmer Brown's boy tramped through the Green Forest, whistling merrily. +He always whistles when he feels light-hearted, and he always feels +light-hearted when he goes fishing. You see, he is just as fond of +fishing as is Little Joe Otter or Billy Mink or Buster Bear. And now he +was making his way through the Green Forest to the Laughing Brook, sure +that by the time he had followed it down to the Smiling Pool he would +have a fine lot of trout to take home. He knew every pool in the +Laughing Brook where the trout love to hide, did Farmer Brown's boy, +and it was just the kind of a morning when the trout should be hungry. +So he whistled as he tramped along, and his whistle was good to hear. + +When he reached the first little pool he baited his hook very carefully +and then, taking the greatest care to keep out of sight of any trout +that might be in the little pool, he began to fish. Now Farmer Brown's +boy learned a long time ago that to be a successful fisherman one must +have a great deal of patience, so though he didn't get a bite right away +as he had expected to, he wasn't the least bit discouraged. He kept very +quiet and fished and fished, patiently waiting for a foolish trout to +take his hook. But he didn't get so much as a nibble. "Either the trout +have lost their appetite or they have grown very wise," muttered Farmer +Brown's boy, as after a long time he moved on to the next little pool. + +There the same thing happened. He was very patient, very, very patient, +but his patience brought no reward, not so much as the faintest kind of +a nibble. Farmer Brown's boy trudged on to the next pool, and there was +a puzzled frown on his freckled face. Such a thing never had happened +before. He didn't know what to make of it. All the night before he had +dreamed about the delicious dinner of fried trout he would have the next +day, and now--well, if he didn't catch some trout pretty soon, that +splendid dinner would never be anything but a dream. + +"If I didn't know that nobody else comes fishing here, I should think +that somebody had been here this very morning and caught all the fish or +else frightened them so that they are all in hiding," said he, as he +trudged on to the next little pool. "I never had such bad luck in all my +life before. Hello! What's this?" + +There, on the bank beside the little pool, were the heads of three +trout. Farmer Brown's boy scowled down at them more puzzled than ever. +"Somebody _has_ been fishing here, and they have had better luck than I +have," thought he. He looked up the Laughing Brook and down the Laughing +Brook and this way and that way, but no one was to be seen. Then he +picked up one of the little heads and looked at it sharply. "It wasn't +cut off with a knife; it was bitten off!" he exclaimed. "I wonder now if +Billy Mink is the scamp who has spoiled my fun." + +Thereafter he kept a sharp lookout for signs of Billy Mink, but though +he found two or three more trout heads, he saw no other signs and he +caught no fish. This puzzled him more than ever. It didn't seem possible +that such a little fellow as Billy Mink could have caught or frightened +all the fish or have eaten so many. Besides, he didn't remember ever +having known Billy to leave heads around that way. Billy sometimes +catches more fish than he can eat, but then he usually hides them. The +farther he went down the Laughing Brook, the more puzzled Farmer Brown's +boy grew. It made him feel very queer. He would have felt still more +queer if he had known that all the time two other fishermen who had been +before him were watching him and chuckling to themselves. They were +Little Joe Otter and Buster Bear. + + + + +VIII + +FARMER BROWN'S BOY FEELS HIS HAIR RISE + + + 'Twas just a sudden odd surprise + Made Farmer Brown's boy's hair to rise. + +That's a funny thing for hair to do--rise up all of a sudden--isn't it? +But that is just what the hair on Farmer Brown's boy's head did the day +he went fishing in the Laughing Brook and had no luck at all. There are +just two things that make hair rise--anger and fear. Anger sometimes +makes the hair on the back and neck of Bowser the Hound and of some +other little people bristle and stand up, and you know the hair on the +tail of Black Pussy stands on end until her tail looks twice as big as +it really is. Both anger and fear make it do that. But there is only one +thing that can make the hair on the head of Farmer Brown's boy rise, and +as it isn't anger, of course it must be fear. + +It never had happened before. You see, there isn't much of anything that +Farmer Brown's boy is really afraid of. Perhaps he wouldn't have been +afraid this time if it hadn't been for the surprise of what he found. +You see when he had found the heads of those trout on the bank he knew +right away that some one else had been fishing, and that was why he +couldn't catch any; but it didn't seem possible that little Billy Mink +could have eaten all those trout, and Farmer Brown's boy didn't once +think of Little Joe Otter, and so he was very, very much puzzled. + +He was turning it all over in his mind and studying what it could mean, +when he came to a little muddy place on the bank of the Laughing Brook, +and there he saw something that made his eyes look as if they would pop +right out of his head, and it was right then that he felt his hair rise. +Anyway, that is what he said when he told about it afterward. What was +it he saw? What do you think? Why, it was a footprint in the soft mud. +Yes, Sir, that's what it was, and all it was. But it was the biggest +footprint Farmer Brown's boy ever had seen, and it looked as if it had +been made only a few minutes before. It was the footprint of Buster +Bear. + +Now Farmer Brown's boy didn't know that Buster Bear had come down to the +Green Forest to live. He never had heard of a Bear being in the Green +Forest. And so he was so surprised that he had hard work to believe his +own eyes, and he had a queer feeling all over,--a little chilly feeling, +although it was a warm day. Somehow, he didn't feel like meeting Buster +Bear. If he had had his terrible gun with him, it might have been +different. But he didn't, and so he suddenly made up his mind that he +didn't want to fish any more that day. He had a funny feeling, too, that +he was being watched, although he couldn't see any one. He _was_ being +watched. Little Joe Otter and Buster Bear were watching him and taking +the greatest care to keep out of his sight. + +All the way home through the Green Forest, Farmer Brown's boy kept +looking behind him, and he didn't draw a long breath until he reached +the edge of the Green Forest. He hadn't run, but he had wanted to. + +"Huh!" said Buster Bear to Little Joe Otter, "I believe he was afraid!" + +And Buster Bear was just exactly right. + + + + +IX + +LITTLE JOE OTTER HAS GREAT NEWS TO TELL + + +Little Joe Otter was fairly bursting with excitement. He could hardly +contain himself. He felt that he had the greatest news to tell since +Peter Rabbit had first found the tracks of Buster Bear in the Green +Forest. He couldn't keep it to himself a minute longer than he had to. +So he hurried to the Smiling Pool, where he was sure he would find Billy +Mink and Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle, and +he hoped that perhaps some of the little people who live in the Green +Forest might be there too. Sure enough, Peter Rabbit was there on one +side of the Smiling Pool, making faces at Reddy Fox, who was on the +other side, which, of course, was not at all nice of Peter. Mr. and Mrs. +Redwing were there, and Blacky the Crow was sitting in the Big +Hickory-tree. + +Little Joe Otter swam straight to the Big Rock and climbed up to the +very highest part. He looked so excited, and his eyes sparkled so, that +every one knew right away that something had happened. + +"Hi!" cried Billy Mink. "Look at Little Joe Otter! It must be that for +once he has been smarter than Buster Bear." + +Little