The Tale of Cuffy Bear Part 7

XXI

THE FOREST FIRE

It was quite late in the fall. And Blue Mountain looked very different from the way it had looked all summer. The leaves had turned to brown and yellow and scarlet, except where there were clumps of fir-trees, as there were around Mr. Bear's house. Indeed, Blue Mountain looked almost as if it were all aflame, so bright were the autumn colors. Mr. Bear remarked as much to Mrs. Bear one day.

"For goodness' sake, don't say that!" she exclaimed. "Don't mention fire to me. The very thought of it makes me nervous. Everything's _so_ dry!

I shall be glad when it rains again."

"It _is_ dry," Mr. Bear agreed. "But don't worry. It's like this every fall." And he went slowly down the mountain.

Cuffy and Silkie were playing together that morning. Cuffy was teaching Silkie to box, though, to be sure, he knew very little about boxing. But he found it easy to tap Silkie on the nose. And he had tapped her so hard that Mrs. Bear heard a sound very much like quarreling; and she came to the door to see what was the trouble.

Mrs. Bear was just going to call to her children, when she noticed a peculiar odor in the air. And she stood quite still, and sniffed, just as Cuffy had when he smelled the haymakers' lunch. You remember that the more Cuffy sniffed, the less alarmed he had been. But it was different with Mrs. Bear. The longer she stood there, with her nose twitching, and snuffing up the air, the more uneasy she became. And pretty soon she saw something that gave her a great start.

It was something white that Mrs. Bear saw, and it hung over the tree-tops; and where the wind had caught it it was spun out thin, like a veil.

It was exactly what Mrs. Bear had feared--it was smoke! The forest was afire! And Mrs. Bear was very much alarmed. She sent Cuffy and Silkie into the house, because she wanted to be sure that they wouldn't wander off into the woods. And then their mother stood in the doorway and watched. She was looking for Mr. Bear. While she waited there the smoke kept rising more and more until there were great clouds of it; and at last Mrs. Bear could see red flames licking up to the tops of the trees.

Several deer came bounding past, and a great number of rabbits and squirrels. And then followed other animals that couldn't run so fast--such as racc.o.o.ns, and skunks, and woodchucks. Not for years had Mrs. Bear seen so many of the forest-people--and they were all so frightened, and in such a hurry to get away from the fire, that not one of them noticed Mrs. Bear as she stood in her doorway.

"Where are they going, Mother?" It was Cuffy who asked the question. He had crept up behind his mother and had been looking at the strange sight for some time.

"They're going over to the lake, on the other side of the mountain,"

Mrs. Bear said.

"Are they going fishing?" Cuffy inquired.

Mrs. Bear shook her head. And then Cuffy squeezed past her and saw what was happening.

"Oh-h, hurrah! hurrah!" he shouted.

His mother looked at him in astonishment.

"It's father's birthday!" he cried. You remember that Cuffy's mother had told him that Mr. Bear was born on the day of a great forest fire, and that he never had a birthday except when the woods caught fire again.

"Now maybe father will bring home another little pig for a feast!" Cuffy said hopefully.

XXII

THE RAIN COMES

Cuffy Bear was disappointed. For when at last his father came galloping up to his house he brought no pig with him. Indeed he seemed to have forgotten that it was his birthday.

"Get the children!" he shouted to Mrs. Bear, as soon as he came in sight. And pretty soon Cuffy and Silkie and their father and mother were hurrying along on their way to the lake that lay on the other side of the mountain.

Cuffy was delighted. He thought that perhaps he would see the naughty little bear Peter again; for he remembered that Peter lived around the mountain, right where they were going.

They had travelled several miles when Mr. Bear stopped suddenly. And he said, "Hah!" And he looked up at the sky. Something had hit him right in the eye. You might think that Mr. Bear was angry. But no! He was very glad. For it was a drop of rain that had fallen upon him. And in a few minutes there were countless drops pattering down. Yes, soon it was raining hard. And to Cuffy's great disappointment they all started homewards again, for Mr. Bear knew that the rain would soon put the fire out.

Mr. Bear had known all the time that his house wouldn't burn; for it was made of rock, and went straight into the side of the mountain. But he knew that if the woods all around caught fire it would be several days before they could go out and get anything to eat, or even a drink of water. And that was why he had started to lead his family away.

When they were back in their house once more Cuffy could think of only one thing that would make up for his not having seen the small bear Peter again. And he climbed up on his father's knees and said--

"Will you go and get a little pig, Father?"

"A _pig_?" Mr. Bear exclaimed. "Well, now--why on earth do you want a pig? What would you do with a pig?"

"I'd eat it," Cuffy answered promptly. "It's your birthday, you know.

And we ought to have a pig so we can have a real feast."

Mr. Bear smiled. And pretty soon he went out of the house. He was gone a long time. But at last he came back again, fairly staggering beneath the load that he carried.

When Cuffy saw what his father dropped down onto the floor he hopped up and down in his delight. There was no pig there, but Cuffy didn't mind that. For Mr. Bear had brought home four rabbits, and four squirrels, and four porcupines, and four racc.o.o.ns. And Cuffy ate and ate until his skin grew so tight that he was afraid it would burst. He ate all of one rabbit, and one squirrel, and one racc.o.o.n. But he never touched his porcupine at all. It made him think of the time he had tried to kill a porcupine himself, and had got his paws stuck full of quills. But he had a real feast, just the same.

XXIII

CUFFY BEAR GROWS SLEEPY

Far up Blue Mountain, and down in the valley too, the leaves had long ago fallen off the trees. And for some time the ground had been white with snow; for winter had come again. And Cuffy Bear's sister Silkie had had a birthday-party the very first day it snowed. Cuffy and Silkie shouted with glee each morning now, when they went out of doors, where the earth was covered with a snow-blanket. And they played and played and had just as good a time as little boys and girls have when winter comes. As they scampered about in the door-yard their feet left tracks that looked exactly like the foot-prints of barefooted girls and boys.

They played tag, and hide-and-seek, and turned somersaults. And one day, when Mrs. Bear called them into the house, they ate, each of them, several quarts of chestnuts which Mr. Bear had gathered and brought home. In fact, before Mrs. Bear knew it they had eaten a great many more chestnuts than were good for them. And Cuffy, who had eaten the most, soon began to have a pain in his stomach.

"That's what you get for being greedy," his mother told him.

"I didn't eat many chestnuts," Cuffy said.

Mrs. Bear pointed to the floor.

"What do you call those?" she asked.

"Chestnut-sh.e.l.ls," Cuffy replied, hanging his head. There was a great heap of sh.e.l.ls on the floor where Cuffy had sat.

"Pick them all up--every one of them," his mother ordered. "And when you have finished you may take a nap--both of you."

Cuffy yawned.

"What do you say?" Mrs. Bear asked severely.

"Excuse me!" Cuffy said hastily.