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diff --git a/28302.txt b/28302.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c0f267f --- /dev/null +++ b/28302.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3251 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Arkansaw Bear, by Albert Bigelow Paine + +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 Arkansaw Bear + A Tale of Fanciful Adventure + +Author: Albert Bigelow Paine + +Illustrator: Frank Ver Beck + +Release Date: March 10, 2009 [EBook #28302] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ARKANSAW BEAR *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net Music by Linda +Cantoni(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + + +THE ARKANSAW BEAR + + +[Illustration] + +NEW YORK R. H. RUSSELL PUBLISHER + +[Illustration: BOSEPHUS AND HORATIO] + + + + + +THE ARKANSAW BEAR + + +A TALE OF FANCIFUL ADVENTURE + +TOLD + +IN SONG AND STORY BY + +ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE + +IN PICTURES BY + +FRANK VER BECK + +[Illustration] + + NEW YORK: R. H. RUSSELL + LONDON: + KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUeBNER & CO. + + MDCCCXCVIII + + COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY + + ROBERT HOWARD RUSSELL + + Printed in the United States of America + + + + + DEDICATION + + TO MASTER FRANK VER BECK, + + FOR WHOSE + + BEDTIME ENTERTAINMENT + + THE ARKANSAW BEAR + + FIRST PERFORMED + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + I The Meeting of Bosephus and Horatio 11 + II The First Performance 20 + III Horatio and the Dogs 29 + IV The Dance of the Forest People 38 + V Good-bye to Arkansaw 46 + VI An Exciting Race 55 + VII Horatio's Moonlight Adventure 64 + VIII Sweet and Sour 73 + IX In Jail at Last 83 + X An Afternoon's Fishing 92 + XI The Road Home 101 + XII The Bear Colony at Last. The Parting of Bosephus + and Horatio 111 + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE MEETING OF BOSEPHUS AND HORATIO + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Oh, 'twas down in the woods of the Arkansaw, + And the night was cloudy and the wind was raw, + +[Illustration: Music] + + And he didn't have a bed and he didn't have a bite, + And if he hadn't fiddled he'd a travelled all night." + + +BOSEPHUS paused in his mad flight to listen. Surely this was someone +playing the violin, and the tune was familiar. + +He listened more intently. + + "But he came to a cabin and an old gray man, + And says he, 'Where am I going? Now tell me if you can----'" + +It was the "Arkansaw Traveller" and close at hand. The little boy tore +hastily through the brush in the direction of the music. The moon had +come up, and he could see quite well, but he did not pause to pick his +way. As he stepped from the thicket out into an open space the fiddling +ceased. It was bright moonlight there, too, and as Bosephus took in the +situation his blood turned cold. + +In the center of the open space was a large tree. Backed up against this +tree, and looking straight at the little boy, with fiddle in position +for playing, and uplifted bow, was a huge Black Bear! + +Bosephus looked at the Bear, and the Bear looked at Bosephus. + +"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" he roared. + +"I--I am Bo-se-Bosephus, an' I--I g-guess I'm l-lost!" gasped the little +boy. + +"Guess you are!" laughed the Bear, as he drew the bow across the +strings. + +"An-an' I haven't had any s-supper, either." + +"Neither have I!" grinned the Bear, "that is, none worth mentioning. A +young rabbit or two, perhaps, and a quart or so of blackberries, but +nothing real good and strengthening to fill up on." Then he regarded +Bosephus reflectively, and began singing as he played softly:-- + + "Oh, we'll have a little music first and then some supper, too, + But before we have the supper we will play the music through." + +"No hurry, you know. Be cool, please, and don't wiggle so." + +But Bosephus, or Bo, as he was called, was very much disturbed. So far +as he could see there was no prospect of supper for anybody but the +Bear. + +"You'll forget all about supper pretty soon," continued the Bear, +fiddling. + + "You'll forget about your supper--you'll forget about your home-- + You'll forget you ever started out in Arkansaw to roam." + +"My name is Horatio," he continued. "Called Ratio for short. But I don't +like it. Call me Horatio, in full, please." + +[Illustration: "MAYBE YOU CAN PLAY IT YOURSELF."] + +"Oh, ye-yes, sir!" said Bo, hastily. + +"See that you don't forget it!" grunted the Bear. "I don't like +familiarity in my guests. But I am clear away from the song I was +singing when you came tearing out of that thicket. Seems like I never +saw anybody in such a hurry to see me as you were. + + "Now the old man sat a-fiddling by the little cabin door, + And the tune was pretty lively, and he played it o'er and o'er; + And the stranger sat a-list'ning and a-wond'ring what to do, + As he fiddled and he fiddled, but he never played it through." + +Bo was very fond of music, and as Horatio drew from the strings the +mellow strains of "The Arkansaw Traveller" he forgot that both he and +the Bear were hungry. He could dance very well, and was just about to do +so as the Bear paused. + +"Why don't you play the rest of that tune, Horatio?" he asked, +anxiously. + +"Same reason the old man didn't!" growled the Bear, still humming the +air, + + "Oh, raddy daddy dum--daddy dum--dum--dum-- + +"Why!" continued Bo, "that's funny!" + +"Is it?" snorted Horatio; "I never thought so! + + "Then the stranger asked the fiddler 'Won't you play the rest for me?' + 'Don't know it,' says the fiddler, 'Play it for yourself!' says he----" + +"Maybe you can do what the stranger did, Bosephus--maybe you can play it +yourself, eh?" grunted the huge animal, pausing and glowering at the +little boy. + +"Oh, no, sir--I--I--that is, sir, I can only wh-whistle or s-sing it!" +trembled Bo. + +"What!" + +"Y-yes, sir. I----" + +"You can sing it?" shouted the Bear, joyfully, and for once forgetting +to fiddle. "You don't say so!" + +"Why, of course!" laughed Bo; "everybody in Arkansaw can do that. It +goes this way:-- + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Then the stranger took the fiddle, with a ridy-diddle-diddle, + And the strings began to jingle at the tingle of the bow, + +[Illustration: Music] + + While the old man sat and listened, and his eyes with pleasure + glistened, + As he shouted 'Hallelujah! And hurray--for--Joe!'" + +When Bo had finished, Horatio stood perfectly still for some moments in +astonishment and admiration. Then he came up close to the little boy. + +"Look here, Bo," he said, "if you'll teach me to play and sing that +tune, we'll forget all about that sort o' personal supper I was planning +on, and I'll take you home all in one piece. And anything you want to +know I'll tell you, and anything I've got, except the fiddle, is yours. +Furthermore, you can call me Ratio, too, see? + + 'Oh, ridy-diddy, diddy-diddy----' + +how does it go? Give me a start, please." + +Bo brightened up at once. He liked to teach things immensely, and +especially to ask questions. + +"Why, of course, Ratio," he said, condescendingly; "I shall be most +happy. And I can make up poetry, too. Ready, now:-- + + "I am glad to be the teacher of this kind and gentle creature, + Who can play upon the fiddle in a----" + +"Wait, Bo! wait till I catch up!" cried Horatio, excitedly. "Now!" + +"Hold on, Ratio. I want to ask a question!" + +"All right! Fire away! I couldn't get any further anyhow." + +"Well," said Bo, "I want to know how you ever learned to play the +fiddle." + +Horatio did not reply at first, but closed his eyes reflectively and +drew the bow across the string softly. + + "Oh, raddy daddy dum--daddy dum--dum--dum--- + +"I took a course of lessons," he said, presently, "but it is a long +story, and some of it is not pleasant. I think we had better go on with +the music now:-- + + "Oh, there was a little boy and his name was Bo, + Went out into the woods when the moon was low, + And he met an Old Bear who was hungry for a snack, + And his folks are still awaiting for Bosephus to come back." + +"Go right on with the rest of it," said Bo, hastily. + + "For the boy became the teacher of this kind and gentle creature, + Who can play upon the fiddle in a very skilful way." + +"But I say, Ratio," interrupted Bo again, "how did it come you never +learned to play the second part of that tune?" + +Horatio scowled fiercely at first, and then once more grew quite +pensive. He played listlessly as he replied:-- + +"Ah," he said, "my teacher was--was unfortunate. He taught me to play +the first part of that tune. He would have taught me the rest of it--if +he had had time." + +Horatio drew the bow lightly across the strings and began to sing, in a +far-away voice:-- + + "Oh, there was an old man, and his name was Jim, + And he had a pet bear who was fond of him; + But the man was very cruel and abusive to his pet, + And one day his people missed him, and they haven't found him yet." + +"Oh!" said Bo; "and w-what happened, Horatio?" + +Horatio paused and dashed away a tear. + +"It happened in a lonely place," he said, chewing reflectively, "a +lonely place in the woods, like this. We were both of us tired and +hungry and he grew impatient and beat me. He also spoke of my parents +with disrespect, and in the excitement that followed he died." + +"Oh!" said Bo. + +"Yes," repeated Horatio, "he died. He was such a nice man--such a nice +fat Italian man, and so good while--while he lasted." + +"Oh!" said Bo. + +Horatio sighed. + +"His death quite took away my appetite," he mused. "I often miss him +now, and long for some one to take his place. I kept this fiddle, +though, and he might have been teaching me the second part of that tune +on it now if his people hadn't missed him--that is, if he hadn't been +impatient, I mean." + +"Oh, Ratio!" said Bo, "I will teach you the tune all through! And I will +never be the least bit impatient or--or excited. Are you ready to begin, +Ratio?" + +"All ready! Play." + + "Oh, it's fine to be the teacher of a kind and gentle creature + Who can play upon the fiddle in a very skilful way, + And I'll never, never grieve him, and I'll never, never leave him, + Till I hear the rooster crowing for the break--of--day." + +"That was very nice, Bo, very nice indeed!" exclaimed Horatio, as they +finished. "Now, I am going to tell you a secret." + +"Oh!" said Bo. + +"I have a plan. It is to start a colony for the education and +improvement of wild bears. But first I am going to travel and see the +world. I have lived mostly with men and know a good deal of their +taste--tastes, I mean--and have already travelled in some of the States. +After my friend, the Italian, was gone, I tried to carry out his plans +and conduct our business alone. But I could only play the first part of +that tune, and the people wouldn't stand it. They drove me away with +guns and clubs. So I came back to the woods to practice and learn the +rest of that music. My gymnastics are better--watch me." + +Horatio handed Bo his fiddle and began a most wonderful performance. He +stood on his head, walked on his hands, danced on two feet, three feet, +and all fours. Then he began and turned somersaults innumerable. Bo was +delighted. + +"It wasn't because you couldn't play and perform well enough!" he cried, +excitedly. "It was because you went alone, and they thought you were a +crazy, wild bear. If I could go along with you we could travel together +over the whole world and make a fortune. Then we could buy a big swamp +and start your colony. What do you say, Ratio? I am a charity boy, and +have no home anyway! We can make a fortune and see the world!" + +At first Ratio did not say anything. Then he seized Bo in his arms and +hugged him till the boy thought his time had come. The Bear put him down +and held him off at arm's length, joyously. + +"Say!" he shouted. "Why, I say that you are a boy after my own heart! +We'll start at once! I'll take you to a place to-night where there are +lots of blackberries and honey, and to-morrow we will set forth on our +travels. Here's my hand as a guarantee of safety as long as you keep +your agreement. You mean to do so, don't you?" + +"Oh, yes," said Bo. + +"And now for camp. We can play and sing as we go." + +As the little boy took Horatio's big paw he ceased to be even the least +bit afraid. He had at last found a strong friend, and was going forth +into the big world. He had never been so happy in his life before. + +"All right, Ratio!" he shouted. "One, two, three, play!" + +And Ratio gave the bow a long, joyous scrape across the strings, and +thus they began their life together--Bosephus whistling and the Bear +playing and singing with all his might the fascinating strains of "The +Arkansaw Traveller":-- + + "Oh, there was a little boy and his name was Bo, + Went out into the woods when the moon was low, + And he hadn't had his supper and his way he didn't know, + So he didn't have a bite to eat nor any place to go. + Then he heard the ridy-diddle of Horatio and his fiddle, + And his knees began to tremble as he saw him standing there; + Now they'll never, never sever, and they'll travel on forever-- + Bosephus, and the fiddle, and the Old--Black--Bear." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FIRST PERFORMANCE + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Oh, 'twas down in the woods of the Arkansaw + I met an Old Bear with a very nimble paw; + +[Illustration: Music] + + He could dance and he could fiddle at the only tune he knew, + And he fiddled and he fiddled, but he never played it through." + + +BO was awake first, and Horatio still lay sound asleep. As the boy +paused the Bear opened one eye sleepily and reached lazily toward his +fiddle, but dropped asleep again before his paw touched it. They had +found a very cosy place in a big heap of dry leaves under some spreading +branches, and Horatio, though fond of music, was still more fond of his +morning nap. Bosephus looked at him a moment and began singing again, in +the same strain:-- + + "Then there came a little boy who could whistle all the tune, + And he whistled and he sang it by the rising of the moon; + And he whistled and he whistled, and he sang it o'er and o'er, + Till Horatio learned the music he had never learned before." + +The Bear opened the other eye, and once more reached for his fiddle. +This time he got hold of it, but before his other paw touched the bow he +was asleep again. Bo waited a moment. Then he suddenly began singing to +the other part of the tune:-- + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Yes, he learned it all so neatly and he played it all so sweetly + That he fell in love completely with the boy without a home; + +[Illustration: Music] + + And he said, 'No matter whether it is dark or sunny weather + We will travel on together till the cows--come--home.'" + +Before Bosephus finished the first two lines of this strain Horatio was +sitting up straight and fiddling for dear life. + +"Once more, Bo, once more!" he shouted as they finished. + +They repeated the music, and Horatio turned two handsprings without +stopping. + +"Now," he said, "we will go forth and conquer the world." + +"I could conquer some breakfast first," said Bo. + +"Do you like roasting ears?" + +"Oh, yes," said Bo. + +"Well, I have an interest in a little patch near here--that is, I take +an interest, I should say, and you can take part of mine or one of your +own if you prefer. It really doesn't make any difference which you do +just so you take it before the man that planted it is up." + +"Why," exclaimed the boy as they came out into a little clearing, "that +is old Zack Todd's field!" + +"It is, is it? Well, how did old Zack Todd get it, I'd like to know." + +"Why--why I don't know," answered Bo, puzzled. + +[Illustration: "ONCE MORE, BO, ONCE MORE"] + +"Of course not," said the Bear. "And now, Bosephus, let me tell you +something. The bears owned that field long before old Zack Todd was ever +thought of. We're just renting it to him on shares. This is rent day. We +don't need to wake Zack up. You get over the fence and hand me a few +of the best ears you can get quick and handy, and you might bring one of +those watermelons I see in the corn there, and we'll find a quiet place +that I know of and eat it." + +Bo hopped lightly over the rail fence, and, gathering an armful of green +corn, handed it to Horatio. Then he turned to select a melon. + +"Has Zack Todd got a gun, Bosephus?" asked the Bear. + +"Yes, sir-ee. The best gun in Arkansaw, and he's a dead shot with it." + +"Oh, he is. Well, maybe you better not be quite so slow picking out that +melon. Just take the first big one you see and come on." + +"Why, Zack wouldn't care for us collecting rent, would he?" + +"Well, I don't know. You see, some folks are peculiar that way. Zack +might forget it was rent day, and a man with a bad memory and a good gun +can't be trusted. Especially when he's a dead shot. There, that one will +do. Never mind about his receipt--we'll mail it to him." + +Bo scrambled back over the fence with the melon and hastened as fast as +he could after Horatio, who was already moving across the clearing with +his violin under one arm and the green ears under the other. + +"Wait, Ratio," called the little boy. "This melon is heavy." + +"Is that a long range gun, Bo?" called back the Bear. + +"Carries a mile and a half." + +"Can't you move up a little faster, Bo? I'm afraid, after all, that +melon is bigger than we needed." + +The boy was fat and he panted after his huge companion. + +Suddenly there was a sharp report, and Bosephus saw a little tuft of fur +fly from one of his companion's ears. Horatio dodged frantically and +dropped part of his corn. + +[Illustration: CONQUERING THE WORLD.] + +"Run zigzag, Bo!" he called, "and don't drop the melon. Run zigzag. He +can't hit you so well then," and Horatio himself began such a +performance of running first one way and then the other that Bo was +almost obliged to laugh in spite of their peril. + +"Is this what you call conquering the world, Ratio?" Then, as he +followed the Bear's example, he caught a backward glimpse out of the +corner of his eye. + +"Oh, Ratio," he called, "the whole family is after us. Zack Todd, and +old Mis' Todd, and Jim, and the girls." + +"How many times does that gun shoot?" + +"Only once without loading." + +"Muzzle loader?" + +"Yep," panted Bo. "Old style." + +"Good! Hold on to that melon. We'll get to the woods yet." + +But Horatio was mistaken, for just as they dashed into the edge of the +timber, with the pursuers getting closer every moment, right in front of +them was a high barbed-wire fence which the Todd family had built around +the clearing but a few days before. The Bear dropped his corn, and the +boy carefully, but with some haste, put down the melon. Then they +turned. The Todd family was just entering the woods--old Zack and the +gun in front. He had loaded it and was putting on the cap as he ran. + +"What shall we do, Bo, what shall we do now?" groaned Horatio. + +The situation was indeed desperate. Their pursuers were upon them, and +in a moment more the deadly gun would be levelled. Suddenly a bright +thought occurred to Bo. + +"I know," he shouted; "dance! Horatio! dance!" + +[Illustration: "DANCE! HORATIO, DANCE!"] + +Horatio still had his fiddle under his arm. He threw it into position +and ran the bow over the strings. In a second more he was playing and +dancing, and Bo was singing as though it were a matter of life and +death, which indeed it was:-- + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Oh, there was a fine man and a mighty fine gun + And a Bear that played the fiddle and a boy that couldn't run, + +[Illustration: Music] + + + And the boy was named Bosephus and Horatio the Bear, + And they couldn't find a bite to eat for breakfast anywhere." + +The Todd family stood still at this unexpected performance and stared at +the two musicians. Old man Todd leaned his gun against a tree. + + "Now they couldn't buy their breakfast for their money all was spent, + So they dropped into a cornfield to collect a little rent; + But they only took a melon and an ear of corn or so, + And were going off to eat them where the butter blossoms grow." + +The Todd family were falling into the swing of the music. Old Mis' Todd +and the girls were swaying back and forth and the men were beating time +with their feet. Suddenly Bosephus changed to the second part of the +tune. + +[Illustration: Music] + + "But the old man got up early with a temper rather surly, + And he chased them with his rifle and to catch them he was bound; + +[Illustration: Music] + + Till he heard the ridy-diddle of Horatio and his fiddle, + Then he shouted, 'Hallelujah, girls, and all--hands--'round!'" + +The first line of this had started the Todd family. Old Zack swung old +Mis' Todd, and Jim swung the girls. Then all joined hands and circled +to the left. They circled around Bosephus and Horatio, who kept on with +the music, faster and faster. Then there was a grand right and left and +balance all--every one for himself--until they were breathless and could +dance no more. Horatio stopped fiddling and when old man Todd could +catch his breath he said to Bo:-- + +"Look a-here; that Bear of yours is a whole show by himself, and you're +another. Anybody that can play and sing like that can have anything I've +got. There's my house and there's my cornfield; help yourselves." + +Bo thanked him and said that the corn and the melon already selected +would do for the time. To oblige them, however, he would take up a +modest collection. He passed his hat and received a silver twenty-five +cent piece, a spool of thread with a needle in it, a one-bladed +jack-knife and two candy hearts with mottoes on them--these last being +from the girls, who blushed and giggled as they contributed. Then he +said good-by, and the Todd family showed them a gate that led into the +thick woods. As the friends passed out of sight and hearing Bosephus +paused and waved his handkerchief to the girls. A little later Horatio +turned to him and said, impressively:-- + +"That is what I call conquering the world, Bosephus. We began a little +sooner and more abruptly than I had expected, but it was not badly done, +and, all things considered, you did your part very well, Bosephus; very +well indeed." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +HORATIO AND THE DOGS + + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Blossom on the bough and bird on the limb-- + Old Black Bear sits a-grinning at him; + +[Illustration: Music] + + Sawing on his fiddle and a-grinning at the jay-- + Grinning as he saws the only tune that he can play." + + +HORATIO leaned back against the tree and played lazily. Bosephus lay +stretched full length on the leaves, following idly with any words that +happened to fit the strain. A blue jay just over their heads bobbed up +and down on a limber branch, waiting for them to go. The Bear took up +the song as the boy paused:-- + + "Boy on the bank and bird on the tree-- + Bird keeps a-bobbing and a-blinking at me; + Bobbing and a-blinking, and a-waiting for a bite-- + Hasn't had a thing to eat since late--last--night." + +"I say, Ratio," interrupted Bo. "Suppose we move on and give Mr. Jay +Bird a chance?" + +Horatio grunted and rose heavily. After their adventure with the Todd +family they had come to a pleasant spot in the woods by a clear stream +of water. Bo, who had some matches in his pocket, had kindled a fire and +roasted some of the corn, much to the disgust of Horatio, who disliked +fire and asked him why he didn't roast the watermelon, too, while he was +about it. Then they had eaten their breakfast together and taken a +brief rest before setting forth again on their travels. A jay bird was +waiting to peck the gnawed ears and melon rinds. He stared at the +strange pair as they strolled away through the trees, the Bear +continuing his favorite melody. + +"Ratio," said Bo, pausing suddenly, "what is that I hear scurrying +through the bushes every now and then?" + +"Friends of mine, likely." + +"Friends! What friends?" + +"Oh, everything, most. Wild cats, wolves, foxes and a few wild bears, +maybe." + +"Wildcats! Bears! Wolves!" + +"Why, yes. Often when I play in the moonlight they come out and dance +for me." + +"Oh!" said Bo. + +"I have them all dancing together, sometimes. I'll have them dance for +you before long." + +"Oh, Ratio, will you?" + +"Yes. It's a lot of fun, but there's no money in it, and that's what +we're after now, Bo. We're going to buy that swamp, you remember, and +start that bear colony." + +Bosephus was about to reply when Horatio paused and listened. There was +the distant sound of dogs barking. + +"Hello!" said Bo. "We're coming to somewhere. Now we'll give our first +regular performance. Come on, Ratio!" + +Horatio hesitated. + +"How many dogs do you suppose there are, Bo?" he asked anxiously. + +"About a dozen, I should think, big and little." + +"Little dogs, Bo? Little snapping dogs?" + +"That's what it sounds like, and some hounds and a big dog or two. You +don't mind dogs, do you?" + +[Illustration: "HELLO!" SAID BO, "WE'RE COMING TO SOMEWHERE."] + +"Oh, no, not in the least--but it's most too soon after breakfast to +give a performance, and besides, all that noise would spoil the music." + +But the little boy, who still had in his pocket the two candy hearts +that had been given to him by the Todd girls, walked ahead proudly. + +"You trust to me!" he said, flourishing a large stick. "I'll stop their +noise pretty quick. I'm not afraid of dogs!" + +The Bear followed some steps behind, looking ahead warily. + +"I'm not afraid, either, you know," he said, anxiously. "Only when there +are so many of them they get me mixed up on my notes and one of them +once had the ill manners to nip quite a piece out of my left hind leg." + +Presently they came into an open space and plump upon a little +crossroads village. A gang of dogs gambolled upon the common, chasing +stray geese and barking loudly. Horatio paused. + +"Come back, Bo," he whispered. "There's no money in that crowd." + +But Bosephus was already some distance ahead, stick in hand, and the +dogs had spied him. They ceased barking for a moment and two or three of +the larger ones ran away. Then the little dogs began yelping again and +came on in a swarm. Bo made at them with his stick, but they dodged past +him, and in a moment more were circling and snapping around Horatio, who +was waving his violin wildly with one paw and slapping like a man +killing mosquitoes with the other. + +"Quick, Bo!" he shouted. "Quick! Help! Murder!" + +The little boy wanted to laugh, but ran up instead and began striking +among the bevy of dogs that were torturing his friend. Some of them +howled and ran off a few paces. Then they came flocking back. Suddenly +Horatio thrust his violin into Bo's hand and ran swiftly toward a large +tree a few yards distant. The curs followed and jumped high into the air +after him as he scrambled up to the lower limbs. + +Bosephus hurried after them and struck at them so fiercely with his club +that they ran yelping away. A number of villagers, attracted by the +commotion, were now appearing from all quarters. + +"Here come the people, Ratio," said Bo, grinning. "Now we can perform." + +"All right, Bo," whispered the Bear, "but if you'll kindly hand me up +that fiddle I believe I'll perform right where I am." + +The boy passed up the violin and the Bear struck a few notes. By this +time the people had collected. There was a blacksmith with a leather +apron, and a painter with all colors of paint on his clothes. Behind +them there came a woman with dough on her hands and another carrying a +baby. Other men and women followed in the procession, and a dozen or so +children of all ages. They halted a little way from the tree and stood +staring. Horatio sat astride a big limb and commenced playing. Suddenly +the boy threw back his head and began to sing:-- + + "Oh, the dogs barked loud and the dogs barked low + And the boy stood still and the Bear climbed the tree, + At an Old Black Bear and a boy named Bo. + While the people came a-running to see what they could see." + +The children drew up close at the first line and held their breath to +listen. As the boy paused they shouted and screamed with laughter at the +sight of Horatio fiddling in the forks of the tree. The dogs sat in a +row and howled plaintively. + +"Sing some more," cried the woman with the baby; "it amuses my little +Joey." + +[Illustration: BOSEPHUS HURRIED AFTER THEM AND STRUCK AT THEM.] + + "Yes, the people came to see them and the dogs they ran away, + And the boy began to sing and the Bear began to play, + Till it tickled all the children and it made the baby crow, + And it set the people dancing till they jumped--Jim--Crow." + +"More! more!" shouted the people as they formed into cotillons and +reels. "Sing us some more!" + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Oh, the ridy-diddle-diddle of Horatio and his fiddle, + And the singing of Bosephus they had never heard before; + +[Illustration: Music] + + And it set them all to spinning, and the music was so winning + That they wined them and they dined them until half past four!" + +"Wait! wait!" called the woman with the baby under her arm, "I'm all out +of breath." + +"No, no!" shouted the children and all the others. "Go on! Go on!" + +So once more and yet another time the unwearied musicians repeated their +performance, and then Bo politely passed his hat to the dancers. When he +had been to each one his hat was heavy with some money and many useful +articles. + +"Bring your Bear down out of the tree," said the blacksmith, "and we +will give you a feast on the common." + +Bo beckoned to Horatio to climb down, but the big fellow hesitated. + +The temptation of a feast, however, was too much for him. + +[Illustration: ONCE MORE AND YET ANOTHER TIME.] + +That night, when they had both danced again for the people and Horatio +had given them an acrobatic exhibition, they strolled away through the +evening loaded down with luxuries of all kinds. The villagers went with +them to the outskirts, and called good luck after them. As they passed +into the quiet shadows of the forest they once more heard the barking +of dogs in the distance behind them. + +"We have had a good day, Bosephus," said Horatio, with a long sigh of +satisfaction. "We are on the road to fortune. To be sure, there are +little thorns along the way--" + +"Dogs, for instance--and guns." + +"Trifles, Bosephus; trifles. Don't give them a second thought. Of course +you are only a little boy as yet, and will outgrow these fears." + +"And learn to climb trees." + +"I hope you don't think I climbed that tree out of fear, Bosephus. I +merely went up there to get a better view of my audience. One should +always rise above his audience. And now let us sing softly together as +we go. It will rest us after our day of conquest." + +And touching the strings lightly and singing softly together, the +friends sought leisurely their evening camp. Here and there a light +rustle in the bushes showed that the forest people were listening, and +the leaves of the forest whispered in time to their melody. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE DANCE OF THE FOREST PEOPLE + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Oh! the night was warm and the moon was bright, + And we pitched our camp in the pale moonlight; + +[Illustration: Music] + + In the pale moonlight and the green, green shade, + And we counted up together all the money we had made." + + +THE little boy jingled the coins in his hands, and sang reflectively to +the Bear's soft music. Their camp fire had died down to a few red +embers, and the big moon hanging in the tree-tops made all the world +white and black, with one bright splash in the brook below. They had +finished their supper, and Bosephus, with the needle and thread given to +him by old Mis' Todd, had patiently mended by the firelight a small rent +in his trouser leg. Horatio, watching him with a grin, had finally +remarked:-- + +"You see, Bo, if you wore clothes like mine you wouldn't have to do +that." + +"And if the dog that did that had got his teeth into your clothes, you'd +have wished they were like mine. Maybe that's why you didn't give him a +chance." + +"Let's count the money, Bo." + +So then they counted up their day's receipts. There was something more +than a dollar in all, and Horatio was much pleased. + +[Illustration: THEIR CAMP-FIRE HAD DIED DOWN.] + +"I tell you, Bo," he said excitedly, "we've made a fine start. By and by +we will earn two or three times that much every day, and be able to +start our bear colony before you know it." + +The little boy fondled the coins over and over. They were the first he +had ever earned. + +"Ratio," he said at last, "don't you suppose when we get a lot of +money--a big lot, I mean--we might give some to those people I used to +live with?" + +Horatio scowled. + +"I thought you said they didn't treat you well and you had to run away." + +"Yes, of course, Ratio; but then they were so poor and maybe they'd have +been better to me if I had been able to earn money for them. They did +take me out of the poor house, you know, and--" + +"And you tried to get back again and got lost and fell in with me. Now +you are sorry and want to go to them, do you?" and the Bear snorted so +fiercely that the little boy trembled. + +"Oh, no! Not for the world! I never was so happy in all my life, only I +just thought--" + +"Then don't think, Bo," interrupted Horatio, gently. "You are only a +little boy. I will do the thinking for this firm. Now for a song, Bo, to +soothe us." + +So then they played and sang softly together while the moon rose and the +fire died out, and the boy poured the money from hand to hand, lovingly. + +"Bosephus," said his companion, as they paused, "were those people you +lived with nice people? Nice fat people, I mean?" + +"Not very. Old Mr. Sugget might have been pretty fat if he'd had more to +eat, but Mis' Sugget wasn't made to get fat, I know. It wasn't her +build." + +"It was the old man that abused you, wasn't it?" + +"Well, mostly." + +"Knocked you about and half starved you?" + +"Sometimes, but then----" + +"Wait, please. I have an idea. When we get our bear colony started we'll +invite this Sugget party to visit us. We'll feed him--all he can eat. By +and by, when he gets fat--how long do you suppose it will take him to +get fat, Bo? Fat enough, I mean?" + +"Fat enough for what?" shivered Bo. + +Horatio drew the horsehair briskly across the strings and looked up at +the moon. + +"Fat enough to be entertaining," he grinned, and began singing:-- + + "Oh, there was an old man and his ways were mighty mean, + And he wasn't very fat and he wasn't very lean, + Till he went to pay a visit to a colony of bears, + Then you couldn't find a nicer man than he was, anywheres." + +While the Bear played the little boy had been watching a slim, moving +shadow that seemed to have drifted out from among the heavier shadows +into the half-lit open space in front of them. As the music ceased it +drifted back again. + +"Play some more, Ratio," he whispered. + +Again the Bear played and again the slim shadow appeared in the +moonlight and presently another and another. Some of them were slender +and graceful; some of them heavier and slower of movement. As the music +continued they swung into a half circle and drew closer. Now and then +the boy caught a glimpse of two shining sparks that kept time and +movement with each. He could hardly breathe in his excitement. + +"Look there, Ratio," he whispered. + +Horatio did not stir. + +"Sh-h!" he said softly. "My friends--the forest people." + +The Bear slackened the music a little as he spoke and the shadows +wavered and drew away. Then he livened the strain and they trooped +forward again eagerly. + +Just then the moon swung clear of the thick trees and the dancers were +in its full flood. The boy watched them with trembling eagerness. + +A tall, catlike creature, erect and graceful, swayed like a phantom in +and out among the others, and seemed to lead. As it came directly in +front of the musicians it turned full front toward them. It was an +immense gray panther. + +At any other time Bo would have screamed. Now he was only fascinated. +Its step was perfect and its long tail waved behind it, like a silver +plume, which the others followed. Two red foxes kept pace with it. Two +gray ones, a little to one side, imitated their movements. In the +background a family of three bears danced so awkwardly that Bo was +inclined to laugh. + +"We will teach them to do better than that when we get our colony," he +said. + +Horatio nodded without pausing. The dancers separated, each group to +itself, the gray panther in the foreground. Spellbound, the boy watched +the beautiful swaying creature. He had been taught to fear the +"painter," as it was called in Arkansaw, but he had no fear now. He +almost felt that he must himself step out into that enchanted circle and +join in the weird dance. + +New arrivals stole constantly out of the darkness to mingle in the +merrymaking. A little way apart a group of rabbits skipped wildly +together, while near them a party of capering wolves had forgotten their +taste for blood. Two plump 'coons and a heavy bodied 'possum, after +trying in vain to keep up with the others, were content to sit side by +side and look on. Other friends, some of whom the boy did not know, +slipped out into the magic circle, and, after watching the others for a +moment, leaped madly into the revel. The instinct of the old days had +claimed them when the wild beasts of the forest and the wood nymphs trod +measures to the pipes of Pan. The boy leaned close to the player. + +"The rest of it!" he whispered. "Play the rest of it!" + +"I am afraid. They have never heard it before." + +"Play it! Play it!" commanded Bo, excitedly. + +There was a short, sharp pause at the end of the next bar, then a sudden +wild dash into the second half of the tune. The prancing animals stopped +as if by magic. For an instant they stood motionless, staring with eyes +like coals. Then came a great rush forward, the gray panther at the +head. The boy saw them coming, but could not move. + +"Sing!" shouted Horatio; "sing!" + +For a second the words refused to come. Then they flooded forth in the +moonlight. Bo could sing, and he had never sung as he did now. + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Oh, our singing, yes our singing, all our friends to us 'tis bringing, + For it sets the woods to ringing, and the forest people know + +[Illustration: Music] + + That we do not mean to harm them in their dancing, nor alarm them-- + We are seeking but to charm them with the sounds of long ago." + +[Illustration: THE INSTINCT OF THE OLD DAYS HAD CLAIMED THEM.] + +At the first notes of the boy's clear voice the animals hesitated; then +they crept up slowly and gathered about to listen. They did not resume +dancing to this new strain. Perhaps they wanted to learn it first. Bo +sang on and on. The listening audience never moved. Then Horatio +played very softly, and the singer lowered his voice until it became +like a far off echo. When Bo sang like this he often closed his eyes. He +did so now. + +The music sank lower and lower, until it died away in a whisper. The boy +ceased singing and opening his eyes gazed about him. Here and there he +imagined he heard a slight rustle in the leaves, but the gray panther +was gone. The frisking rabbits and the capering wolves had vanished. The +red and gray foxes, the awkward bears and the rest of that frolicking +throng had melted back into the shadows. So far as he could peer into +the dim forest he was alone with his faithful friend. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +GOOD-BYE TO ARKANSAW + + "Oh, the wind blows cold and the wind blows raw, + When the night comes on in the Arkansaw-- + Yes, the wind blows cold and the snow will fall. + And Bosephus and Horatio must travel through it all." + + +THE little boy's voice quavered as he sang, and his teeth chattered. It +had been more than two months since he started on his travels with +Horatio, and the October nights, even in southern Arkansaw, were +beginning to be chilly. The night before he had in some way got +separated from his friend's warm furry coat and woke shivering. He +kindled a fire now, singing as he worked, while Horatio touched the +chords of his violin pensively. He did not feel the cold. Nature was +providing him with his winter furs. + +"Bo," he said presently, "you'll have to have some heavier clothes. +Either that or we'll have to go farther South. As for me, you know, I +could go to sleep in a hollow tree and not mind the winter, but you +couldn't do it, and I don't intend to, either, this year; we're making +too much money for that." + +Bo laughed in spite of the cold and jingled his pockets. They were more +than half full of coin, and he had a good roll of bills in his jacket +besides. + +"No," he said; "we are getting along too well. We'll be rich by spring +if we keep right on. I'm thinking, though, that we'll never be able to +get South fast enough if we walk." + +"Look here, Bo; you're not thinking about putting me on that cyclone +thing they call a train, are you?" + +"Well, not exactly, but yesterday where we performed I heard a fellow +say that there was a river right close here, and steamboats. You +wouldn't mind a steamboat, would you, Ratio?" + +"Of course not. I don't mind anything. I've always wanted to ride on one +of those trains, only I knew the people would be frightened at me, and +as for a steamboat, why, if I should meet a steamboat coming down the +road--" + +"But steamboats don't come down the roads, Ratio; they go on the water." + +"Water! Water that you drink, and drown things in?" + +"Of course! And if the boat goes down we'll be drowned, too." + +Horatio struck a few notes on the violin before replying. + +"Bo," he said presently, "you're a friend of mine, aren't you? A true +friend?" + +"Yes, Ratio, you know I am." + +"Well, then, don't you go on one of those boats. It would grieve me +terribly if anything should happen to you. I might not be able to save +you, Bo, and then think how lonely I should be." And Horatio put one paw +to his eyes and sobbed. + +"Oh, pshaw, Ratio! Why, I can swim like everything. I'm not afraid." + +"But you couldn't save us both, Bo--I mean, we both couldn't save the +fiddle--it would get wet. Think--think of the fiddle, Bo!" + +The fire was burning brightly by this time and the little boy was +getting warm. He laughed and rubbed his hands and began to sing:-- + + "Oh, we're going down the river on a great big boat, + And Horatio's so excited he can hardly play a note, + For he never liked the water and he never learned to swim, + And he thinks if he goes sailing now his chances will be slim." + +Horatio stopped short and snorted angrily. + +"I want you to understand," he said, sharply, "that I'm not afraid of +anything. You'll please remember that night when the forest people +danced and you thought your time had come, how I saved you by making you +sing. There's nothing I fear. Why if--" + +But what Horatio was about to say will never be known, for at that +moment there came such a frightful noise as neither of them had ever +heard before. It came from everywhere at once, and seemed to fill all +the sky and set the earth to trembling. It was followed by two or three +fierce snorts and a dazzling gleam of light through the trees. The +little boy was startled, and as for the Bear, he gave one wild look and +fled. In his fright he did not notice a small shrub, and, tripping over +it, he fell headlong into a clump of briars, where he lay, groaning +dismally that he was killed and that the world was coming to an end. + +Suddenly Bosephus gave a shout of laughter. + +"Get up, Ratio," he called, "it's our steamboat! We're right near the +river and didn't know it. They're landing, too, and we can go right +aboard." + +The groaning ceased and there was a labored movement among the briars. + +Presently Horatio crept out, very much crestfallen, and picked up the +violin, which in his haste he had dropped. + +"Bo," he said, sheepishly, "I never told you about it before, but I am +subject to fits. I had one just then. They come on suddenly that way. +All my family have them and act strangely at times. I'm sure you don't +think for a moment that I was frightened just now." + +[Illustration: HE FELL HEADLONG.] + +"Oh, no, of course not. You merely picked out that briar patch as a good +place to have a fit in. Do you always think the world's coming to an +end when you are