Joe made a good-natured face at Billy Mink and shook his head. +"No, Billy," said he, "you are wrong, altogether wrong. I don't believe +anybody can be smarter than Buster Bear." + +[Illustration: Reddy glared across the Smiling Pool at Peter. +_Page 45._] + +Reddy Fox rolled his lips back in an unpleasant grin. "Don't be too +sure of that!" he snapped. "I'm not through with him yet." + +"Boaster! Boaster!" cried Peter Rabbit. + +Reddy glared across the Smiling Pool at Peter. "I'm not through with you +either, Peter Rabbit!" he snarled. "You'll find it out one of these fine +days!" + + "Reddy, Reddy, smart and sly, + Couldn't catch a buzzing fly!" + +taunted Peter. + +"Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog in his deepest, gruffest voice. "We +know all about that. What we want to know is what Little Joe Otter has +got on his mind." + +"It's news--great news!" cried Little Joe. + +"We can tell better how great it is when we hear what it is," replied +Grandfather Frog testily. "What is it?" + +Little Joe Otter looked around at all the eager faces watching him, and +then in the slowest, most provoking way, he drawled: "Farmer Brown's boy +is afraid of Buster Bear." + +For a minute no one said a word. Then Blacky the Crow leaned down from +his perch in the Big Hickory-tree and looked very hard at Little Joe as +he said: + +"I don't believe it. I don't believe a word of it. Farmer Brown's boy +isn't afraid of any one who lives in the Green Forest or on the Green +Meadows or in the Smiling Pool, and you know it. We are all afraid of +him." + +Little Joe glared back at Blacky. "I don't care whether you believe it +or not; it's true," he retorted. Then he told how early that very +morning he and Buster Bear had been fishing together in the Laughing +Brook, and how Farmer Brown's boy had been fishing there too, and hadn't +caught a single trout because they had all been caught or frightened +before he got there. Then he told how Farmer Brown's boy had found a +footprint of Buster Bear in the soft mud, and how he had stopped fishing +right away and started for home, looking behind him with fear in his +eyes all the way. + +"Now tell me that he isn't afraid!" concluded Little Joe. "For once he +knows just how we feel when he comes prowling around where we are. Isn't +that great news? Now we'll get even with _him_!" + +"I'll believe it when I see it for myself!" snapped Blacky the Crow. + + + + +X + +BUSTER BEAR BECOMES A HERO + + +The news that Little Joe Otter told at the Smiling Pool,--how Farmer +Brown's boy had run away from Buster Bear without even seeing him,--soon +spread all over the Green Meadows and through the Green Forest, until +every one who lives there knew about it. Of course, Peter Rabbit helped +spread it. Trust Peter for that! But everybody else helped too. You see, +they had all been afraid of Farmer Brown's boy for so long that they +were tickled almost to pieces at the very thought of having some one in +the Green Forest who could make Farmer Brown's boy feel fear as they +had felt it. And so it was that Buster Bear became a hero right away to +most of them. + +A few doubted Little Joe's story. One of them was Blacky the Crow. +Another was Reddy Fox. Blacky doubted because he knew Farmer Brown's boy +so well that he couldn't imagine him afraid. Reddy doubted because he +didn't want to believe. You see, he was jealous of Buster Bear, and at +the same time he was afraid of him. So Reddy pretended not to believe a +word of what Little Joe Otter had said, and he agreed with Blacky that +only by seeing Farmer Brown's boy afraid could he ever be made to +believe it. But nearly everybody else believed it, and there was great +rejoicing. Most of them were afraid of Buster, very much afraid of him, +because he was so big and strong. But they were still more afraid of +Farmer Brown's boy, because they didn't know him or understand him, and +because in the past he had tried to catch some of them in traps and had +hunted some of them with his terrible gun. + +So now they were very proud to think that one of their own number +actually had frightened him, and they began to look on Buster Bear as a +real hero. They tried in ever so many ways to show him how friendly they +felt and went quite out of their way to do him favors. Whenever they met +one another, all they could talk about was the smartness and the +greatness of Buster Bear. + +"Now I guess Farmer Brown's boy will keep away from the Green Forest, +and we won't have to be all the time watching out for him," said Bobby +Coon, as he washed his dinner in the Laughing Brook, for you know he is +very neat and particular. + +"And he won't dare set any more traps for me," gloated Billy Mink. + +"Ah wish Brer Bear would go up to Farmer Brown's henhouse and scare +Farmer Brown's boy so that he would keep away from there. It would be a +favor to me which Ah cert'nly would appreciate," said Unc' Billy Possum +when he heard the news. + +"Let's all go together and tell Buster Bear how much obliged we are for +what he has done," proposed Jerry Muskrat. + +"That's a splendid idea!" cried Little Joe Otter. "We'll do it right +away." + +"Caw, caw caw!" broke in Blacky the Crow. "I say, let's wait and see for +ourselves if it is all true." + +"Of course it's true!" snapped Little Joe Otter. "Don't you believe I'm +telling the truth?" + +"Certainly, certainly. Of course no one doubts your word," replied +Blacky, with the utmost politeness. "But you say yourself that Farmer +Brown's boy didn't see Buster Bear, but only his footprint. Perhaps he +didn't know whose it was, and if he had he wouldn't have been afraid. +Now I've got a plan by which we can see for ourselves if he really is +afraid of Buster Bear." + +"What is it?" asked Sammy Jay eagerly. + +Blacky the Crow shook his head and winked. "That's telling," said he. "I +want to think it over. If you meet me at the Big Hickory-tree at sun-up +to-morrow morning, and get everybody else to come that you can, perhaps +I will tell you." + + + + +XI + +BLACKY THE CROW TELLS HIS PLAN + + + Blacky is a dreamer! + Blacky is a schemer! + His voice is strong; + When things go wrong + Blacky is a screamer! + +It's a fact. Blacky the Crow is forever dreaming and scheming and almost +always it is of mischief. He is one of the smartest and cleverest of all +the little people of the Green Meadows and the Green Forest, and all the +others know it. Blacky likes excitement. He wants something going on. +The more exciting it is, the better he likes it. Then he has a chance to +use that harsh voice of his, and how he does use it! + +So now, as he sat in the top of the Big Hickory-tree beside the Smiling +Pool and looked down on all the little people gathered there, he was +very happy. In the first place he felt very important, and you know +Blacky dearly loves to feel important. They had all come at his +invitation to listen to a plan for seeing for themselves if it were +really true that Farmer Brown's boy was afraid of Buster Bear. + +On the Big Rock in the Smiling Pool sat Little Joe Otter, Billy Mink, +and Jerry Muskrat. On his big, green lily-pad sat Grandfather Frog. On +another lily-pad sat Spotty the Turtle. On the bank on one side of the +Smiling Pool were Peter Rabbit, Jumper the Hare, Danny Meadow Mouse, +Johnny Chuck, Jimmy Skunk, Unc' Billy Possum, Striped Chipmunk and Old +Mr. Toad. On the other side of the Smiling Pool were Reddy Fox, Digger +the Badger, and Bobby Coon. In the Big Hickory-tree were Chatterer the +Red Squirrel, Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel, and Sammy Jay. + +Blacky waited until he was sure that no one else was coming. Then he +cleared his throat very loudly and began to speak. "Friends," said he. + +Everybody grinned, for Blacky has played so many sharp tricks that no +one is really his friend unless it is that other mischief-maker, Sammy +Jay, who, you know, is Blacky's cousin. But no one said anything, and +Blacky went on. + +"Little