CHAPTER VIII
THE RAGGED BOY
Daddy Brown was used to being suddenly aroused in the night by eitherBunny or Sue. At home the children often awakened, and called out.Sometimes they would be dreaming, or perhaps they would want a drink ofwater. So Daddy Brown and Mrs. Brown Were used to answering when theyheard the children call out.
But it was something new to hear Bunny calling about a big, black bear.He had never done that before, though one time, when he ate too muchbread and jam for supper, he screamed that there was an elephant in hisroom, and there wasn't at all. He had only dreamed it.
But this time Daddy Brown had plainly heard his little boy say:
"Oh, it's a bear! It's a bear!"
Mr. Brown awakened, and sat up in his cot. He looked over toward Bunny'sbed, but could see nothing of the little fellow, for as I have told you,Bunny was covered up under the blankets and quilt. Even his head wascovered.
Then Mr. Brown looked toward the entrance, or front door of the tent.And, to his surprise, he saw just what Bunny had seen, a big, shaggy,hairy animal, standing on its hind legs, with its black nose up in theair, sniffing and snuffing.
"Why--why!" exclaimed Mr. Brown, rubbing his eyes to make sure that hewas wide awake, and that he was not dreaming, as he thought Bunny mighthave been. "Why--why! It _is_ a bear!"
"Sniff! Snuff!" went the big, shaggy creature.
"Daddy--Daddy!" cried Bunny, his voice sounding faint and far off,because his head was under the covers. "Daddy, is--is he gone?"
"No, not yet," answered Mr. Brown.
"What is it? What's the matter?" called Mrs. Brown, from behind thecurtain, where she slept.
"Why," said Mr. Brown slowly. "It--it seems to be a----"
Then he stopped. He did not want to scare his wife or Sue, by tellingthem there was a bear in the tent, and yet there was.
"Oh, what is it?" cried Mrs. Brown again. "I heard Bunny crying! Isanything the matter with him?"
"No, he's all right," answered Bunny's papa. That was true enough. Therewas really nothing the matter with the little boy. He was just a bitfrightened, that was all.
"But _something_ is the matter," said Mrs. Brown, "I know there is! Whydon't you tell me what it is?"
Daddy Brown did not know just what to do. He sat up in bed, thinking andlooking first at the bear and then at Bunny. All Mr. Brown could see ofBunny was a heap under the bedclothes. But the bear was in plain sight,standing in the doorway of the tent, sniffing and snuffing near thelighted lantern.
Mr. Brown did not want to speak about the bear. He thought the big,shaggy creature looked quite gentle, and perhaps it would go away if noone harmed it. Perhaps it was just looking for something to eat, and asit couldn't find anything in the bedroom tent it might go to the onewhere the cooking was done.
Bunker Blue was still sound asleep, and so was Uncle Tad. Nor had Sue,sleeping next to her mother, in the other part of the tent, beenawakened. Just Bunny Brown, and his father and mother were wide awake.Oh, yes, of course the bear was not asleep. I forgot about that. Hislittle black eyes blinked, and opened and shut, and he wrinkled up hisrubber-like nose as he sniffed the air.
"Well, aren't you going to tell me what it is? What's the matter inthere? What happened?" asked Mother Brown. "If you don't tell me----"
By this time Bunny Brown made up his mind that he would be brave. Heuncovered one eye and peered out from beneath the bed clothes. His firstsight was of the bear, who was still there.
"Oh! Oh!" cried Bunny. "It _is_ a bear! It's a big, black bear! I didn'tdream it! It's real! a real, big, black bear!"
Mrs. Brown heard what her little boy said.
"Oh, Walter!" she cried to her husband. "Throw something at it. Here'smy shoe--throw that. I've got two shoes, but I can only find one. Throwthat at the bear and make him go away!"
Mrs. Brown threw over the curtain, that divided the tent into two parts,one of her shoes.
She really had two shoes, but when she felt under her cot in the dark,she could only find one. You know how it is when you try to findanything in the dark, even if it's a drink of water in the chair at thehead of our bed. You move your hand all over, and you think some onemust have come in and taken the water away. And when you get a light youfind that, all the while, your hand was about an inch away from theglass. It was that way with Mrs. Brown's other shoe.
But she threw one over the curtain, calling out again:
"Hit him with that, Walter! Hit the bear with my shoe!"
But there was no need for Mr. Brown to do anything. The shoe thrown byBunny's mother sailed through the tent. Straight at the bear it went,and before the shaggy creature could get out of the way, the shoe hithim on the end of the nose.
"Bunk!" went the shoe.
"Wuff!" grunted the bear.
