Evening star., 1937-07-26

MOTHER BEAR is good mother.
Yes, sir, she is good mother.
She does her best to bring her chill
dren up to know those things that
Bear should know and to do those
things that a Bear should do. She
does her best not to spoil them When
they dNobey she Furnishes them She
believes in the old saying, Spare the
rod and spoil the child" but Of course
she, being Bear. doesn't use A rod.
However, she does use . paw. and it
is very good substitute. Disobedient
cubs are spanked and thus shown the
error Of their ways
A young Bear cub is as lively and
full OF mischief as any youngster Of
whom I know. and twin cubs are
more than twice as lively and more
than twice as mischievous. Mother
Bear has her paws full from the mo-
ment the cubs leave the den to 90
out into the Great World. Like most
children, they learn quickly and
easily, and forget quite as easily. So
for while they are great care to
Mother Bear.
Having lived for three months in
dark den. the first trip outside
was q marvellous adventure to the
cubs. There was so much to see!
There was so much to hear! There
was so much to smell! And all of
it new. Do you wonder that they
didn't keep right at Mothers heels,
as they were supposed to do? One
or the other was always tagging be-
hind and then having to run to catch
up. Do you realize how much faster
and how much more in very short
time children OF the Green Forest
dren do?
Boys and girls beginning as babies
are years in getting new impressions
OF things around them and in learn
ing what they are and what they
mean. The little folk of the Green
Forest grow up so fast that they must
learn these things in few weeks or
a few months at the outside And if
they fail to learn them and remember
them-well. let's not think about
what is sure to happen in such a case
Mother Bear took pains to try to
impress on the cubs the need for
keeping close at her heels Il can't
keep looking around every minute,
to see if you are there" said she.
so if you lag behind you are likely
to be left so far behind that you will
be unable to catch up and will lose
your way. A lost cub is likely to
come to sad end. So to be safe
keep right at my heels"
The cubs listened to this very So
berly and promised that they would
keep right at her heels. They meant
to do so, too. Yes, sir, they meant to
do so. They hadn't the slightest
thought Of dsobeying. For a while
they did keep right at mothers heels
To begin with, everything was so
new and strange that they wanted
to keep close to those heels. They
were afraid not to.
But after a while, very little while,
they became In some measure used
to their surroundings. and little by
little curiosity took the place of fear.
They became more and more curious
and less and less afraid. It was then
that they began to lag and that their
mothers patience became sorely tried.
One would spy something new and
stop to stare at it. or perhaps 20
smell Of 1t, then have to gallop to
catch up. Perhaps. few minutes
later. the other would DO the very
same thing. Mother Bears patience
was sorely tried Yes, indeed, it was
sorely tried. Every now and then
she would repeat the warning she
had given them.
Remember what I told you about
keeping right behind me and what
will surely happen to you if you don't"
she would growl, and the cubs would
meekly promise not to forget again.
1t IS easy to promise not to forget.
Indeed, know Of nothing easier.
But to promise is one thing and to
that promise is something
altogether different. One of those
cubs spied = big mound of sand of
at one side. It was different from
seen before The cub turned
aside and ran over to investigate that
It was an ants nest and
ants were continually going in and
out. The cub was fascinated and sat
down to watch them, forgetting Mother
Bear and the other cub. 1t wasn't
a good time to forget. for Mother
Bear happened to be in a hurry.
(Copyrisht 1872
Tw;1,1nr Ar.1u.~