Joe Otter has told us how he saw Farmer Brown's boy hurry home +when he found the footprint of Buster Bear on the edge of the Laughing +Brook, and how all the way he kept looking behind him, as if he were +afraid. Perhaps he was, and then again perhaps he wasn't. Perhaps he had +something else on his mind. You have made a hero of Buster Bear, because +you believe Little Joe's story. Now I don't say that I don't believe it, +but I do say that I will be a lot more sure that Farmer Brown's boy is +afraid of Buster when I see him run away myself. Now here is my plan: + +"To-morrow morning, very early, Sammy Jay and I will make a great fuss +near the edge of the Green Forest. Farmer Brown's boy has a lot of +curiosity, and he will be sure to come over to see what it is all about. +Then we will lead him to where Buster Bear is. If he runs away, I will +be the first to admit that Buster Bear is as great a hero as some of you +seem to think he is. It is a very simple plan, and if you will all hide +where you can watch, you will be able to see for yourselves if Little +Joe Otter is right. Now what do you say?" + +Right away everybody began to talk at the same time. It was such a +simple plan that everybody agreed to it. And it promised to be so +exciting that everybody promised to be there, that is, everybody but +Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle, who didn't care to go so far +away from the Smiling Pool. So it was agreed that Blacky should try his +plan the very next morning. + + + + +XII + +FARMER BROWN'S BOY AND BUSTER BEAR GROW CURIOUS + + +Ever since it was light enough to see at all, Blacky the Crow had been +sitting in the top of the tallest tree on the edge of the Green Forest +nearest to Farmer Brown's house, and never for an instant had he taken +his eyes from Farmer Brown's back door. What was he watching for? Why, +for Farmer Brown's boy to come out on his way to milk the cows. +Meanwhile, Sammy Jay was slipping silently through the Green Forest, +looking for Buster Bear, so that when the time came he could let his +cousin, Blacky the Crow, know just where Buster was. + +By and by the back door of Farmer Brown's house opened, and out stepped +Farmer Brown's boy. In each hand he carried a milk pail. Right away +Blacky began to scream at the top of his lungs. "Caw, caw, caw!" shouted +Blacky. "Caw, caw, caw!" And all the time he flew about among the trees +near the edge of the Green Forest as if so excited that he couldn't keep +still. Farmer Brown's boy looked over there as if he wondered what all +that fuss was about, as indeed he did, but he didn't start to go over +and see. No, Sir, he started straight for the barn. + +Blacky didn't know what to make of it. You see, smart as he is and +shrewd as he is, Blacky doesn't know anything about the meaning of duty, +for he never has to work excepting to get enough to eat. So, when Farmer +Brown's boy started for the barn instead of for the Green Forest, +Blacky didn't know what to make of it. He screamed harder and louder +than ever, until his voice grew so hoarse he couldn't scream any more, +but Farmer Brown's boy kept right on to the barn. + +"I'd like to know what you're making such a fuss about, Mr. Crow, but +I've got to feed the cows and milk them first," said he. + +Now all this time the other little people of the Green Forest and the +Green Meadows had been hiding where they could see all that went on. +When Farmer Brown's boy disappeared in the barn, Chatterer the Red +Squirrel snickered right out loud. "Ha, ha, ha! This is a great plan of +yours, Blacky! Ha, ha, ha!" he shouted. Blacky couldn't find a word to +say. He just hung his head, which is something Blacky seldom does. + +"Perhaps if we wait until he comes out again, he will come over here," +said Sammy Jay, who had joined Blacky. So it was decided to wait. It +seemed as if Farmer Brown's boy never would come out, but at last he +did. Blacky and Sammy Jay at once began to scream and make all the fuss +they could. Farmer Brown's boy took the two pails of milk into the +house, then out he came and started straight for the Green Forest. He +was so curious to know what it all meant that he couldn't wait another +minute. + +Now there was some one else with a great deal of curiosity also. He had +heard the screaming of Blacky the Crow and Sammy Jay, and he had +listened until he couldn't stand it another minute. He just _had_ to +know what it was all about. So at the same time Farmer Brown's boy +started for the Green Forest, this other listener started towards the +place where Blacky and Sammy were making such a racket. He walked very +softly so as not to make a sound. It was Buster Bear. + + + + +XIII + +FARMER BROWN'S BOY AND BUSTER BEAR MEET + + + If you should meet with Buster Bear + While walking through the wood, + What would you do? Now tell me true, + _I'd_ run the best I could. + +That is what Farmer Brown's boy did when he met Buster Bear, and a lot +of the little people of the Green Forest and some from the Green Meadows +saw him. When Farmer Brown's boy came hurrying home from the Laughing +Brook without any fish one day and told about the great footprint he had +seen in a muddy place on the bank deep in the Green Forest, and had said +his was sure that it was the footprint of a Bear, he had been laughed +at. Farmer Brown had laughed and laughed. + +"Why," said he, "there hasn't been a Bear in the Green Forest for years +and years and years, not since my own grandfather was a little boy, and +that, you know, was a long, long, long time ago. If you want to find Mr. +Bear, you will have to go to the Great Woods. I don't know who made that +footprint, but it certainly couldn't have been a Bear. I think you must +have imagined it." + +Then he had laughed some more, all of which goes to show how easy it is +to be mistaken, and how foolish it is to laugh at things you really +don't know about. Buster Bear _had_ come to live in the Green Forest, +and Farmer Brown's boy _had_ seen his footprint. But Farmer Brown +laughed so much and made fun of him so much, that at last his boy began +to think that he must have been mistaken after all. So when he heard +Blacky the Crow and Sammy Jay making a great fuss near the edge of the +Green Forest, he never once thought of Buster Bear, as he started over +to see what was going on. + +When Blacky and Sammy saw him coming, they moved a little farther in to +the Green Forest, still screaming in the most excited way. They felt +sure that Farmer Brown's boy would follow them, and they meant to lead +him to where Sammy had seen Buster Bear that morning. Then they would +find out for sure if what Little Joe Otter had said was true,--that +Farmer Brown's boy really was afraid of Buster Bear. + +Now all around, behind trees and stumps, and under thick branches, and +even in tree tops, were other little people watching with round, +wide-open eyes to see what would happen. It was very exciting, the most +exciting thing they could remember. You see, they had come to believe +that Farmer Brown's boy wasn't afraid of anybody or anything, and as +most of them were very much afraid of him, they had hard work to believe +that he would really be afraid of even such a great, big, strong fellow +as Buster Bear. Every one was so busy watching Farmer Brown's boy that +no one saw Buster coming from the other direction. + +You see, Buster walked very softly. Big as he is, he can walk without +making the teeniest, weeniest sound. And that is how it happened that no +one saw him or heard him until just as Farmer Brown's boy stepped out +from behind one side of a thick little hemlock-tree, Buster Bear stepped +out from behind the other side of that same little tree, and there they +were face to face! Then everybody held their breath, even Blacky the +Crow and Sammy Jay. For just a little minute it was so still there in +the Green Forest that not the least little sound could be heard. What +was going to happen? + + + + +XIV + +A SURPRISING THING HAPPENS + + +Blacky the Crow and Sammy Jay, looking down from the top of a tall tree, +held their breath. Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel and his cousin, +Chatterer the Red Squirrel, looking down from another tree, held _their_ +breath. Unc' Billy Possum, sticking his head out from a hollow tree, +held _his_ breath. Bobby Coon, looking through a hole in a hollow stump +in which he was hiding, held _his_ breath. Reddy Fox, lying flat down +behind a heap of brush, held _his_ breath. Peter Rabbit, sitting bolt +upright under a thick hemlock branch, with eyes and ears wide open, held +_his_ breath. And all the other little people who happened to be where +they could see did the same thing. + +You see, it was the most exciting moment ever was in the Green Forest. +Farmer Brown's boy had just stepped out from behind one side of a little +hemlock-tree and Buster Bear had just stepped out from behind the +opposite side of the little hemlock-tree and neither had known that the +other was anywhere near. For a whole minute they stood there face to +face, gazing into each other's eyes, while everybody watched and waited, +and it seemed as if the whole Green Forest was holding its breath. + +Then something happened. Yes, Sir, something happened. Farmer Brown's +boy opened his mouth and yelled! It was such a sudden yell and such a +loud yell that it startled Chatterer so that he nearly fell from his +place in the tree, and it made Reddy Fox jump to his feet ready to run. +And that yell was a yell of fright. There was no doubt about it, for +with the yell Farmer Brown's boy turned and ran for home, as no one ever +had seen him run before. He ran just as Peter Rabbit runs when he has +got to reach the dear Old Briar-patch before Reddy Fox can catch him, +which, you know, is as fast as he can run. Once he stumbled and fell, +but he scrambled to his feet in a twinkling, and away he went without +once turning his head to see if Buster Bear was after him. There wasn't +any doubt that he was afraid, very much afraid. + +Everybody leaned forward to watch him. "What did I tell you? Didn't I +say that he was afraid of Buster Bear?" cried Little Joe Otter, dancing +about with excitement. + +"You were right, Little Joe! I'm sorry that I doubted it. See him go! +Caw, caw, caw!" shrieked Blacky the Crow. + +For a minute or two everybody forgot about Buster Bear. Then there was a +great crash which made everybody turn to look the other way. What do you +think they saw? Why, Buster Bear was running away too, and he was +running twice as fast as Farmer Brown's boy! He bumped into trees and +crashed through bushes and jumped over logs, and in almost no time at +all he was out of sight. Altogether it was the most surprising thing +that the little people of the Green Forest ever had seen. + +[Illustration: Buster Bear was running away, too. Page _71_.] + +Sammy Jay looked at Blacky the Crow, and Blacky looked at Chatterer, +and Chatterer looked at Happy Jack, and Happy Jack looked at Peter +Rabbit, and Peter looked at Unc' Billy Possum, and Unc' Billy looked at +Bobby Coon, and Bobby looked at Johnny Chuck, and Johnny looked at Reddy +Fox, and Reddy looked at Jimmy Skunk, and Jimmy looked at Billy Mink, +and Billy looked at Little Joe Otter, and for a minute nobody could say +a word. Then Little Joe gave a funny little gasp. + +"Why, why-e-e!" said he, "I believe Buster Bear is afraid too!" Unc' +Billy Possum chuckled. "Ah believe yo' are right again, Brer Otter," +said he. "It cert'nly does look so. If Brer Bear isn't scared, he must +have remembered something impo'tant and has gone to attend to it in a +powerful hurry." + +Then everybody began to laugh. + + + + +XV + +BUSTER BEAR IS A FALLEN HERO + + +A fallen hero is some one to whom every one has looked up as very brave +and then proves to be less brave than he was supposed to be. That was +the way with Buster Bear. When Little Joe Otter had told how Farmer +Brown's boy had been afraid at the mere sight of one of Buster Bear's +big footprints, they had at once made a hero of Buster. At least some of +them had. As this was the first time, the very first time, that they had +ever known any one who lives in the Green Forest to make Farmer Brown's +boy run away, they looked on Buster Bear with a great deal of respect +and were very proud of him. + +But now they had seen Buster Bear and Farmer Brown's boy meet face to +face; and while it was true that Farmer Brown's boy had run away as fast +as ever he could, it was also true that Buster Bear had done the same +thing. He had run even faster than Farmer Brown's boy, and had hidden in +the most lonely place he could find in the very deepest part of the +Green Forest. It was hard to believe, but it was true. And right away +everybody lost a great deal of the respect for Buster which they had +felt. It is always that way. They began to say unkind things about him. +They said them among themselves, and some of them even said them to +Buster when they met him, or said them so that he would hear them. + +Of course Blacky the Crow and Sammy Jay, who, because they can fly, +have nothing to fear from Buster, and who always delight in making other +people uncomfortable, never let a chance go by to tell Buster and +everybody else within hearing what they thought of him. They delighted +in flying about through the Green Forest until they had found Buster +Bear and then from the safety of the tree tops screaming at him. + + "Buster Bear is big and strong; + His teeth are big; his claws are long; + In spite of these he runs away + And hides himself the livelong day!" + +A dozen times a day Buster would hear them screaming this. He would +grind his teeth and glare up at them, but that was all he could do. He +couldn't get at them. He just had to stand it and do nothing. But when +impudent little Chatterer the Red Squirrel shouted the same thing from +a place just out of reach in a big pine-tree, Buster could stand it no +longer. He gave a deep, angry growl that made little shivers run over +Chatterer, and then suddenly he started up that tree after Chatterer. +With a frightened little shriek Chatterer scampered to the top of the +tree. He hadn't known that Buster could climb. But Buster is a splendid +climber, especially when the tree is big and stout as this one was, and +now he went up after Chatterer, growling angrily. + +How Chatterer did wish that he had kept his tongue still! He ran to the +very top of the tree, so frightened that his teeth chattered, and when +he looked down and saw Buster's great mouth coming nearer and nearer, he +nearly tumbled down with terror. The worst of it was there wasn't +another tree near enough for him to jump to. He was in trouble this +time, was Chatterer, sure enough! And there was no one to help him. + + + + +XVI + +CHATTERER THE RED SQUIRREL JUMPS FOR HIS LIFE + + +It isn't very often that Chatterer the Red Squirrel knows fear. That is +one reason that he is so often impudent and saucy. But once in a while a +great fear takes possession of him, as when he knows that Shadow the +Weasel is looking for him. You see, he knows that Shadow can go wherever +he can go. There are very few of the little people of the Green Forest +and the Green Meadows who do not know fear at some time or other, but it +comes to Chatterer as seldom as to any one, because he is very sure of +himself and his ability to hide or run away from danger. + +But now as he clung to a little branch near the top of a tall pine-tree +in the Green Forest and looked down at the big sharp teeth of Buster +Bear drawing nearer and nearer, and listened to the deep, angry growls +that made his hair stand on end, Chatterer was too frightened to think. +If only he had kept his tongue still instead of saying hateful things to +Buster Bear! If only he had known that Buster could climb a tree! If +only he had chosen a tree near enough to other trees for him to jump +across! But he _had_ said