The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-10-12
CHILDRBN'S CORNER.
THE LITTLE Hot 81 N TIE
GARDEN.
J. BEAE~-

CONFINED FROM LAST l-<l =
~I~,.h IA, father ~ould boy hisp.
! said Fred. I've al~ass ~aussi u
urnagrrlr. and - tame U--a.; ~oold -
! capital fegiuulng.
In Ak hun. for | hste IA haN"
the poor nld frlio~ killed" answered
Fan. She hot only begged papa ~
buy Tom. but confessed that >he
filed je~ry's chain and helped him
10 rscaI~.
II Auos it was wrong, but | could
not So huu suffer. she said. NOW.
If Won sail huy Tom I'll give YOU
NV i've dollars 10 help. and Mr.
llitc will forgive me aud be
glad TO get rad of both the bars
After some consultation Ton sas
+ bought. and orders were semitic have
house bnilt for him in sunny
corner of the garden. with strong
rings 10 which 10 chain him, and II
good lock on the door. When he
Was settled in these new quarters, he
held daily receptions for SOM weeks
/ Young and old came 10 see him, and
Fred showed off his menagerIc with
the pride of budding Barnum. A
bare spot was soon worn on th., grass
plot which made Toms parade
ground land at all hours he poor
fellow might be seen dancing and
drilling, or sitting at his door,
thoughtfully surveying the curious
crowd, and privately wishing he
never had beeu born.
Here he lived for another year,
getting 50 big that he could hardly
turn around in his house, and SO
cross that Fred began to be little
afraid of him, after several hugs
much too vehement to be safe or
agreeable. Ore morning the door
of the house was found broken off.
and Tom was gone. Fred was rather
relieved: but his father. was anxious,
and ordered out the boys of the
neighborhood to find the runaway,
lest he should alarm people or do
some harm. 1t was an easy matter
to trace him, for more than one ter
rltied woman had seen the big brown
beast shifting around her kitchen
premises after food; a whole school
full of children had been startled out
of their wits by bears head at the
window; and one old farmer was in
towering rage over the damage
done to his bee-hives and garden
patch by "that pesky critter, afore
| he took to the woods"
After long search poor Tom was
found rolled up in sunny nook,
resting after glorious frolic. He
went home without much reluctance,
but from that time it was hard to
to keep him. Bolts and bars, chains
and ropes were of little use; for
when the longing came, off he went,
on one occasion carrying the house
on his back, like snail, till he tip
ped it over and broke loose. Fred
was quite worn out with his pranks,
and tried to sell or give him away,
but nobody would buy or accept
such a troublesome pet. Even ten
der-hearted Fan gave him up, when
he frightened d little child into con-
vulsions, and had killed some sheep
on his last holiday.
1t WIS decided that he must be
killed, and party Of men, armed
with guns, set out one afternoon to
carry the sentence into effect. Fred
went also to see that all was properly
done, and Fanny called after him
with tears III her eyes: ''Say good
bye to him for me-"
This time Tom had been gone a
week, and had evidently made up
his mind to become a free bear; for
he had wandered far into the deepest
wood and made "a den for himself
among the rocks. Here they found
him, but could not persuade him to
come out, and no bold Putnam was
in the troop who would creep in and
conquer him there.
eve have fool ed away time enough,
and want to get home to SUPPER"
said the leader of the hunt, after
many attempts had been made to lure
or drive Tom from his shelter.
So they fired a volley into the den,
| and growls of pain proved that some
of the bullets had hit. And as no
answering sound followed the second
vOlley, the hunters concluded that
| their object was accomplished, and
went home, agreeing to come the
next day to make sure. They were
spared the trouble, however, for
| when Fred looked from his window
IN the morning he saw that Tom had
returned. He ran down to welcome
the rebel back. But one look showed
him that the poor beast had only
come home to die; for he was COW
cred with wounds and lay moaning
on his bed of straw, looking as pa
thetic as bear could.
Fanny cried over hum, and Fred
was quite bowed down with remorse:
but nothing could be done, and with
in an hour poor Tom was dead. AS
if to atone for their seeming cruelty,
Fanny draped the little house with |
black, and Fred, resisting all temp
tations to keep the bears fine skin |
buried him like warrior, "with his
martial cloak around him." in the
green woods he loved so we'll.
ITO BE corTIspED,l