taken that way?" + +"We'll go right aboard, Bo; you are a little timid, no doubt, so I'll +lead the way." And Horatio stepped out briskly toward the lights and +voices and the landing steamer. + +A few steps brought them out to the river bank and a full view of the +boat that had crept silently around a bend to the woodyard, where it was +halting to take on fuel. The gang plank had not been pushed out to the +bank as yet, but a white ray of light shot from a small window to the +dark shore and looked exactly like a narrow board. The boy and the Bear +were both deceived by it, and Horatio in his eagerness to show his +bravery did not pause to investigate. + +"Take the fiddle, Bo," he said, loftily, "and I'll show you how to get +on a boat. You should always be brave, Bosephus." + +Bosephus took the instrument and Horatio, with arms extended as a +balance, stepped straight out into nothing and vanished. There was a +sudden splash, a growl, a scrambling sound in the shallow water and +Horatio's head appeared above the bank. Bosephus, at first frightened, +was now doubled with laughter. + +"Oh, Ratio," he gasped, "how funny of you to try to walk on a moonbeam!" + +Horatio shook himself and sniffed angrily. A wide gang plank was now +being lowered from the boat, and as it touched the bank the boy stepped +quickly aboard, followed by the wet, shambling Bear. + + "Oh, there was an Old Bear on a dark, dark night, + Who tried to walk on a beam of light," + +sang Bo, as he crossed the plank, + + "But the beam wouldn't hold and the Bear broke through, + And now Horatio follows, as Horatio ought to do." + +"Hello!" called a voice. "Where did you come from?" + +Bo looked up and saw a brawny man with a group of wondering negroes +behind him. + +"We are travelling," said Bo, "and we want to go down the river. We can +pay our way and will make music for you, too." + +"Good boy," said the mate. "Go right up and report to the clerk, then +come back down here, and after we get this wood loaded we'll give you +some supper and you can give us a show." + +On the upper deck the few passengers gathered around and made much of +the arrivals. All asked questions at once, and Bo answered as best he +could. Horatio kept silent--he never talked except when he was alone +with Bo. The boy kept his hand on the Bear's head, and when the boat +backed away and puffed down stream he felt his big friend tremble, but a +little later, when they had had a good supper, Ratio's fear passed off, +and on the lower deck, where all hands collected, the friends gave an +entertainment that not only won for them free passage down the river, +but a good collection besides. It was far in the night when the +performance ended. The officers, passengers and crew kept calling for +more, and the travellers were anxious to accommodate them. The negroes +went wild over the music, and patted and danced crazily whenever Horatio +played. Finally Bo sang a good night song:-- + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Now, we've had a lot of music, and we've had some supper, too, + And we're sailing down the river in a little steam canoe, + +[Illustration: Music] + + And we love to be obliging with our music, but it seems + That we ought to go a-sailing to the land of pleasant dreams. + +[Illustration: THE NEGROES WENT WILD OVER THE MUSIC.] + +[Illustration: THE LITTLE BOY WAS IN THE LAND OF DREAMS.] + +[Illustration: Music] + + And I must not fail to mention we enjoy your kind attention, + And the favors you have shown to us have filled us with delight, + +[Illustration: Music] + + And to-morrow we will play for you and sing our songs so gay for you, + But now you will excuse us if we say--good--night." + +Bosephus and Horatio were both offered staterooms on the upper deck, but +Horatio preferred to sleep outside, and the little boy said he would +sleep there also. Horatio sat up for some moments after Bo had stretched +himself to rest, looking at the dark wooded banks and the starlight on +the water behind them. + +"Bo," he said, at last, "we are going to see the world now, sure +enough." + +"Yes, Ratio," was the sleepy answer. + +"Bo, do you suppose our camp fire is still burning back yonder?" + +No answer. + +"I hate to leave old Arkansaw, don't you, Bo?" + +But the little boy was in the land of dreams. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AN EXCITING RACE + + "Sailing down the river so early in the morn, + Sailing down the river so early in the morn, + Sailing down the river so early in the morn, + Never was so happy since the day that I was born." + + +THE boat on which Horatio and Bosephus had taken their passage made no +landings during the night, and the little boy and the big Bear slept +soundly on the deck together. Rather too soundly, as will be seen later. +At daybreak the next morning Bosephus was wide awake, singing softly and +watching through the mist the queer forms of the cypress trees, with the +long Spanish moss swinging from the limbs. Horatio, hearing the singing, +rubbed his eyes and sat up. He had never been so far South before, so +the scenery was new to both of them, and when they came to open spaces +and saw that the shores were only a few inches higher than the river and +that fields of waving green came right to the water's edge they were +both pleased and surprised at this new world. The climate had changed, +too, and the air was warm and spring-like. + +"I tell you, Bo," said Horatio grandly, "there's nothing like travel. +You're a lucky boy, Bo, to fall in with me. Why, the way you've come out +in the last few months is wonderful. Of course, there is a good deal of +room yet for improvement, and there are still some things that you are +rather timid of, but when I remember how you looked the first minute I +saw you, and then to see the sociable way you sit up and talk to me now, +you really don't seem like the same boy, Bosephus, you really don't." + +The little boy leaned up close to his companion. + + "Oh, there was a little boy and his name was Bo," + +he sang softly, remembering their first meeting. + + "Went out into the woods when the moon was low," + +added the Bear, strumming lightly the strings of the violin. + + "And he met an Old Bear that was hungry for a snack, + And the folks are still awaiting for Bosephus to come back." + +they continued together in a half whisper. + +"Ratio," said the little boy, confidentially, "did you really intend +to--to have me--you know, Ratio--for--for supper until I taught you the +tune? Did you, Ratio?" + +Horatio gazed away across a broad cane field, where the first streak of +sunrise was beginning to show. + + "For the boy became the teacher of the kind and gentle creature + Who could play upon the fiddle in a very skilful way," + +he sang dreamily, and then both together once more:-- + + "Now he'll never, never leave him, and he'll never, never grieve him, + And we're singing here together at the break--of--day." + +"This is very pleasant travelling," commented Horatio thoughtfully. "It +beats walking, at least for speed and comfort. Of course, there are a +number of places we cannot reach by boat," he added, regretfully. + +"Not in Southern Louisiana, Ratio. I've heard that there's a regular +tangle of rivers and bayous all over the country, and that boats go +everywhere." + +Horatio looked pleased. + +"Aren't you glad now, Bo," he said proudly, "that I proposed this boat +business? I have always wanted to travel this way. I was afraid at first +that you might not take to it very well, and when that whistle blew +last night I could see that you were frightened. It was unfortunate that +I should have had a fit just then or I might have calmed you. You saw +how anxious I was to go aboard. Of course, in being over brave I made a +slight mistake. I am always that way. All my family are. One really +ought to be less reckless about some things, but somehow none of my +family ever knew what fear was. We----" + +But just then the boat concluded to land, and the morning stillness was +torn into shreds by its frightful whistle. Horatio threw up both hands +and fell backward on the deck, where he lay pawing the air wildly. Then +he stuffed his paws into his ears and howled as he kicked with his hind +feet. Bo stood over him and shouted that there was no danger, but his +voice made no sound in that awful thunder. All at once Horatio sprang up +and jammed his head under Bo's arm, trembling like a jellyfish. Then the +noise stopped, and with one or two more hoarse shouts ceased entirely. + +"It's all right, Ratio, come out!" said Bo, trying to stop laughing. + +Horatio felt of his ears a moment to see that they were still there, +while he looked skittishly in the direction of the dreadful whistle and +started violently at the quick snorts of the escaping steam. + +"Bo," he said faintly, "do all boats do that?" + +"Oh, yes! Some worse than others. This one isn't very bad." + +"I'm sorry, Bo, for it is a great drawback to travel where one is +subject to fits as I am. It seems to bring them on. And it is not kind +of you to laugh at my affliction, either, Bosephus," he added, for Bo +had dropped down on the deck, where he was rolling and holding his +sides. + +[Illustration: HE STUFFED HIS PAWS INTO HIS EARS.] + +All at once the boy lay perfectly still. Then he sprang up with every +bit of laugh gone out of his face. His left hand grasped the outside of +his jacket, while with his right hand he dived down into the inside +pocket like mad. The Bear watched him anxiously. + +"What is it, Bo? Have you got one, too?" he asked. + +"Horatio!" gasped the boy. "Our money! It's gone!" + +"Gone! Gone! Where?" + +"Stolen. Some of those niggers did it while we were asleep!" + +The Bear reflected a moment. Then he said thoughtfully:-- + +"Do you suppose, Bo, it was that nice fat one?" + +"I shouldn't wonder a bit. I saw him watch every penny I took in last +night." + +Horatio licked out his tongue eagerly. + +"Could I have him if it was?" he asked hungrily. + +"Have him! How?" said Bo. Then he shuddered. "Oh! no, not that way--of +course not. But I'll tell you, Ratio," he added, "we'll make him believe +that you can, and frighten him into giving up the money." + +Horatio frowned. + +"I don't like make-believes," he grumbled. "Can't we let the money go +this time and not have any make-believe?" + +"Not much--we want that money right now, before the boat lands; then +we'll go ashore and get out of such a crowd. Come, Ratio." + +No one was stirring on the upper deck as yet, but the crew was collected +below where the second mate was shouting orders as the boat swung slowly +into the bank. They boy and Bear dashed down the stairs. + +[Illustration: "OUR MONEY! IT IS GONE!"] + +"Wait!" shouted Bo to the officer. "Somebody on this boat last night +stole our money, and I want my Bear to find him. It won't take but a +minute, for he can tell a thief at sight when he's mad and hungry, and +he's mad now, and hungry for dark meat!" The boy looked straight into +the crowd of negroes, while the Bear growled fiercely and fixed his eye +on the fat darky. + +The crew fell back and the fat darky with a howl started to run. + +"That's the one! That's the thief!" shouted Bo, and with a snarl Horatio +bounded away in pursuit. Down the narrow gangway to the stern of the +boat, then in a circle around a lot of cotton, they ran like mad, the +Bear getting closer to the negro every minute. Then back again to the +bow in a straight stretch, the thief blue with fright and Horatio's eyes +shining with hungry anticipation. The rest of the crew looked on and +cheered. Suddenly, as the fat darky passed Bo, he jerked a sack from his +pocket and flung it behind him. + +"Dar's yo' money! Dar's yo' money!" he shouted. "Call off yo' B'ar!" + +But that was not so easy. Bosephus shouted frantically at Horatio, but +he did not seem to hear. His blood was up, and his taste for dark meat +was stronger than his love of money. As the two came clattering around +the second time he was so close to his prey that with a quick swipe he +got quite a piece of his shirt. With a wild yell the fat fugitive leaped +over into the river and struck out for shore. + +Horatio paused. His half open jaws were dripping and his eyes red and +fiery with disappointment. Bo went up to him gently. + +"Come, Ratio," he whispered. + +The Bear paid no heed. He was watching his escaped prey, who had reached +the shore and was disappearing in a great canefield. + +[Illustration: THE FAT FUGITIVE LEAPED OVER INTO THE RIVER.] + +"Come!" Bo whispered again. "We'll go ashore, too." + +Horatio wheeled eagerly. The gangplank was being lowered, and he hurried +Bo out on it, so that when it touched the bank he was all ready to give +chase again. + +"No, wait; some music first," said Bo. "I have thought of some new lines +for the second part of the tune." + +For a moment Horatio hesitated. Then the temptation of the music was +stronger even than his appetite, and, throwing his violin into position, +he began to play. The passengers, roused by the excitement, had gathered +on the upper deck. The crew coming ashore below paused to listen. + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Oh! there was a fat darky with an appetite for wealth, + And the only way to get it was to capture it by stealth, + +[Illustration: Music] + + But when it came to keep it, his chances were so small, + He concluded that he really didn't care for it at all. + +[Illustration: Music] + + For we placed him and we faced him, and my bear Horatio chased him-- + In a manner most surprising he pursued him to and fro-- + +[Illustration: Music] + + And we hope we do not grieve you, but we feel that we must leave you, + For the Southern sun is rising, and we're bound--to--go." + +The crew cheered and the passengers on the upper deck shouted and waved +their handkerchiefs. + +"Don't go!" they called. "Don't leave us!" But the friends turned their +faces to the East and set out on a broad white road that led away to the +sunrise. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +HORATIO'S MOONLIGHT ADVENTURE + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Rooster in de chicken coop crowin' foh day, + Horses in de stable goin' 'Nay, nay, nay!' + +[Illustration: Music] + + Ducks in de yard goin' 'Quack, quack, quack!' + Guineas in de tree tops goin' 'Rack-pot-rack!'" + + +DURING the two weeks since they had come to the land of sugar-cane +Horatio and Bosephus had learned some of the old negro songs of +Louisiana and sang them to their own music. They were doing so now as +they marched along the bank of a quiet bayou, where the blue grass came +to the water's edge and the long Spanish moss from big live oak trees +swung down twenty feet or more till it almost touched the water. They +had had a good day and were going to camp. + +"Bo," said the Bear presently, "we are doing well. We are making money, +Bo." + +"Fifty dollars since we left the boat," said the little boy. + +"These fat babies--little darky babies--are very amusing, too, Bosephus, +don't you think so?" Horatio added, nodding in the direction of some +they were just then passing. + +[Illustration: "THESE LITTLE DARKEY BABIES ARE VERY--AMUSING."] + +"I notice that you think so," said Bo, dryly. "If you'll take my advice, +though, you won't show any special fondness for them. People might not +understand your ways, you know, and besides," he added, with a grin, +"I've heard say these darkies down here are mighty fond of bear meat, +and there's such a lot of them----" + +"Don't you mention it, Bo; I never dreamed of such a thing as you are +hinting at." + +"Well, you said you were dreaming yesterday when we met that little +darky boy, and you nearly tore the jacket off of him before I could wake +you up with a club." + +Horatio drew his bow hastily across the strings and began singing-- + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Keemo, kimo, kilgo, kayro, + Horses in de stable goin' 'Nay, nay, nay!' + +[Illustration: Music] + + Rop strop, periwinkle, little yaller nigger, + Cum a rop strop bottle till the break of day." + +The sun was just setting behind a large, white, old fashioned sugar +house, where the bayou turned, and made it look like an ancient castle. +The little boy sighed. He had never believed that any country could be +so beautiful as this, and he wanted to stay in it forever. Horatio liked +it, too. They had played and danced at many of the sugar houses, and the +Bear had been given everywhere all the waste sugar he could eat. He was +fond of the green cane also, and was nearly always chewing a piece when +they were not busy with a performance. But the big fellow had never +quite overcome his old savage nature, and the race on the steamboat had +roused it more fiercely than ever. The fat pickaninnies were a constant +temptation to him, and it had taken all Bo's watchfulness to keep him +out of dreadful mischief. Bo never feared for himself. Horatio loved him +and had even become afraid of him. It was for Horatio that he feared, +for he knew that death would be sure and swift if one of the +pickaninnies was even so much as scratched, not to mention anything +worse that might happen. Again the little boy sighed as they turned into +a clean grassy place and made ready for camp. + +Long after Bosephus was asleep Horatio sat by the dying camp fire, +thinking. By and by he rose and walked out to the bank of the bayou and +looked toward the sugar house that lay white in the moonlight, half a +mile away. Then he went back to where Bo was asleep and picked up the +violin. Then he laid it down again, as though he had changed his mind, +and slipped away through the shadows in the direction of the old sugar +house. He said to himself that, as they were going in that direction and +would stop there next day, he might as well see how the road went and +what kind of a place it was. He did not own, even to himself, that it +was the negro cabins and fat pickaninnies that were in his mind, and +that down in his heart was a wicked and savage purpose. Every little way +he paused and seemed about to turn back, but he kept on. By and by he +drew near the sugar house and saw the double row of whitewashed huts in +the moonlight. It was later than he had supposed and the crowds of +little darkies that were usually playing outside had gone to bed. He +sighed and was about to turn back when suddenly he saw something +capering about near the shed of the sugar house. He slipped up nearer +and a fierce light came into his eyes. It was a little negro boy doing a +hoo-doo dance in the moonlight. + +[Illustration: HE SLIPPED AWAY THROUGH THE SHADOWS.] + +Suddenly the little fellow turned and saw the Bear glaring at him. +Horatio was between him and the cabins. The boy gave one wild shriek and +dashed through a small open door that led into the blackness of the +sugar house, the Bear following close behind. It was one of the old +Creole sugar houses where the syrup is poured out into open vessels to +cool and harden. The little darky knew his way and Horatio didn't. He +stumbled and fell, and growled and tried to follow the flying shadow +that was skipping and leaping and begging, "Oh, Mars Debbil! Oh, please, +Mars Debbil, lemme go dis time, an' I nevah do so no mo'. Nevah do no +mo' hoo-doo, Mars Debbil; oh, please, Mars Debbil, lemme go!" + +But Horatio was getting closer and closer and in another moment would +seize him. Then, suddenly, something happened. The Bear stumbled and, +half falling, stepped into one of the big shallow wooden vessels. He +felt his hind feet break through something like crusted ice and sink a +foot or more into a heavy, thick substance below. When he tried to lift +them they only sank deeper. Then he knew what was the matter. He had +stepped into a mass of hardening sugar and was a prisoner! His forefeet +were free, but he dared not struggle with them for fear of getting them +fast, too. The little darky, who thought the devil had stopped to rest, +was huddled together in a corner not daring to move. Horatio remembered +Bo sleeping safely in their camp and began to weep for his own +wickedness. In the morning men would come with axes and guns. Why had he +not heeded Bo? Half seated on the crusted sugar he gave himself up to +sorrow and despair. + + * * * * * + +It was early morning when Bo awoke. He was surprised to see that Horatio +was not beside him, for the boy was usually first awake. He called +loudly. Then, as the moments passed and the Bear did not come, he grew +uneasy. Suddenly a terrible suspicion flashed over him. He sprang to his +feet and seizing the violin that lay beside him set forth on a run in +the direction of the white sugar house. He knew Horatio would go there +because it was nearest, and he felt certain that something dreadful had +happened. The incident of the day before made him almost sure of +Horatio's errand, and he feared the worst. No doubt they had caught and +killed him by this time, and what would he do now without his faithful +friend? + +[Illustration: SUDDENLY THE LITTLE FELLOW TURNED.] + +He ran faster and faster. As he drew near the sugar house he heard a +great commotion. For a moment he stopped. If Horatio had done something +terrible and they had caught him perhaps it would be dangerous to +interfere. The next moment he rushed on. Horatio was his friend and he +would save his life if possible, unless----. He did not think any +further, but flew on. As he dashed into the cane yard he saw crowds +gathering and men running with axes and clubs. Others had guns and cane +knives, and all were crowding toward the big doors of the sugar house, +that were now thrown open. Inside he heard shouts, mingled with +Horatio's fierce growls. His friend was still alive. + +Without pausing he rushed through the doors and saw a circle of negro +men gathered about the big wooden trough where the Bear was a prisoner, +snapping and growling and trying to get free. The little pickaninny who, +in spite of his fright, had slept all night in the corner, was there, +too, and the men with axes and other weapons had entered with Bo. There +was not a second to be lost. + +"Wait!" screamed Bo; "wait!" And tearing through the astonished crowd he +thrust the violin into Horatio's hands. + +"Play!" he shouted. "Play for your worthless life!" + +Horatio did not need to be told again. He reached for the violin and +bow, and sitting in the now solid sugar struck the strings wildly. + + "Rooster in de chicken coop, crowin' foh day; + Horses in de stable goin' 'Nay, nay, nay;' + Ducks in de yard goin' 'Quack, quack, quack!' + Guineas in de tree tops, goin' 'Rack-pot-rack!'" + +Horatio fiddled furiously, while Bo shouted and sang and the crowd +joined in. They all knew this song, and as they sang they forgot all +else. Axes and guns and clubs were dropped as young and old fell into +the swing of the music. + + "Keemo, kimo, kilgo, kayro; + Fleero, fliro, flav-o-ray; + Rop strop, periwinkle, little yaller nigger, + Cum a rop strop bottle till de break--of--day!" + +You could hear the noise for a mile. They danced and shouted and sang, +and work was forgotten. After a long time, when they were tired out, Bo +took one of the axes and carefully broke the now solid sugar away from +Ratio's feet and set him free. Then they brought water and washed his +hind paws and he danced for them. + +After dinner, when the friends started out on their journey, the crowd +followed them for nearly a mile. When all were gone Horatio turned to Bo +and said:-- + +"I am glad you came just as you did, Bo." + +"I should rather think you would be," said Bo, grimly. + +"Because," continued Horatio, "if you hadn't I might have damaged some +of those fellows, and I know you wouldn't have liked that, Bosephus." He +looked at the little boy very humbly as he said this, expecting a severe +lecture. But the little boy made no reply, and down in his heart the big +Bear at that moment made a solemn and good resolve. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +SWEET AND SOUR + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Oh, we're down in the land where the jasmine blows, + And the cypress waves and the orange grows, + +[Illustration: Music] + + And the song bird nests in the climbing rose-- + And all the girls are beautiful, and milk and honey flows." + + +HORATIO paused in his playing and looked at Bosephus, who was ready to +sing another stanza. + +"Look here, Bo," he said gravely, "that sounds very pretty and may be +very good poetry and true enough, but I wouldn't get to singing too much +about jasmine and song birds and climbing roses if I were you, and +especially girls. You are only a little boy, and besides, I can't see +that there is any difference in girls, except that some are plump and +some are not, and that isn't any difference to me, now," and the Bear +sighed and strummed on his violin gently. + +"Oh, pshaw, Ratio! There's lots of difference. Some girls are yellow and +sour as a lemon, while some are as pink and sweet and blooming as a +creole rose"---- + +"Bosephus," interrupted the Bear gravely, "you've got a touch of the +swamp fever. Let me see your tongue!" + +Bo stuck out his tongue. + +"My tongue's all right," he grinned. "That kind of fever's in the +heart." + +Horatio looked alarmed. + +"You must take something for it right away, Bo," he declared. "I can't +have you singing silly songs about jasmine and cypress and girls in milk +and honey. You know we haven't seen any honey since we left Arkansaw, +and I'd travel all the way back there on foot to rob one good honey +tree. I'm getting tired of so much of this stuff they call sugar and +cane and the like." + +"Why they have honey here, Ratio, too. I haven't seen any bee trees, but +I've seen plenty of bees. I suppose they are in hives--boxes that people +keep for them to live in." + +"Where do they have those boxes, Bo?" + +"Well, in their yards mostly; generally out by the back fence." + +"Could we rob them?" + +"Well, I shouldn't like to try it." + +The Bear walked along some distance in silence. The boy was also +thinking and singing softly to himself. He was very happy. Presently he +looked up and saw just ahead, in a field near the road, a tree loaded +with oranges. + +"Look, Ratio!" he said. "Don't you wish we had some of those?" + +The Bear looked up and began to lick out his tongue. + +"Climb over and get some, Bo," he said eagerly. + +"Not much. I haven't forgotten the roasting ears and the watermelon we +got from old man Todd in Arkansaw. We might go to the house and ask for +some. + +"Nonsense, Bosephus. Watch me!" + +He handed Bo the fiddle, and running lightly to the hedge cleared it at +a bound. + +"Fine!" shouted Bo. + +Horatio, without pausing, hurried over to the tree. + +"Funny they should leave those oranges so late," thought the little boy +as he watched him. + +Swinging himself to the first limb, the Bear shook off a lot of the fine +yellow fruit, and climbing down, gathered in his arms all he could +carry. As he did so there came a loud barking of dogs, and without +looking behind him he started to run. He dropped a few of the oranges, +but kept straight on, the two huge dogs that had appeared getting closer +and closer. As he reached the hedge he once more made a grand leap, but +the oranges prevented him doing so well as before. His foot caught in +the top branches and he rolled over and over in the dusty road, the +oranges flying in every direction. The dogs behind the hedge barked and +raged. + +Horatio rose, dusty and panting, but triumphant. + +"You see, Bo," he said, "what it is to be brave. You can fill your +pockets now with these delicious oranges." + +He picked up one as he spoke, and brushing off the dust, bit it in half +cheerfully. Then Bo, who was watching him, saw a strange thing take +place. The half orange flew out of the Bear's mouth as from a popgun, +and his face became so distorted that the boy thought his friend was +having a spasm. Suddenly he whirled, and making a rush at the fallen +oranges, began to kick them in every direction, coughing and spitting +every second. The two dogs looking over the hedge stopped barking to +enjoy the fun. One of the oranges rolled to Bo's feet. He picked it up +and smelled it. Then rubbing it on his coat he bit into it. It was not a +large bite, but it was enough. The tears rolled from his eyes and every +tooth in his head jumped. Such a mixture of stinging sour and bitter he +had never dreamed of. It grabbed him by the throat and shook him until +his bones cracked. The top of his head seemed coming loose, and his ears +fairly snapped. Then he realized what Horatio must be suffering, and +laughed in spite of himself. + +[Illustration: FLEW OUT OF HIS MOUTH AS FROM A POP GUN.] + +"They are mock oranges, Ratio," he shouted, "and they are mocking us for +stealing them!" + +Horatio had seated himself by the roadside and was snorting and clawing +at his tongue. + +"I must have some honey, Bo," he said, "to take away that dreadful +taste. You must find me some honey, Bo." + +"You see, Ratio," said the little boy, "it doesn't pay to take things." + +"Bosephus," said the Bear, "a man who will plant a tree like that so +near the road deceives wilfully and should be punished." + +They walked along slowly, the two dogs barking after them from behind +the hedge. + +Just beyond the next bend in the road a beautiful plantation came into +view. They turned into the cane yard and immediately the workhands +surrounded them. Horatio felt better by this time, and they began a +performance. First Bo sang and then Horatio gave a gymnastic exhibition. +Then at last Bo sang a closing verse as follows:-- + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Now our little show is ended, and we hope you think it splendid, + And we trust we've not offended or displeased you anywhere, + +[Illustration: Music] + + You have paid us to be funny, and we thank you for the