hateful things, he _had_ chosen to sit in a +tree which stood quite by itself, and Buster Bear _could_ climb! +Chatterer was in the worst kind of trouble, and there was no one to +blame but himself. That is usually the case with those who get into +trouble. + +Nearer and nearer came Buster Bear, and deeper and angrier sounded his +voice. Chatterer gave a little frightened gasp and looked this way and +looked that way. What should he do? What _could_ he do! The ground +seemed a terrible distance below. If only he had wings like Sammy Jay! +But he hadn't. + +"Gr-r-r-r!" growled Buster Bear. "I'll teach you manners! I'll teach you +to treat your betters with respect! I'll swallow you whole, that's what +I'll do. Gr-r-r-r!" + +"Oh!" cried Chatterer. + +"Gr-r-r-r! I'll eat you all up to the last hair on your tail!" growled +Buster, scrambling a little nearer. + +"Oh! Oh!" cried Chatterer, and ran out to the very tip of the little +branch to which he had been clinging. Now if Chatterer had only known +it, Buster Bear couldn't reach him way up there, because the tree was +too small at the top for such a big fellow as Buster. But Chatterer +didn't think of that. He gave one more frightened look down at those big +teeth, then he shut his eyes and jumped--jumped straight out for the +far-away ground. + +It was a long, long, long way down to the ground, and it certainly +looked as if such a little fellow as Chatterer must be killed. But +Chatterer had learned from Old Mother Nature that she had given him +certain things to help him at just such times, and one of them is the +power to spread himself very flat. He did it now. He spread his arms and +legs out just as far as he could, and that kept him from falling as fast +and as hard as he otherwise would have done, because being spread out so +flat that way, the air held him up a little. And then there was his +tail, that funny little tail he is so fond of jerking when he scolds. +This helped him too. It helped him keep his balance and keep from +turning over and over. + +Down, down, down he sailed and landed on his feet. Of course, he hit the +ground pretty hard, and for just a second he quite lost his breath. But +it was only for a second, and then he was scurrying off as fast as a +frightened Squirrel could. Buster Bear watched him and grinned. + +"I didn't catch him that time," he growled, "but I guess I gave him a +good fright and taught him a lesson." + + + + +XVII + +BUSTER BEAR GOES BERRYING + + +Buster Bear is a great hand to talk to himself when he thinks no one is +around to overhear. It's a habit. However, it isn't a bad habit unless +it is carried too far. Any habit becomes bad, if it is carried too far. +Suppose you had a secret, a real secret, something that nobody else knew +and that you didn't want anybody else to know. And suppose you had the +habit of talking to yourself. You might, without thinking, you know, +tell that secret out loud to yourself, and some one might, just might +happen to overhear! Then there wouldn't be any secret. That is the way +that a habit which isn't bad in itself can become bad when it is +carried too far. + +Now Buster Bear had lived by himself in the Great Woods so long that +this habit of talking to himself had grown and grown. He did it just to +keep from being lonesome. Of course, when he came down to the Green +Forest to live, he brought all his habits with him. That is one thing +about habits,--you always take them with you wherever you go. So Buster +brought this habit of talking to himself down to the Green Forest, where +he had many more neighbors than he had in the Great Woods. + +"Let me see, let me see, what is there to tempt my appetite?" said +Buster in his deep, grumbly-rumbly voice. "I find my appetite isn't what +it ought to be. I need a change. Yes, Sir, I need a change. There is +something I ought to have at this time of year, and I haven't got it. +There is something that I used to have and don't have now. Ha! I know! I +need some fresh fruit. That's it--fresh fruit! It must be about berry +time now, and I'd forgotten all about it. My, my, my, how good some +berries would taste! Now if I were back up there in the Great Woods I +could have all I could eat. Um-m-m-m! Makes my mouth water just to think +of it. There ought to be some up in the Old Pasture. There ought to be a +lot of 'em up there. If I wasn't afraid that some one would see me, I'd +go up there." + +Buster sighed. Then he sighed again. The more he thought about those +berries he felt sure were growing in the Old Pasture, the more he wanted +some. It seemed to him that never in all his life had he wanted berries +as he did now. He wandered about uneasily. He was hungry--hungry for +berries and nothing else. By and by he began talking to himself again. + +"If I wasn't afraid of being seen, I'd go up to the Old Pasture this +very minute. Seems as if I could taste those berries." He licked his +lips hungrily as he spoke. Then his face brightened. "I know what I'll +do! I'll go up there at the very first peep of day to-morrow. I can eat +all I want and get back to the Green Forest before there is any danger +that Farmer Brown's boy or any one else I'm afraid of will see me. +That's just what I'll do. My, I wish to-morrow morning would hurry up +and come." + +Now though Buster didn't know it, some one had been listening, and that +some one was none other than Sammy Jay. When at last Buster lay down +for a nap, Sammy flew away, chuckling to himself. "I believe I'll visit +the Old Pasture to-morrow morning myself," thought he. "I have an idea +that something interesting may happen if Buster doesn't change his +mind." + +Sammy was on the lookout very early the next morning. The first Jolly +Little Sunbeams had only reached the Green Meadows and had not started +to creep into the Green Forest, when he saw a big, dark form steal out +of the Green Forest where it joins the Old Pasture. It moved very +swiftly and silently, as if in a great hurry. Sammy knew who it was: it +was Buster Bear, and he was going berrying. Sammy waited a little until +he could see better. Then he too started for the Old Pasture. + + + + +XVIII + +SOMEBODY ELSE GOES BERRYING + + +Isn't it funny how two people will often think of the same thing at the +same time, and neither one know that the other is thinking of it? That +is just what happened the day that Buster Bear first thought of going +berrying. While he was walking around in the Green Forest, talking to +himself about how hungry he was for some berries and how sure he was +that there must be some up in the Old Pasture, some one else was +thinking about berries and about the Old Pasture too. + +"Will you make me a berry pie if I will get the berries to-morrow?" +asked Farmer Brown's boy of his mother. + +Of course Mrs. Brown promised that she would, and so that night Farmer +Brown's boy went to bed very early that he might get up early in the +morning, and all night long he dreamed of berries and berry pies. He was +awake even before jolly, round, red Mr. Sun thought it was time to get +up, and he was all ready to start for the Old Pasture when the first +Jolly Little Sunbeams came dancing across the Green Meadows. He carried +a big tin pail, and in the bottom of it, wrapped up in a piece of paper, +was a lunch, for he meant to stay until he filled that pail, if it took +all day. + +Now the Old Pasture is very large. It lies at the foot of the Big +Mountain, and even extends a little way up on the Big Mountain. There is +room in it for many people to pick berries all day without even seeing +each other, unless they roam about a great deal. You see, the bushes +grow very thick there, and you cannot see very far in any direction. +Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had climbed a little way up in the sky by the +time Farmer Brown's boy reached the Old Pasture, and was smiling down on +all the Great World, and all the Great World seemed to be smiling back. +Farmer Brown's boy