Now you know a bear's nose is his most tender part. You could hit him onhis head, or on his back, or on his paw--that is if you were braveenough to hit a bear at all--but you would not hurt him, hardly any,unless you hit him right on the end of his soft and tender nose. That'sthe best place to hit a bear if you want to drive him away, out of yourtent, or anything like that. Hit him on the nose.
"Whack!" went Mrs. Brown's shoe on the end of the bear's nose.
"Wuff!" grunted the bear, and down he dropped on all four paws.
Now Mrs. Brown really did not mean to hit the bear. She was justtossing her shoe over the curtain so her husband might have something tothrow at the bear, and, as it happened, she hit the bear by accident.
Of course it might have been better if one of Mr. Brown's shoes had hitthe bear. I mean it would have been better for the Brown family, butworse for the bear. Because Mr. Brown's shoes were larger and heavierthan his wife's. But then, it turned out all right anyhow.
For, no sooner did the bear feel Mrs. Brown's shoe hit him on the nose,than he cried out:
"Wuff!"
Then he turned quickly around, and ran out of the tent.
"Did you throw my shoe at him? Did you make him go away?" asked Mrs.Brown. "Because if you didn't, Walter, I've found my other shoe now, andI'll throw that to you."
"You won't need to, my dear," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. "One shoe wasenough. You hit the bear yourself!"
"I did?"
"Yes, and he's gone. It's all right, Bunny. You can put your head outnow. The bear is gone."
Bunny peeped with one eye, and when he saw that the big, shaggy creaturewas no longer there, he put his whole head out. Then, with a bound hejumped out of bed, and ran toward the back part of the tent, where hismother and sister were sleeping.
"Where you going, Bunny?" asked his father. "There's no more danger; thebear has gone."
"I--I'm just going in here to get my pop gun, so if the bear comesback----" Bunny said, "My pop gun is in here."
"Oh," said Mr. Brown, "I thought you were going to crawl in bed withyour mother."
"Oh, no--no!" Bunny quickly answered, shaking his head. "I--I just wantmy pop gun. But," he went on, "if mother _wants_ me to get in bed withher, and keep the bear away, why I will. Don't be afraid. I'll get inbed with you, Mother!"
"Oh, I guess the bear won't come back," said Mr. Brown with a laugh.
"Well, I'll get in bed with mother anyhow," said Bunny. "I'll have mypop gun all ready."
By this time Uncle Tad, Bunker Blue and Sue had been awakened by thetalk. Outside the tent Splash could be heard barking, and there was anoise among the trees and bushes that told that the bear was runningaway.
"I--I hope he doesn't bite our dog," said Bunny.
"Oh, I guess Splash will know enough to keep away from the bear,"replied Mr. Brown. "Besides, I think the bear was only a tame one,anyhow."
"A tame bear?" asked Uncle Tad, as he was told all that had happened.
"Yes. He didn't act at all like a wild one. Besides, there aren't anywild bears in this part of the country. This was a tame one all right."
"Where did it come from?" asked Mrs. Brown.
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p; "Oh, I think it got away from some man who goes about the country makingthe bear do tricks. Probably in the morning we'll see the man lookingfor his bear," answered her husband.
And that is just what happened. There was no more trouble that night.Everyone went to sleep again, Bunny in the cot with his mother; thoughwhen he was asleep and slumbering soundly, she carried him back to hisown little bed near his father.
Soon after breakfast the next morning, when they were talking about thebear scare in the night, along came a man, who looked like an Italianorgan-grinder. He said he had a pet, tame bear, who had broken away fromwhere he was tied, in the night.
And it was this bear who had wandered into the tent where Bunny wassleeping. Where the bear was now no one knew, but the Italian said hewould walk off through the woods, and see if he could not find his pet,which he had trained to do many tricks.
Two or three days later, Mr. Brown heard that the bear was safely found,so there was no more need to worry about his coming into the tent atnight.
That day Daddy Brown, with the help of Uncle Tad and Bunker Blueprinted a big cloth sign which they hung up between two trees. The signread:
CAMP REST-A-WHILE
"There," said Daddy Brown, "now the postman will know where to find uswhen he comes with letters."
"Oh, do they have mail up here?" asked Sue.
"No, daddy is only joking," said her mother. "I guess we'll have to goto the post office for letters."
One day, when they had been in camp about a week, Bunny and Sue, withthe others, returned from a walk in the woods. As they came near the"dining-room tent," as they called it, they saw a ragged boy spring upfrom the table with some pieces of bread and meat, and dash into thebushes.
"Hold on there! Who are you? What do you want?" cried Daddy Brown. Butthe ragged boy did not stop running. He wanted to hide in the bushes.