Evening star., 1937-07-27

LIS ApmStl1neA D$lltI NOT 70 iiS
THE little cub who had forgotten
Mother Bears command to keep
right at her heels and had turned
aside to investigate an ant hill, the
first he ever had seen. had no idea
how long he had been sitting there,
In and out of that big mound. Never
before had he seen such busy people
He wondered what they were doing
down inside that big mound. He
wondered what would happen if he
should dig it open. He did reach
little of that sand Instantly the ants
came swarming to that spot and
there was A great hurrylng and sour
rying TO and fro 1t was very inter-
esting Then he discovered that
these queer little creatures could bite,
lily.
1t was then that he suddenly re-
nlembered that he had Jagged behind
Mother Bear and his sister and he
up, as he had done 50 many times
before. But never before had he
Jagged for 50 long. They we're no.
where in sight. He couldn't even
hear them. They had vanished. The
cub rushed in the direction he was
a
as he could. Then doubt assaied
him. There were no signs of them.
Perhaps he had made a mistake and
had taken the wrong direction. He
would 60 back and start over again.
So he turned about and ran back
as fast as he had been running the
other way But, being a very little
cub and not yet having learned really
to use his eyes and his nose, he didn't
follow his own tracks exactly. The
hill somewhat to one side and didn't
see it at all. Headlong he ran on
until he realized that he had run far
ther since he turned back than he
had in the other direction. That ant
hill WAS lost. Mother and sister were
lost. OF course really this wasn't 50:
it was the forgetful cub who was
lost.
Then it was that panic took pos
session of the little cub. It wasn't
to be wondered at Remember that
he was very little fellow. hardly
more than a baby Grown men
have allowed panic to take possession
OF them on discovering that they had
lost their way They have made the
very same mistake that the cub now
made-the mistake Of going ahead
blindly. without an idea where they
were going
That is what the little cub did
now. The feeling that you are lost
is terrible feeling. The cub was
frightened almost out of his little
black skin, so to speak When he
realized that he had lost the ant
hill he changed direction again, and
once more began running headlong.
He ran blindly He tumbled over
roots and logs, and each time he did
this his fright was added to. He was
out in the Great World all alone and
he didn't want to be. No, sir: he
didn't want to be- He wanted his
mother. Oh, how he wanted her. He
whimpered as he ran.
After while he was too tired
to run. He shuf11ed along and he
was crying. Yes. sir; that little cub
was crying You couldn't blame him.
Now, could you? Yet it was the
worst thing he could do. He might
be heard by keen ears Of some one
who would like a little Bear for din
ner. So the cub shuff1ed along until
he could travel no longer He lay
down and cried himself to sleep.
Now the great mistake the little
cub had made was in leaving that
ant hill when he discovered that
Mother Bear and his sister had dis
appeared. He should have remained
right there and waited for them to
come look for him That Is the thing
to do when lost-remain in one
place. the place where you first dis
cover that you are lost As soon as
others know you are lost they will
start looking for you. and they will
start at the place where you were
last known to be. So the nearer you
are to that place the sooner you will
be found.
As 3 matter OF fact. just about the
time panic had taken full possession
Of the cub Mother bear had missed
him and had returned to look for
him. Had he remained at the ant
hill she would have found him at
once.
(Copyright, 1872