started to whistle, and then he stopped. + +"If I whistle," thought he, "everybody will know just where I am, and +will keep out of sight, and I never can get acquainted with folks if +they keep out of sight." + +You see, Farmer Brown's boy was just beginning to understand something +that Peter Rabbit and the other little people of the Green Meadows and +the Green Forest learned almost as soon as they learned to walk,--that +if you don't want to be seen, you mustn't be heard. So he didn't +whistle as he felt like doing, and he tried not to make a bit of noise +as he followed an old cow-path towards a place where he knew the berries +grew thick and oh, so big, and all the time he kept his eyes wide open, +and he kept his ears open too. + +That is how he happened to hear a little cry, a very faint little cry. +If he had been whistling, he wouldn't have heard it at all. He stopped +to listen. He never had heard a cry just like it before. At first he +couldn't make out just what it was or where it came from. But one thing +he was sure of, and that was that it was a cry of fright. He stood +perfectly still and listened with all his might. There it was +again--"Help! Help! Help"--and it was very faint and sounded terribly +frightened. He waited a minute or two, but heard nothing more. Then he +put down his pail and began a hurried look here, there, and everywhere. +He was sure that it had come from somewhere on the ground, so he peered +behind bushes and peeped behind logs and stones, and then just as he had +about given up hope of finding where it came from, he went around a +little turn in the old cow-path, and there right in front of him was +little Mr. Gartersnake, and what do you think he was doing? Well, I +don't like to tell you, but he was trying to swallow one of the children +of Stickytoes the Tree Toad. Of course Farmer Brown's Boy didn't let +him. He made little Mr. Gartersnake set Master Stickytoes free and held +Mr. Gartersnake until Master Stickytoes was safely out of reach. + + + + +XIX + +BUSTER BEAR HAS A FINE TIME + + +Buster Bear was having the finest time he had had since he came down +from the Great Woods to live in the Green Forest. To be sure, he wasn't +in the Green Forest now, but he wasn't far from it. He was in the Old +Pasture, one edge of which touches one edge of the Green Forest. And +where do you think he was, in the Old Pasture? Why, right in the middle +of the biggest patch of the biggest blueberries he ever had seen in all +his life! Now if there is any one thing that Buster Bear had rather have +above another, it is all the berries he can eat, unless it be honey. +Nothing can quite equal honey in Buster's mind. But next to honey give +him berries. He isn't particular what kind of berries. Raspberries, +blackberries, or blueberries, either kind, will make him perfectly +happy. + +"Um-m-m, my, my, but these are good!" he mumbled in his deep +grumbly-rumbly voice, as he sat on his haunches stripping off the +berries greedily. His little eyes twinkled with enjoyment, and he didn't +mind at all if now and then he got leaves, and some green berries in his +mouth with the big ripe berries. He didn't try to get them out. Oh, my, +no! He just chomped them all up together and patted his stomach from +sheer delight. Now Buster had reached the Old Pasture just as jolly, +round, red Mr. Sun had crept out of bed, and he had fully made up his +mind that he would be back in the Green Forest before Mr. Sun had +climbed very far up in the blue, blue sky. You see, big as he is and +strong as he is, Buster Bear is very shy and bashful, and he has no +desire to meet Farmer Brown, or Farmer Brown's boy, or any other of +those two-legged creatures called men. It seems funny but he actually is +afraid of them. And he had a feeling that he was a great deal more +likely to meet one of them in the Old Pasture than deep in the Green +Forest. + +So when he started to look for berries, he made up his mind that he +would eat what he could in a great hurry and get back to the Green +Forest before Farmer Brown's boy was more than out of bed. But when he +found those berries he was so hungry that he forgot his fears and +everything else. They tasted so good that he just had to eat and eat +and eat. Now you know that Buster is a very big fellow, and it takes a +lot to fill him up. He kept eating and eating and eating, and the more +he ate the more he wanted. You know how it is. So he wandered from one +patch of berries to another in the Old Pasture, and never once thought +of the time. Somehow, time is the hardest thing in the world to +remember, when you are having a good time. + +Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun climbed higher and higher in the blue, blue +sky. He looked down on all the Great World and saw all that was going +on. He saw Buster Bear in the Old Pasture, and smiled as he saw what a +perfectly glorious time Buster was having. And he saw something else in +the Old Pasture that made his smile still broader. He saw Farmer Brown's +boy filling a great tin pail with blueberries, and he knew that Farmer +Brown's boy didn't know that Buster Bear was anywhere about, and he knew +that Buster Bear didn't know that Farmer Brown's boy was anywhere about, +and somehow he felt very sure that he would see something funny happen +if they should chance to meet. + +"Um-m-m, um-m-m," mumbled Buster Bear with his mouth full, as he moved +along to another patch of berries. And then he gave a little gasp of +surprise and delight. Right in front of him was a shiny thing just full +of the finest, biggest, bluest berries! There were no leaves or green +ones there. Buster blinked his greedy little eyes rapidly and looked +again. No, he wasn't dreaming. They were real berries, and all he had +got to do was to help himself. Buster looked sharply at the shiny thing +that held the berries. It seemed perfectly harmless. He reached out a +big paw and pushed it gently. It tipped over and spilled out a lot of +the berries. Yes, it was perfectly harmless. Buster gave a little sigh +of pure happiness. He would eat those berries to the last one, and then +he would go home to the Green Forest. + + + + +XX + +BUSTER BEAR CARRIES OFF THE PAIL OF FARMER BROWN'S BOY + + +The question is, did Buster Bear steal Farmer Brown's boy's pail? To +steal is to take something which belongs to some one else. There is no +doubt that he stole the berries that were in the pail when he found it, +for he deliberately ate them. He knew well enough that some one must +have picked them--for whoever heard of blueberries growing in tin pails? +So there is no doubt that when Buster took them, he stole them. But with +the pail it was different. He took the pail, but he didn't mean to take +it. In fact, he didn't want that pail at all. + +You see it was this way: When Buster found that big tin pail brimming +full of delicious berries in the shade of that big bush in the Old +Pasture, he didn't stop to think whether or not he had a right to them. +Buster is so fond of berries that from the very second that his greedy +little eyes saw that pailful, he forgot everything but the feast that +was waiting for him right under his very nose. He didn't think anything +about the right or wrong of helping himself. There before him were more +berries than he had ever seen together at one time in all his life, and +all he had to do was to eat and eat and eat. And that is just what he +did do. Of course he upset the pail, but he didn't mind a little thing +like that. When he had gobbled up all the berries that rolled out, he +thrust his nose into the pail to get all that were left in it. Just +then he heard a little noise, as if some one were coming. He threw up +his head to listen, and somehow, he never did know just how, the handle +of the pail slipped back over his ears and caught there. + +This was bad enough, but to make matters worse, just at that very minute +he heard a shrill, angry voice shout, "Hi, there! Get out