money, + But I'd like a little honey for the Old--Black--Bear. + +Horatio smiled when he heard this, and the planter who was listening +sent one of the servants to the house. He came out soon with a piece of +fresh honey on a plate. He offered it to Horatio, who handed Bo the +violin, and seizing the plate, swallowed the honey at one gulp. This +made the crowd shout and laugh, and then Bo shook hands with the planter +and said good-bye, and all the darkies came up and wanted to shake +hands, too. When he had shaken hands all around the little boy turned to +look for Horatio. He was nowhere in sight. The others had not noticed +him slip away. + +Bo was troubled. When Horatio disappeared like that it meant mischief. +He had promised reform as to pickaninnies, but Bo was never quite sure. +He was about to ask the people to run in every direction in search of +his comrade when there was a sudden commotion in the back door yard, and +a moment later a black figure dashed through the gate with something +under its arm. It was Horatio! The crowd of darkies took one look and +scattered. The thing under Horatio's arm was a square, box looking +affair, and out of it was streaming a black, living cloud. + +"Bees!" shouted the people as they fled. "Bees! Bees!" + +Bo understood instantly. The taste of honey had made Horatio greedy for +more. He had gone in search of it and returned with hive and all. There +was a clump of tall weeds just behind the little boy, and he dropped +down into them. They hid him from view, and none too soon, for the Bear +dashed past, snorting and striking at the swarm of stingers that not +only covered him, but fiercely attacked everything in sight. Howls began +to come from some of the hands that had failed to find shelter in time, +and Bo, peeping out between the weeds, saw half a dozen darkies +frantically trying to open the big door of the sugar house, which had +been hastily closed by those within, while the angry bees were pelting +furiously at the unfortunates. + +[Illustration: THE BEAR DASHED PAST, SNORTING.] + +As for Horatio, he was coated with bees that were trying to sting +through his thick fur. He did not mind them at first, but presently +they began to get near his eyes. With a snarl he dropped the hive and +began to paw and strike with both hands. Then they swarmed about him +worse than ever, and, half blinded, he began to run around and around +with no regard as to direction. Every darky in sight fled like the wind. +Some of them ran out of the gate and down the road, and without seeing +them, perhaps, the Bear suddenly leaped the fence and set out in the +same direction. Glancing back, they saw him coming and began to shriek +and scatter into the fields. + +Bo waited some minutes; then, noticing that the maddened insects were no +longer buzzing viciously over him, he crept out and followed. He still +held the violin and was glad enough to get away from the plantation. The +bees had followed the fugitive, and the boy kept far enough behind to be +out of danger. By and by he met bees coming back, but perhaps they were +tired or thought he belonged to another crowd, for they did not molest +him. A mile further on he found Horatio sitting in the road rocking and +groaning and throwing dust on himself. His eyes and nose were swollen in +great knots, and his ears were each puffed up like little balloons. The +bees had left him, but his sorrow was at its height. + +"Hello, Ratio! Having fun all alone?" asked Bo as he came up. + +"Oh, Bo, this has been an awful day!" was the wailing reply. "First +those terrible oranges and then these millions and millions of murderous +bees. And now I am blind, Bo, and dying. Tell me, Bo, how do I look?" + +"Oh, you look all right. Your nose looks like a big potato and your ears +like two little ones. I can't tell you how your eyes are, for they don't +show, but your whole skin looks as if it had been stuffed full of apples +and put on in a hurry." + +"Bo," said Horatio meekly, "did you bring the fiddle?" + +[Illustration: HE FOUND HORATIO SITTING IN THE ROAD, ROCKING AND +GROANING.] + +"Well, yes; I thought it might happen that we'd need it again." + +Horatio put out his paw for it. The boy gave it to him and he ran the +bow gently over the strings. + +"Sing, Bo," he pleaded. "Sing that song about jasmine and cypress and +climbing roses. It will soothe me. Sing about girls, too, if you want +to, but leave out the oranges, Bo, and put in something else besides +honey in the last line." + +"Ratio," said Bo, "you've got a touch of the swamp fever. Let me see +your tongue!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +IN JAIL AT LAST + + "Oh, the sky is blue and the sun is high, + And the days roll 'round, and the weeks go by----" + + +"BO," interrupted Horatio, softly; "what's that over there on the bank +that looks like a man all in a wad?" + +The little boy was singing along through the sweet Louisiana afternoon, +putting into his song whatever came into his head:-- + + "And I turn, and I look, and what do I see? + Someone's left his bundle by a live oak tree." + +"What do you suppose is in that bundle, Bo?" asked the Bear, anxiously. + +"Oh, I don't know. Old clothes, from the looks of it. The owner isn't +far off. + + "When a coat and vest and hat, and pair of trousers you espy, + You can bet your bottom dollar there's a man close by." + +Horatio looked in every direction. Then he walked over to the clothes. + +"Why," said Bo, following; "I guess somebody's taking a swim. Come on, +Ratio. Remember the honey and the oranges." + +But the Bear was curious. He picked up the hat and set it on his head. +Bo laughed lazily. Then Horatio laid down his violin and slipped one +arm into the waistcoat, trying vainly to reach with the other. Bo +good-naturedly helped him. The little boy felt in the humor for fun, and +Horatio looked too comical. + +"Better not put on the coat," said Bo. "It might not be big enough and +if you tore it the owner would make us pay for it." + +But Horatio was excited. + +"Hurry, Bo! Help me on with it. How do I look, Bo? I think I'll dress +this way all the time, hereafter. Is my hat becoming, Bo?" + + "Oh, there was an Old Bear in a hat and a coat," + +sang Bo, but he got no further, for suddenly close by there was a loud +yell, and without pausing to look behind Horatio made a wild dash in the +other direction, followed by the little boy. Glancing back as they ran, +Bo saw that they were pursued by a tall white man. He had paused only a +second to slip on his boots and trousers, and was coming after them full +speed. In one hand he carried a revolver, in the other Horatio's violin. + +"Shed 'em!" he shouted. "Shed them clothes or I'll shoot!" + +"Shed 'em!" echoed Bo. "Shed 'em, Horatio!" + +The bear slipped off the coat and flung it behind him. + +"Shed 'em!" shouted the man again, and the waistcoat followed. + +"I won't give up the hat, Bo!" panted Horatio. + +[Illustration: "HOW DO I LOOK, BO?"] + +But Horatio was mistaken, for at that instant the world beneath his feet +suddenly opened and he disappeared. Before the boy could check himself +he plunged after the Bear and was struggling in the deep waters of a +bayou that came to a level with the bank and was covered thickly and +concealed by fallen leaves. Rising to the surface he found Horatio +clinging to a fallen tree and the man, who had now overtaken them, +holding out a limb, which the little boy gladly seized. The hat had +been already rescued. + +"Well, you're a nice pair!" said their captor. "To run away with a man's +clothes and then go headlong into the bayou and get his hat all wet! I'm +glad you didn't have that fiddle, or you'd a-ruined it. I've bin wantin' +a good fiddle a long time, an' this here looks like a good one. Come out +o' that, now, an' we'll take a walk up toward the jail. I happen to be +constable of this here community." + +Bo groaned as he was dragged to shore. He did not mind the wetting, for +the weather was warm, but now they had lost the violin and would be +taken to jail. Of course they would lose all their money. Perhaps +Horatio would be killed. The Bear only blinked and shook himself when he +had been also towed to the bank and had scrambled out. + +"I hope you won't take us to jail, sir," said Bo. "My Bear was +mischievous, but he didn't mean any harm, and I have a little money I'll +give you if you'll return us the violin and let us go." + +"You come along with me!" answered the man, sternly. "It'll take more +money than you've got to pay your fine, an' as fer that chap, we don't +want no bears roamin' loose aroun' here. March on ahead there, an' don't +try none o' your tricks." + +The constable cocked his revolver, and boy and Bear hurriedly started in +the direction of the village that showed above the trees about a mile +further on. + +Bo was afraid to speak to their captor again, and as he never talked +with Horatio except when they were alone, they marched along +disconsolately and in silence. Now and then the man strummed on the +violin and chuckled to himself. + +[Illustration: "SHED THEM CLOTHES OR I'LL SHOOT!"] + +When they got to the village everybody came out to look at them. The man +called out his story as they went along, and the people laughed and +jeered. Heretofore the friends had entered Louisiana villages in +triumph. Now, for the first time, they came dishonored and disgraced. +Poor Horatio looked very downcast. He knew that he was to blame for it +all. + +When they got to the court room they found that the Justice of the Peace +was away fishing, so they were lodged in jail for the night. It was only +a little one room affair, with two small iron-barred windows, quite high +from the ground. Boys climbed up and looked through these windows and +threw stones and coal in at Horatio, who huddled in a corner. By and by +the officer came with a plate of supper for Bo. He drove the boys away +and left the friends together. There was no supper for the Bear, so the +little boy divided with him. + +"Bo," said Horatio, tearfully, "it was my fault. They'll let you go, +and, and--I hope they'll give you my skin, Bo." + +Then they went to sleep. + + * * * * * + +Early next morning there was a crowd around the jail. The Justice had +returned and the people wanted to see the fun. The friends were hustled +into court by the constable, the crowd stepping back to let Horatio +pass. The justice was rather a young man and had a good-natured face, +which made Bo more hopeful. But when they heard the constable make his +charge against them, both lost heart. They were accused of stealing and +damages and a lot of other things that they could not understand. The +Justice listened and then turned to the prisoners. + +"What have you to say for yourselves?" he asked, looking straight at Bo. +At first the little boy tried to speak and could not. The court room was +still--every one waiting to hear what he was about to say. All at once +an idea came to him. + +"Please, sir," he trembled, "if you will let my Bear have the violin we +will plead our case together." + +"What violin? What does the boy mean?" asked the Justice, turning to the +constable. + +"Oh, an ole fiddle they dropped when they took my clothes. I lef' it +down 't the house this morning." + +Bo's heart sank. It was their only chance. He was about to give up when +suddenly there came another gleam of hope, though very faint. Wheeling +quickly toward the sorrow stricken Bear he shouted:-- + +"Perform for them, Horatio! Perform!" + +The words acted on Horatio like a shock of electricity. He straightened +up with a snort that caused the crowd to fall back, knocking each other +over like dominos. Then he made a bound into the open space and stood on +his head. Then with a spring backward he landed on his feet, and waved a +bow to the Justice! Another bound and he was walking on his hands and +then, after another bow to the Court, he turned a series of somersaults +so rapidly that he looked like a great wheel! When he landed on his feet +this time, and bowed once more to the Court, the crowd broke out into a +mighty cheer of applause. + +"Order!" shouted the Justice. "Order!" + +It grew still, and the little boy looked at the Court anxiously. + +"Please, Your Honor," he said humbly, "that's our case." + +"Case!" roared the Justice. "Well, I should say that was a case of fits +and revolution." + +At this the crowd cheered again until they were rapped to order by the +Court. + +"I sentence you," he said solemnly, and looking sternly at Horatio, "to +sudden and disagreeable death!" + +He paused, and Horatio staggered against Bo, who was very pale. + +[Illustration: A CASE OF FITS AND REVOLUTION.] + +"To sudden death," continued the Court, "if I catch you running off +and falling in the water with any more of my officer's clothes. And I +now fine you, for the first offense, a performance on the common for the +whole town! Court is adjourned! Show begins at once! Constable, bring +that fiddle!" + +With a wild shout the people poured outside. Many scrambled over each +other to get near Bosephus and the wonderful Bear, and when the violin +was brought and the show had begun every soul in the village was +gathered on the common. + +That night, when all was over, the little boy and the Bear were the +guests of the Justice, who owned a fine plantation adjoining the +village. During the evening he had a long talk with Bo, and seemed +greatly impressed with the little boy's natural ability and shrewdness. +When they parted next morning he said:-- + +"Remember, if you ever feel like giving up travel, come back here and +I'll send you to school and college and make a man of you." + +"I'll remember," said Bo, as they shook hands. A crowd had gathered to +see the travellers off. The constable was among them, and as they +disappeared around a bend in the road he waved and shouted with the +rest. + +"Bosephus," said Horatio gravely, "I hope you don't think of deserting +me. Remember how many close places I have helped you out of. This last +was a little the closest of all, Bosephus, and I shudder to think where +you might have been today if it had not been for me." + +"That's so," said the little boy solemnly. "I don't suppose they'd have +even given me your skin, Ratio." