Evening star., 1943-07-31
Bedtime Stories
BY THORNTON w. BURGESS.

Eagle were quarellng over the big,
fat fish which King Eagle had made
Plunger the Fish Hawk drop,
Plunger and Mrs. Plunger had flown
back to the Big River to try for
another. Plunger is not one to
waste any time crying over spilled
milk, which means, you know, fret
ting about things which have hap
pened and cannot be helped. He
had lost the finest, fattest fish he
had caught for many day, but
crying about it wouldn't bring 1t
back. The only thing to do was to
try to catch another. So Plunger
and Mrs. Plunger knew nothing
about the quarrel between King
Eagle and Buster Bear, nor how
neither got the fish after all, but
Granny Fox. who ran away with it
while the others are quareling over
whose it was. They both believe in
making the best of bad matter
and in this case the best. was Just
trying to forget and going fishing
once more.
When Buster Bear and King
Eagle grew tired of quareling over
nothing King Eagle spread his great
wings and sailed away and Buster
Bear turned back into the Green
Forest. Quite naturally he wasn't
in the best of tempers. He had
wanted fish and it was very clear
that he couldn't have fish that day.
So as he shuffled along he mumbled
and grumbled and grumbled and
mumbled, and was quite out of sorts
as any one could see. One reason
was that his stomach was empty.
He had had no breakfast, and Bus
ter Bear is not one of those people
who believe in going without break
fa~. He might have had a break
fast had he been willing to eat
what he could get, but you remem-
Der he had set his heart, or rather
his stomach, on fish and had turned
up his nose at the thought of any,
thing else. So his stomach was
empty and he was cross. Did you
ever notice how crossness almost
always goes with an empty stomach?
Presently as he shuffed along,
mumbling and grumbling, he came
to some plants the roots of which
are very good eating. That is, they
are very good to Buster Bear. He
dug up lot, for the ground was
soft, and his great paws with their
big claws make very good digging
forks. AS he dug he ate. and when
at last he stopped digging it was
because his stomach was as full of
those roots as it wanted to be. He
had had enough. There was still
room for some dessert, but of the
roots he had had all he wanted.
Dear me. dear me, what an i'm
portant thing stomach Isl 1t was
Buster Bears stomach that got him
into the quarrel with, King Eagle.
1t was his stomach that put him in
such rumbling, grumbling temper
And now it was this same stomach
that restored his usual good nature.
He no longer grumbled and rum
bled. He even laughed as he sat
there all alone in the Green Forest
and thought of how first Plunger
the Fish Hawk, then King Eagle,
and lastly he himself had been sure
of that big, fat fish which Plunger
had caught in the Big River, and
how after all it had been Granny
Fo" who had eaten it.
Three of us quarreled for that
fish and some one else who wouldn't
havn known anything about it but
for that quarrel got 1t. It certainly
u funny old world" muttered
Buster. Il guess that quarreling
doesn't paw. Not the ones who do it,
anyway Ha! What is that?"
Buster cooked his head on one
side and listened. His little eyes
began y twinkle. "That sounds to
me very much like the hum of Busy
Bee" he said. He looked eagerly in
all directions. just back of him he
discovered some flowers, and there,
sure enough. was Busy Bee "He!"
said Buster Bear again.
"Hum-m!" said Busy Bee and was
gone.
"Honey!" exclaimed Buster Bear.
That's what I need. Fish would
have been good, but honey will be
better.
1.-THE hum of little Busy Bee
Is sweetest Of all sounds to me:
It thrills my heart and stomach,
too,
As nothing else can ever do.
IT wonder where Busy Bee is
storing that honey. 1t Is just what
I want to top off with"
Buster smacked his lips and then
smacked them again, and little by
little his mouth began to water, for
Buster Bear has very sweet tooth,
such a sweet tooth that he will risk
a great deal for the sake of filing
his stomach with sweets.