of there!" He +didn't need to be told whose voice that was. It was the voice of Farmer +Brown's boy. Right then and there Buster Bear nearly had a fit. There +was that awful pail fast over his head so that he couldn't see a thing. +Of course, that meant that he couldn't run away, which was the thing of +all things he most wanted to do, for big as he is and strong as he is, +Buster is very shy and bashful when human beings are around. He growled +and whined and squealed. He tried to back out of the pail and couldn't. +He tried to shake it off and couldn't. He tried to pull it off, but +somehow he couldn't get hold of it. Then there was another yell. If +Buster hadn't been so frightened himself, he might have recognized that +second yell as one of fright, for that is what it was. You see Farmer +Brown's boy had just discovered Buster Bear. When he had yelled the +first time, he had supposed that it was one of the young cattle who live +in the Old Pasture all summer, but when he saw Buster, he was just as +badly frightened as Buster himself. In fact, he was too surprised and +frightened even to run. After that second yell he just stood still and +stared. + +Buster clawed at that awful thing on his head more frantically than +ever. Suddenly it slipped off, so that he could see. He gave one +frightened look at Farmer Brown's boy, and then with a mighty "Woof!" he +started for the Green Forest as fast as his legs could take him, and +this was very fast indeed, let me tell you. He didn't stop to pick out a +path, but just crashed through the bushes as if they were nothing at +all, just nothing at all. But the funniest thing of all is this--he took +that pail with him! Yes, Sir, Buster Bear ran away with the big tin pail +of Farmer Brown's boy! You see when it slipped off his head, the handle +was still around his neck, and there he was running away with a pail +hanging from his neck! He didn't want it. He would have given anything +to get rid of it. But he took it because he couldn't help it. And that +brings us back to the question, did Buster steal Farmer Brown's boy's +pail? What do you think? + + + + +XXI + +SAMMY JAY MAKES THINGS WORSE FOR BUSTER BEAR + + +"Thief, thief, thief! Thief, thief, thief!" Sammy Jay was screaming at +the top of his lungs, as he followed Buster Bear across the Old Pasture +towards the Green Forest. Never had he screamed so loud, and never had +his voice sounded so excited. The little people of the Green Forest, the +Green Meadows, and the Smiling Pool are so used to hearing Sammy cry +thief that usually they think very little about it. But every blessed +one who heard Sammy this morning stopped whatever he was doing and +pricked up his ears to listen. + +Sammy's cousin, Blacky the Crow, just happened to be flying along the +edge of the Old Pasture, and the minute he heard Sammy's voice, he +turned and flew over to see what it was all about. Just as soon as he +caught sight of Buster Bear running for the Green Forest as hard as ever +he could, he understood what had excited Sammy so. He was so surprised +that he almost forgot to keep his wings moving. Buster Bear had what +looked to Blacky very much like a tin pail hanging from his neck! No +wonder Sammy was excited. Blacky beat his wings fiercely and started +after Sammy. + +And so they reached the edge of the Green Forest, Buster Bear running as +hard as ever he could, Sammy Jay flying just behind him and screaming, +"Thief, thief, thief!" at the top of his lungs, and behind him Blacky +the Crow, trying to catch up and yelling as loud as he could, "Caw, +caw, caw! Come on, everybody! Come on! Come on!" + +Poor Buster! It was bad enough to be frightened almost to death as he +had been up in the Old Pasture when the pail had caught over his head +just as Farmer Brown's boy had yelled at him. Then to have the handle of +the pail slip down around his neck so that he couldn't get rid of the +pail but had to take it with him as he ran, was making a bad matter +worse. Now to have all his neighbors of the Green Forest see him in such +a fix and make fun of him, was more than he could stand. He felt +humiliated. That is just another way of saying shamed. Yes, Sir, Buster +felt that he was shamed in the eyes of his neighbors, and he wanted +nothing so much as to get away by himself, where no one could see him, +and try to get rid of that dreadful pail. But Buster is so big that it +is not easy for him to find a hiding place. So, when he reached the +Green Forest, he kept right on to the deepest, darkest, most lonesome +part and crept under the thickest hemlock-tree he could find. + +But it was of no use. The sharp eyes of Sammy Jay and Blacky the Crow +saw him. They actually flew into the very tree under which he was +hiding, and how they did scream! Pretty soon Ol' Mistah Buzzard came +dropping down out of the blue, blue sky and took a seat on a convenient +dead tree, where he could see all that went on. Ol' Mistah Buzzard began +to grin as soon as he saw that tin pail on Buster's neck. Then came +others,--Redtail the Hawk, Scrapper the Kingbird, Redwing the Blackbird, +Drummer the Woodpecker, Welcome Robin, Tommy Tit the Chickadee, Jenny +Wren, Redeye the Vireo, and ever so many more. They came from the Old +Orchard, the Green Meadows, and even down by the Smiling Pool, for the +voices of Sammy Jay and Blacky the Crow carried far, and at the sound of +them everybody hurried over, sure that something exciting was going on. + +Presently Buster heard light footsteps, and peeping out, he saw Billy +Mink and Peter Rabbit and Jumper the Hare and Prickly Porky and Reddy +Fox and Jimmy Skunk. Even timid little Whitefoot the Wood Mouse was +where he could peer out and see without being seen. Of course, Chatterer +the Red Squirrel and Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel were there. There they +all sat in a great circle around him, each where he felt safe, but where +he could see, and every one of them laughing and making fun of Buster. + +"Thief, thief, thief!" screamed Sammy until his throat was sore. The +worst of it was Buster knew that everybody knew that it was true. That +awful pail was proof of it. + +"I wish I never had thought of berries," growled Buster to himself. + + + + +XXII + +BUSTER BEAR HAS A FIT OF TEMPER + + + A temper is a bad, bad thing + When once it gets away. + There's nothing quite at all like it + To spoil a pleasant day. + +Buster Bear was in a terrible temper. Yes, Sir, Buster Bear was having +the worst fit of temper ever seen in the Green Forest. And the worst +part of it all was that all his neighbors of the Green Forest and a +whole lot from the Green Meadows and the Smiling Pool were also there to +see it. It is bad enough to give way to temper when you are all alone, +and there is no one to watch you, but when you let temper get the best +of you right where others see you, oh, dear, dear, it certainly is a +sorry sight. + +Now ordinarily Buster is one of the most good-natured persons in the +world. It takes a great deal to rouse his temper. He isn't one tenth so +quick tempered as Chatterer the Red Squirrel, or Sammy Jay, or Reddy +Fox. But when his temper is aroused and gets away from him, then watch +out! It seemed to Buster that he had had all that he could stand that +day and a little more. First had come the fright back there in the Old +Pasture. Then the pail had slipped down behind his ears and held fast, +so he had run all the way to the Green Forest with it hanging about his +neck. This was bad enough, for he knew just how funny he must look, and +besides, it was very uncomfortable. But to have Sammy Jay call everybody +within hearing to come and see him was more than he could stand. It +seemed to Buster as if everybody who lives in the Green Forest, on the +Green Meadows, or around the Smiling Brook, was sitting around his +hiding place, laughing and making fun of him. It was more than any +self-respecting Bear could stand. + +With a roar of anger Buster Bear