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AN AFTERNOON'S FISHING + + "Sitting on a bank where the bull frogs dream-- + Sitting on the shore of a deep, deep stream-- + Sitting on a log and waiting for a bite-- + Bound to catch our supper, if we fish--all--night." + + +THE little boy was holding a long cane pole that he had cut as they came +along, on the small end of which he had fastened a hook and line, baited +with a lively worm. The Bear was leaning back against a tree and +watching him lazily. + +"Bo," said he presently, "I shouldn't wonder if that singing of yours +scared the fish all away." + +"I wouldn't say that to you, Ratio. I know if you'd wake up and take the +fiddle and play some they'd walk right out on the bank." + +The Bear laughed sleepily. He was in a comfortable position and the warm +afternoon sun was soothing. He hummed some negro lines he had heard:-- + + "When yo' wan' to ketch fish yo' mus' jes' set an' wait-- + When yo' wan' to ketch fish yo' must spit on yo' bait-- + When yo' wan' to ketch fish yo' mus' git across de tide, + For dey's alw'ys bettah fishin' on de oth--ah--side." + +"I shouldn't wonder if you were right, Ratio," assented Bo, anxiously. +"It does look better over there, only there's no way to get across +except this slippery looking, rotten old log, and I don't feel much like +trying that." + +"Walk out on it a little way, Bo," said Horatio, getting interested, +"and throw your line over there by that cypress snag. That looks like a +good place." + +Bosephus rose cautiously, and, balancing himself with the long cane +pole, edged his way a few inches at a time toward the middle of the +stream, pausing every little way to be sure that the log showed no sign +of yielding. He could swim, but he did not wish for a wetting, and +besides there were a good many alligators in these Louisiana waters and +some very fierce snapping turtles. He had heard the negroes say that +alligators were particularly fond of boys, and that snapping turtles +never let go till it thundered. He had no wish to furnish supper for an +alligator and there were no signs of a thunder storm. Hence he advanced +with great prudence. When he had nearly reached the centre Horatio +called to him. + +"Try it from there, Bo! Your line's long enough to reach!" + +The little boy steadied himself by a limb that projected from the log +and swung his line in the direction the Bear had indicated. Then he +waited, holding his breath almost, and watching his float, which lay +silently on the water. Horatio was watching, too, with half closed eyes, +and now and then giving instructions. + +"Pull it a little more to the right, Bo--nearer that root," he +whispered. + +Bosephus obeyed, but the float still lay silently on the water. + +"Draw it a little toward you, Bo; sometimes when they think its going +away they make a rush for it." + +Again the little boy did as directed, but without result. + +"Lift out your bait and see if it's all right. Now fling it a little +further toward the bank." + +Bo lifted out the bait, which was still lively and untouched, and flung +it far over toward the other shore. Then he waited in silence once more, +but there was no sign of even so much as a nibble. + +"Oh, pshaw, Ratio!" he said at last impatiently. "I don't believe you +know anything about fishing. Either that or there are no fish in +here--one of the two." + +He had turned his head toward the Bear as he spoke and was not looking +at his float. All at once the Bear sat straight up, pointing at the +water. + +"Your cork's gone!" he shouted. "You've got one! Pull, Bo, pull!" + +The little boy turned so quickly that he almost lost his balance and +could not immediately obey. Horatio was wild with excitement. + +"Why don't you pull?" he howled. "Do you expect him to climb up your +pole? Are you waiting for him to make his toilet before he appears? +Well, talk about fishermen!" + +Bosephus was struggling madly to follow instructions. He was holding to +the dead limb like grim death and pulling fiercely at the pole with one +hand. The fish must be a large one, for it swung furiously from side to +side, but could not be brought to the surface. Horatio on the bank was +still shouting and dancing violently. + +"You'll lose him!" he yelled; "you'll never in the world land him that +way. You ought to go fishing for tin fish in a tub! Just let me out +there; I'll show you how to fish!" and Horatio made a rush toward the +log on which Bo was standing. + +[Illustration: "PULL, BO, PULL!"] + +"Go back! Go back!" screamed the little boy. "It won't hold us both!" +But the Bear was too much excited by this time to heed any caution. He +hurried to the centre of the log and seizing the pole from Bo's hand +gave a fierce pull. The fish swung clear of the water and far out on the +bank, but the strain on their support was too great. There was a loud +cracking sound, and before they knew what had happened both were +struggling in the water. + +"Help! Help!" howled Horatio. "I'm drowning!" + +"Hold to the end of the log!" shouted Bo. "I'll swim ashore and tow you +in with the pole!" + +He struck out as he spoke and in a few strokes was near enough to seize +some bushes that overhung the water. Suddenly he heard Horatio give +forth a scream so wild that he whirled about to look. Then he saw +something that made him turn cold. In a half circle, a few feet away +from where Horatio was clinging to the end of the broken log for dear +life, there had risen from the water a number of long, black, ugly +heads. A drove of alligators! + +"Bo! Bo!" shrieked the wretched Bear. "They're after me! They'll eat me +alive--skin and all! Save me! Save me!" + +The little boy swung himself to the shore and dashed up the bank. His +first thought had been to seize the fishing pole and with it to drag +Horatio to safety. But at that instant his eye fell on the violin. He +had learned to play very well himself during the last few weeks and he +remembered the night of the panther dance in the Arkansaw woods. He +snatched up the instrument and struck the bow across the strings. + +"Sing, Horatio!" he shouted. "It's your turn to sing!" and Bosephus +broke out into a song that after the first line the Bear joined as if he +never expected to sing again on earth. + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Oh, there was an Old Bear went out for a swim, + And the alligators came just to take a look at him, + +[Illustration: "OH, THERE WAS AN OLD BEAR WENT OUT FOR A SWIM."] + +[Illustration: Music] + + And the Bear was glad to see 'em, and he wanted them to stay, + And he sang a song to please 'em so they wouldn't go away." + +As the music rolled out on the water there rose to the surface another +half circle of dark objects. The Bear shut his eyes and his voice grew +faint. They were snapping turtles. + +"Stop, Bo!" he wailed. "It's no use. It only brings more of 'em, and new +kinds." + +"No, no; go on," whispered Bo, who had crept down quite to the water's +edge. "Now--ready! sing!" + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Then 'tis 'Gator, Alligator, we expect to see you later, + If you really have to leave us--if you can't remain to tea-- + +[Illustration: Music] + + Then 'tis Turtle, Mr. Turtle, you will notice we are fertile, + In providing entertainment for our com--pa--nee." + +New arrivals appeared constantly until the water and logs and stumps by +the water's edge were alive with listening creatures. Still remembering +the panther dance the boy called in a whisper to Horatio:-- + +"Softly now; sing it again." + +They repeated the song, letting their voices and music gradually blend +into the whispering of the trees. Bo sang with closed eyes, but the +watching Bear saw the listening circle of heads sink lower and lower so +gently that he could not be sure when the water had closed over them. +From roots and logs and stumps dark forms slid noiselessly into the +stream and disappeared. The music died away and ceased. Horatio looked +at the little boy eagerly. + +[Illustration: "HELP! HELP!"] + +"Quick, the pole, Bo," he called softly. "They're all gone." + +A moment later he was holding on to the cane pole with teeth and claws +and being towed to shore. As he marched up the bank he picked up the +large fish that was still flopping at the end of the line. + +"Very fine, Bosephus," he said, holding it up. "You wouldn't have had +that fish for supper if it hadn't been for me, Bosephus." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE ROAD HOME + + "Going back to Arkansaw as fast as we can go-- + Never mind the winter time--never mind the snow, + For the weather's not so chilly as the Louisiana law, + And we'll feel a good deal safer in the Ar--kan--saw." + + +IT had happened in this way. The afternoon before Christmas had come and +the little boy and the Bear had been talking over a Christmas dinner for +the next day. + +"Bosephus," Horatio had said, "we must have something extra. I should +like a real old-fashioned dinner. One such as I used to have; but, of +course, that is all over now." And there was an untamed, regretful look +in his eyes. + +"Ratio," said Bo, "we have got a lot of money--nearly two hundred +dollars. We can afford to have something good. I will buy a duck and a +turkey and maybe some pies. We'll take a holiday and eat from morning +till night if we feel like it." + +The Bear smiled at this thought and touched the strings of the violin. + + "Oh, we'll buy a tender turkey, and we'll buy a youthful duck, + And some pies, perhaps, and cookies, and some doughnuts, just for luck, + And we'll take our Christmas dinner where the balmy breezes stray, + And we'll spread it in the sunshine and we'll eat--all--day." + +Suddenly he paused in his singing and listened. They were coming out +into an open space and there was a sound of a voice speaking. Somebody +was talking in a foreign language that Bo did not understand, but the +Bear trembled with eagerness. + +"Bo," he whispered, "that's Italian. That's the way my first teacher +talked. The one that abused me--and died." + +The Bear licked out his tongue fiercely at this memory and pushed +forward into the open, the little boy following. As they stepped out +where they could see, Bosephus uttered an exclamation and Horatio a +snort of surprise. By the roadside sat a dark-browed, villainous-looking +Italian and before him stood a miserable half-starved bear cub, which he +was trying to teach. He would speak a few words to it and then beat it +fiercely with a heavy stick. The little bear cowered and trembled and +could not obey. Horatio gave a low dangerous growl as Bo held him back. +The Italian turned and saw them. + +"What are you beating that cub for?" asked Bo, sternly. + +The Italian looked at him evilly. + +"Maka him grow an' dance an' playa fid, lika yo' bear," he said, +sullenly. "Soa he maka da mun'." + +"That won't do it. You can teach him better with kindness. Throw that +stick away. Aren't you ashamed of yourself." + +"Minda yo' own biz," was the insolent reply. + +The little boy saw that it would not be safe to stay there any longer. +The cub was whining pitifully and Horatio was becoming furious. He +turned away, the Bear following reluctantly. When they had gone perhaps +a half a mile Horatio paused. + +"Let's camp here," he said. "This is a nice place and I'm tired." + +Bosephus was tired, too. The day before Christmas with its merry +preparation had been a big day among the plantations and the friends had +reaped a harvest. + +"All right, Ratio," he said, and they made preparations for the night, +though it was still quite early. + +[Illustration: "MAKA HIM GROW AN' DANCE AN' PLAY A 'FID'."] + +"Bo," said the Bear, reflectively, "Christmas always reminds me of +when I was a little cub like that poor little fellow we saw back yonder. +I was a Christmas present--by accident." + +"A Christmas present by accident! How was that?" + +"It was this way. I was always brave and adventurous, as you know. My +folks lived in a very large tree and were all asleep for the winter +except me. I stayed awake so as to run away and see the world. Well, I +started out and I travelled and I travelled. It was all woods and I lost +my way. By and by I got very tired and climbed up into a thick evergreen +tree to rest. I suppose I went to sleep and some men who were out +hunting for a Christmas tree must have picked out mine and tied the +limbs together tight with cords and cut it down. Then I suppose they +must have carried me home and set the tree up in its place and untied +the cords, for the first I knew I was tumbling out on to a carpet in a +big room, and a lot of children were screaming and running in every +direction. I was bigger and some fatter than that cub we saw with the +Italian--poor little fellow. + +"I'd like to talk to that villain about five minutes alone," continued +Horatio, grimly. "I'm sure I could interest him. I'd tell him about the +man that used to beat me, and I might give him an imitation of what +happened to him," and the big fellow rose and walked back and forth in +excitement. + +"But go on with your story, Ratio; what happened to you after you fell +out of the Christmas tree?" + +"Oh! the children tamed me and fed me till I got so big they were afraid +of me, and then I ate up some young pigs and a calf and went away." + +"You ran away, you mean. What happened then?" + +"Well, I went quite a distance and fell in with a circus. I learned to +dance there and stayed with them a while. But one day the young ibex +came in to see me and they couldn't find anything of him after that +except his horns, and seemed suspicious of me, so I went away again." + +"Oh, Ratio!" + +"Yes; I travelled and changed about a good deal till by and by I fell in +with the Italian who promised to teach me to play the violin, and he did +teach me some, as you know, but he wasn't kind to me, so I--I wore +mourning for him a while, and went away again. Then I met up with you, +and you taught me the second part of our tune, and we went into +partnership and I reformed, and we've been together ever since. We've +been in some pretty close places together, Bosephus, but I've always +managed to pull us through safely, and you have behaved very nobly, too, +at times, Bosephus--very nobly, indeed." + +"Are you sure you have reformed, Horatio?" + +Horatio swung the violin to his shoulder and drew the bow across the +strings. Then he sang softly:-- + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Oh, there's some folks say a nigger won't steal, + But I caught one in my corn-fiel'. + +[Illustration: Music] + + And there's other folks say that a Bear will tame, + But I wouldn't trust him with my----" + +he hesitated, and then, with a final flourish, + + "with my money all the same." + +The little boy laughed. The Bear seemed to have forgotten the cruel +Italian and was in his usual good humor. + +"I think I can trust you, Horatio; I'm not a bit afraid of you." + +"Bo," said Ratio, speaking suddenly, "speaking of Christmas trees, we +ought to have one. I saw a beautiful one up the stream yonder. I think +I'll go and get it, if you'll look after the supper while I'm gone." + +"Why, yes, Horatio, only don't be long about it." + +Horatio struck the violin with a long vigorous sweep. + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Oh, we'll have a tree for Christmas in this Louisiana isthmus, + Where the orange trees are waving and the jasmines are in bloom; + +[Illustration: Music] + + And I'll have a Christmas dinner, if I don't I am a sinner, + And I'll eat it if it sends me to my doom--doom--doom." + +Bo laughed again. He had never seen Horatio in a better humor. + +"If you eat