charged out of his hiding place. He +rushed this way and that way! He roared with all his might! He was very +terrible to see. Those who could fly, flew. Those who could climb, +climbed. And those who were swift of foot, ran. A few who could neither +fly nor climb nor run fast, hid and lay shaking and trembling for fear +that Buster would find them. In less time than it takes to tell about +it, Buster was alone. At least, he couldn't see any one. + +[Illustration: Those who could fly, flew. Those who could climb, +climbed. _Page 112._] + +Then he vented his temper on the tin pail. He cuffed at it and pulled at +it, all the time growling angrily. He lay down and clawed at it with his +hind feet. At last the handle broke, and he was free! He shook himself. +Then he jumped on the helpless pail. With a blow of a big paw he sent it +clattering against a tree. He tried to bite it. Then he once more fell +to knocking it this way and that way, until it was pounded flat, and no +one would ever have guessed that it had once been a pail. + +Then, and not till then, did Buster recover his usual good nature. +Little by little, as he thought it all over, a look of shame crept into +his face. "I--I guess it wasn't the fault of that thing. I ought to have +known enough to keep my head out of it," he said slowly and +thoughtfully. + +"You got no more than you deserve for stealing Farmer Brown's boy's +berries," said Sammy Jay, who had come back and was looking on from the +top of a tree. "You ought to know by this time that no good comes of +stealing." + +Buster Bear looked up and grinned, and there was a twinkle in his eyes. +"You ought to know, Sammy Jay," said he. "I hope you'll always remember +it." + +"Thief, thief, thief!" screamed Sammy, and flew away. + + + + +XXIII + +FARMER BROWN'S BOY LUNCHES ON BERRIES + + + When things go wrong in spite of you + To smile's the best thing you can do-- + To smile and say, "I'm mighty glad + They are no worse; they're not so bad!" + +That is what Farmer Brown's boy said when he found that Buster Bear had +stolen the berries he had worked so hard to pick and then had run off +with the pail. You see, Farmer Brown's boy is learning to be something +of a philosopher, one of those people who accept bad things cheerfully +and right away see how they are better than they might have been. When +he had first heard some one in the bushes where he had hidden his pail +of berries, he had been very sure that it was one of the cows or young +cattle who live in the Old Pasture during the summer. He had been afraid +that they might stupidly kick over the pail and spill the berries, and +he had hurried to drive whoever it was away. It hadn't entered his head +that it could be anybody who would eat those berries. + +When he had yelled and Buster Bear had suddenly appeared, struggling to +get off the pail which had caught over his head, Farmer Brown's boy had +been too frightened to even move. Then he had seen Buster tear away +through the brush even more frightened than he was, and right away his +courage had begun to come back. + +"If he is so afraid of me, I guess I needn't be afraid of him," said +he. "I've lost my berries, but it is worth it to find out that he is +afraid of me. There are plenty more on the bushes, and all I've got to +do is to pick them. It might be worse." + +He walked over to the place where the pail had been, and then he +remembered that when Buster ran away he had carried the pail with him, +hanging about his neck. He whistled. It was a comical little whistle of +chagrin as he realized that he had nothing in which to put more berries, +even if he picked them. "It's worse than I thought," cried he. "That +bear has cheated me out of that berry pie my mother promised me." Then +he began to laugh, as he thought of how funny Buster Bear had looked +with the pail about his neck, and then because, you know he is learning +to be a philosopher, he once more repeated, "It might have been worse. +Yes, indeed, it might have been worse. That bear might have tried to eat +me instead of the berries. I guess I'll go eat that lunch I left back by +the spring, and then I'll go home. I can pick berries some other day." + +Chuckling happily over Buster Bear's great fright, Farmer Brown's boy +tramped back to the spring where he had left two thick sandwiches on a +flat stone when he started to save his pail of berries. "My, but those +sandwiches will taste good," thought he. "I'm glad they are big and +thick. I never was hungrier in my life. Hello!" This he exclaimed right +out loud, for he had just come in sight of the flat stone where the +sandwiches should have been, and they were not there. No, Sir, there +wasn't so much as a crumb left of those two thick sandwiches. You see, +Old Man Coyote had found them and gobbled them up while Farmer Brown's +boy was away. + +But Farmer Brown's boy didn't know anything about Old Man Coyote. He +rubbed his eyes and stared everywhere, even up in the trees, as if he +thought those sandwiches might be hanging up there. They had disappeared +as completely as if they never had been, and Old Man Coyote had taken +care to leave no trace of his visit. Farmer Brown's boy gaped foolishly +this way and that way. Then, instead of growing angry, a slow smile +stole over his freckled face. "I guess some one else was hungry too," he +muttered. "Wonder who it was? Guess this Old Pasture is no place for me +to-day. I'll fill up on berries and then I'll go home." + +So Farmer Brown's boy made his lunch on blueberries and then rather +sheepishly he started for home to tell of all the strange things that +had happened to him in the Old Pasture. Two or three times, as he +trudged along, he stopped to scratch his head thoughtfully. "I guess," +said he at last, "that I'm not so smart as I thought I was, and I've got +a lot to learn yet." + +This is the end of the adventures of Buster Bear in this book +because--guess why. Because Old Mr. Toad insists that I must write a +book about his adventures, and Old Mr. Toad is such a good friend of all +of us that I am going to do it. + + +THE END + + + + + * * * * * + + THE ADVENTURES OF + BUSTER BEAR + + + BOOKS BY + + THORNTON W. BURGESS + + * * * * * + + THE BEDTIME STORY-BOOKS + + 1. THE ADVENTURES OF REDDY FOX + + 2. THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY CHUCK + + 3. THE ADVENTURES OF PETER COTTONTAIL + + 4. THE ADVENTURES OF UNC' BILLY POSSUM + + 5. THE ADVENTURES OF MR. MOCKER + + 6. THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY MUSKRAT + + 7. THE ADVENTURES OF DANNY MEADOW MOUSE + + 8. THE ADVENTURES OF GRANDFATHER FROG + + 9. THE ADVENTURES OF CHATTERER, THE RED SQUIRREL + + 10. THE ADVENTURES OF SAMMY JAY + + 11. THE ADVENTURES OF BUSTER BEAR + + 12. THE ADVENTURES OF OLD MR. TOAD + + 13. THE ADVENTURES OF PRICKLY PORKY + + 14. THE ADVENTURES OF OLD MAN COYOTE + + 15. THE ADVENTURES OF PADDY THE BEAVER + + 16. THE ADVENTURES OF POOR MRS. QUACK + + 17. THE ADVENTURES OF BOBBY COON + + 18. THE ADVENTURES OF JIMMY SKUNK + + 19. THE ADVENTURES OF BOB WHITE + + 20. THE ADVENTURES OF OL' MISTAH BUZZARD + + * * * * * + + MOTHER WEST WIND SERIES + + 1. OLD MOTHER WEST WIND + + 2. MOTHER WEST WIND'S CHILDREN + + 3. MOTHER WEST WIND'S ANIMAL FRIENDS + + 4. MOTHER WEST WIND'S NEIGHBORS + + 5. MOTHER WEST WIND "WHY" STORIES + + 6. MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES + + 7. MOTHER WEST WIND "WHEN" STORIES + + 8. MOTHER WEST WIND "WHERE" STORIES + + * * * * * + + GREEN MEADOW SERIES + + 1. HAPPY JACK + + 2. MRS. PETER RABBIT + + 3. BOWSER THE HOUND + + * * * * * + + THE BURGESS BIRD BOOK + FOR CHILDREN + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Buster Bear, by +Thornton W. Burgess + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF BUSTER BEAR *** + +***** This file should be named 22816.txt or 22816.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/8/1/22816/ + +Produced by Mark C. 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