too much pie it may send you to your doom--doom--doom," he +said. "Hurry back, now, with that tree. You can pull it up by the roots +and we'll plant it again here. Then it will keep right on growing." + +The bear set out up the stream and the boy busied himself with building +a fire and taking out of a sack a lot of food that had been given them +by the planters during the afternoon. He spread this on the leaves and +moss and then sat down and gazed into the bright blaze. It was pleasant +and warm and he was quite tired. After a while he wondered sleepily why +the Bear didn't come back, and concluded he was having a hard time +pulling up the tree. Then he began thinking of all the adventures they +had had together and of the little cub bear and the cruel Italian. + +"I was tempted to let Horatio at him," he thought. "A man like that +should be beaten until he couldn't stand. That poor little creature! How +wistfully he looked at us. He kept whining--perhaps he was telling Ratio +something." + +The little boy's head nodded forward now and then and presently he +slept. He slept soundly and the moments flew by unheeded. He was having +a long dream about old man Todd and the girls and the two candy hearts, +when suddenly there arose close at hand such a commotion, such a +mingling of excited language, fierce snarls and crashing of brush that +the little boy leaped to his feet wildly. + +"Ratio!" he shouted. "Ratio! where are you?" + +The only answer was the redoubled fury of the furious uproar, which Bo +now located at the edge of the road but a few feet away. He tore through +the brush hastily in that direction. As he reached the spot the turmoil +ceased and he heard the sound of running feet. Dashing through into the +road he beheld a strange sight. A half-naked man was disappearing over +the hill just beyond, and Horatio, holding some rags of clothing in one +hand and the paw of the little bear in the other, was looking after him +hungrily, as if about to pursue. Before him lay the Christmas tree badly +broken and bruised. + +"Ratio!" exclaimed Bo. "What have you been doing?" + +The Bear looked at Bo sheepishly. + +"I went for the Christmas tree," he said, meekly, "and just as I was +coming back the Italian man came along, and he was beating this little +chap, and so I tried the Christmas tree on him to see how he liked it. +Then we got into an argument, and when he went away he left the cub with +us and didn't take all of his clothing." + +The little boy reflected a moment. + +"I hope, Horatio," he said, gravely, "you did not mean to break your +agreement about, you know--about dinners." + +"I didn't, Bo; honest, I didn't. I wouldn't touch that fellow if I was +starving. But I did pretty nearly break his neck, Bo, and I'm glad of +it!" + +[Illustration: GOING BACK TO ARKANSAW.] + +"Ratio," said Bo, solemnly, "it's very wrong, I suppose; very wrong, +indeed; but I'm glad, too. Only we've got to postpone that Christmas +dinner. That fellow will be back here to-night with officers, and we've +had all the law we want. We start for Arkansaw in five minutes. A bite +of supper and then right about! ready! march!" + +And this was the reason Horatio and Bosephus and the little cub bear +were travelling swiftly northward in spite of the winter weather that +was not yet over. The cub was small and weak and Horatio, who loved him +and sometimes called him "little brother," often carried him. They gave +no performances, but only pushed forward, mile after mile, chanting +solemnly:-- + + "Going back to Arkansaw as fast as we can go-- + Never mind the winter time and never mind the snow, + For the weather's not so chilly as the Louisiana law, + And we'll feel a good deal safer in the Ar--kan--saw." + +[Illustration: HORATIO WAS LOOKING AT HIM HUNGRILY.] + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE BEAR COLONY AT LAST. THE PARTING OF BOSEPHUS AND HORATIO + + "Oh, the wind blows fair and the snow is gone + In the Arkansaw when the spring comes on. + Oh, the sun shines warm and the wind blows fair, + For the boy and the cub and the Old--Black--Bear." + + +SO sang Bosephus and Horatio as they sat side by side in the doorway of +a deserted lumberman's cabin in the depths of an Arkansaw forest. The +cub rescued from the brutal Italian and brought with them on their hasty +journey out of Louisiana, stood a few feet away watching them intently. +Now and then he made an awkward attempt at dancing, which caused +Bosephus and Horatio to stop their music and laugh. He had grown fat and +saucy with good treatment, and seemed to enjoy the amusement he caused. +At a little distance behind him, some seated and some standing, and all +enjoying the entertainment, were seven other bears of various sizes. The +colony so long planned by Horatio and Bosephus was established. + +The long journey out of Louisiana had been made rapidly and with no +delays. Though midwinter when begun, the weather had been beautiful at +the start, and there had been few storms and but little cold since. The +cub had gradually confided his story to Horatio, who loved him and +continued to call him affectionately "little brother." He had been +captured in a very deep woods, he said, by hunters, who sold him to the +Italian. He did not know where these woods were, but as the friends +crossed the Louisiana line and entered lower Arkansaw he grew more and +more excited every day, for he declared these were so like his native +woods that he could almost hear his mother's voice crooning the evening +lullaby. Soon after, they came one evening upon a deserted lumberman's +camp and took possession of the one cabin that still remained. It was a +good shelter and there was a stream with fine fish in it close at hand. +But when the friends awoke next morning the little bear was gone. + +They were very sorry, for they had grown much attached to the little +chap and he had seemed to be fond of them also. It was very lonely in +the deep forest without him. Horatio sighed. + +"He didn't appreciate us, Bo," he said, sadly. "He's gone back to be a +wild bear. He never got the taste of men--tastes, I mean, and I suppose +these woods made him homesick. They are like my old woods, too, and I +get homesick sometimes--even now." Then the boy and the Bear went to the +brook to fish and the day passed gloomily. + +But that night, when Bo had built a fire in the big fireplace which +almost filled one end of the cabin, and was cooking the fish, there came +a muffled scratching sound at the door. Horatio sprang to his feet +instantly. + +"That's Cub," he said, excitedly. + +The boy ran to the door and opened it. Sure enough, the little cub stood +before him, and out of the darkness behind gleamed seven other pairs of +eyes. The boy was brave, but as he saw that row of fiery orbs he felt +his flesh creep and his hair began to prickle. + +"Horatio!" he called, softly, "come quick." + +[Illustration: THE POOR BEAR GAVE WAY COMPLETELY.] + +The Bear was already by his side, and a moment later with the cub +stepped out into the night. Then Bosephus heard low growls followed by a +strange commotion, which he at first took to be the sound of fighting. +Suddenly Horatio ran to him in great excitement. + +"Bo, Bo!" he exclaimed, "it's my family! and, oh, Bosephus, it's Cub's +family, too! We're really brothers, and we didn't know it!" Then he ran +back into the dark and presently returned with the cub and the seven +other bears, following. The newcomers stared and blinked at the little +boy as they entered the lighted cabin and then withdrew to a darker +corner, where they sat silently regarding everything that passed, like +strangers from the country. The cub sat with them and whispered softly, +in the bear tongue, and Horatio now and then went over, too, and no +doubt told them marvellous tales of his strange adventures. Late that +night all lay down to sleep--the little boy in the arms of his faithful +friend. + +And so the Bear Colony had begun, even sooner than Bo and Ratio had +expected, and they had given up all notion of travelling any further. +The lumber camp was deserted for good by the woodcutters, for the +largest trees had been cut out and taken away long before. The cabin was +headquarters--Bosephus was president, Horatio prime minister, and the +cub, because of his adventures and slight educational advancement, was +chief assistant. Early spring was upon the land, and the woods were +beginning to be sweet with song and blossom. Bosephus was almost afraid +at first that, with the native woods and the renewal of home ties, +Horatio might return more or less to his savage instincts, but he became +gentler and more docile than ever. His place as prime minister and chief +instructor made him realize his advancement and the importance of good +behavior. He was grave and dignified, and about the fire in the evening, +played the violin with an air of skill and superiority that was very +impressive. Bosephus at first enjoyed it all immensely. The bears were +obedient and submissive, and were gradually learning to understand his +language. He had more money than he would ever need and was lord of all +he surveyed. + +But gradually there came a change. He grew tired of seeing only the +black faces and shining eyes of his subjects and of hearing only the +singing of bees and birds. At first he did not realize what was the +matter. Then it came to him at last that this life of the forest was +palling upon him and that, like the cub, he yearned for his own +kind--the faces of men. + +One morning he divided up the money into two equal parts and slipped out +to where Horatio was sunning himself and playing softly before the +cabin. + +"Horatio," he said, tenderly, "I have divided up the money. Here is your +half. You have been the best friend I ever had and it breaks my heart to +leave you, but I can't live away from my own race any longer. I am going +back to Louisiana, to the planter who told me to come back and he would +send me to school and college and make a man of me," and then the little +boy suddenly broke down and fell weeping into his companion's arms. + +For some moments Horatio could not speak. Then he spoke, sobbing between +every word. + +"Bo--Bo--you--you're--not--not going to--to leave me! Oh, Bo!" and the +poor Bear gave way completely and wept on the little boy's shoulder. +They were all alone, as the others had gone out together for a walk. At +last Horatio put the boy gently from him and took up his violin. He +began to play very softly and sang in a breaking voice:-- + + "Oh, he's going away to leave me to the Lou'siana shore, + And I'll never see my darling, my Bosephus, any more; + He's divided up the money, and he's going far away, + And my poor old heart is breaking but he--will--not--stay. + We have battled with the weather--we have faced the world together-- + Never caring why or whether--never minding when or where-- + But he says we now must sever--happy days are done forever, + For Bosephus and the fiddle and the Old--Black--Bear!" + +[Illustration: FELL WEEPING INTO HIS COMPANION'S ARMS.] + +An hour later Bo was wending his way southward through the sweet spring +woods alone. In his inner breast pocket was stored every dollar the +friends had earned together. + +"I will never need it now, Bo," Horatio had said at parting, "and you +will need a great many times as much. Take it and sometimes think of +your far off faithful Ratio." And then, after one long embrace, they had +parted. And now the little boy was trying to keep up courage to carry +out what he had undertaken. At every turn in the path he was tempted to +return and throw himself in Horatio's arms. But he pressed on, hoping to +arrive at some sort of habitation for the night, which he did not like +to pass alone in the woods. + +"Poor old Ratio," he thought. "He will be happier with his own people +after a while. And perhaps he will really civilize them." He turned and +cast one long look in the direction of the colony which he could no +longer see. Then facing about again he hurried forward. About a mile +further on he paused at a little brook for a drink. He was bending over +the water when he heard a sudden crashing in the bushes behind him. He +started up instantly and seized a heavy stick that lay close at hand. +Nearer and nearer came the tearing through the brush, like some heavy +animal in fierce chase. The boy stepped out of the path to let the +creature pass, and then, all at once, he gave a cry of joy and surprise. +Headlong out of the bushes, stumbling and rolling at his feet, with +tears streaming from his eyes and violin under his arm, was Horatio. + +"Bo, Bo!" he cried. "I couldn't stand it. I'm going with you. That kind +planter will give me a place to stay, I know, and maybe if he sends you +to college he'll let me go, too. I could play for the college boys, Bo, +and help pay your way. Don't send me back, Bo! Don't send me back!" + +Bo embraced him silently. + +"Why, of course not, Ratio," he said at last, "but I thought you wanted +to have a colony of your own people." + +"I did, Bo, but I have turned it over to Cub. He can take care of it. +Like you, Bo, I have been civilized too long to live away from men! And, +besides, Bo, you need me to protect you." Horatio recovered his dignity +at this point and continued, gravely, "You are brave and noble, +Bosephus, but you need some one near you who is ever ready to face any +danger. Let us sing now, Bosephus, as we travel onward." + +And with a joyful scrape of the strings and a sweet burst of melody the +friends set their faces once more to the South. + +[Illustration: Music] + + "Oh, there was a little boy and his name was Bo, + Went out into the woods when the moon was low. + +[Illustration: Music] + + And he met an Old Bear who was hungry for a snack, + And the folks are still waiting for Bosephus to come back. + +[Illustration: Music] + + "For the boy became the teacher of this kind and gentle creature, + Who was faithful in his friendship and was watchful in his care, + +[Illustration: Music] + + And they travelled on forever and they'll never, never sever, + Bosephus and the fiddle and the Old--Black--Bear." + +[Illustration: "And they traveled on forever"] + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Obvious punctuation errors repaired. + +Page 20, "TO" changed to "BO" (BO was awake first) + +Page 66, two lines of text were transposed. The original read: + + + of them----" + down here are mighty fond of bear meat, and there's such a lot + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Arkansaw Bear, by Albert Bigelow Paine + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ARKANSAW BEAR *** + +***** This file should be named 28302.txt or 28302.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/3/0/28302/ + +Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net Music by Linda +Cantoni(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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