"A saw-mill, you know, is a very dangerous place for any little bear to
play, because there are so many saws and knives and wheels, whirling
around in every direction. This little bear, you remember, lived near a
saw-mill, and belonged to his papa, who belonged to the man that owned
the mill.
"The Papa Bear told the little bear not to touch anything in the
saw-mill, for if he did he would be sure to be hurt. The little bear
said that he would not touch a single thing, for he didn't want to be
hurt any more than his papa wanted him to be hurt. So the Papa Bear
said that he would rather that his little bear would stay away from the
mill; but the little bear teased so hard, that finally the Papa Bear
told him he could go into the mill if he would be sure _not to touch a
single thing_. The little bear said that he would be very careful, so
Papa Bear let him go into the saw-mill, where all of the wheels were
going around and around. My! How the little bear did enjoy the mill.
"The great wheels and saws were going around so fast, with a
whir-r-r-r, whir-r-r-r, and buz-z-z-z, buz-z-z-z. The great saws looked
like shining wheels, and they went around so quickly that you could
not see their teeth at all. A big log would come up to the saw on a
sort of a carriage, and then buz-z-z-z, buz-z-z-z the saw would go
clear through the big log from one end to the other, and before the
little bear could think, the log would be made into boards. At first
the little bear was very careful, for he remembered what his papa had
told him, but after a while the little bear went close to the biggest
saw in the whole mill and watched it go through the logs.
"Now, you know that bears always smell of a thing when they want to
know what it is, so this little bear said to himself, 'Papa didn't tell
me not to smell of the saw; he told me not to _touch_ it. I think that
I will smell of this wonderful thing that eats through the logs and
makes them into boards.' He went closer and closer. He was a little
afraid even to smell of the saw after all that his papa had told him,
but he went closer and closer to the saw, until finally he reached
out as far as he could with his nose to smell. Ouch! ouch! ouch!! The
awfullest howling and squealing that you ever heard from a little bear.
"The Papa Bear ran in as fast as he could, and what do you think he
saw? The poor little bear's face was all covered with blood, and he was
howling and screaming as hard as he could. You see, the little bear
could not see the teeth of the great saw, for they were going around
so fast, and he had put his nose too close, and the saw had sawed the
end of his nose right in two.
"Well, the poor Papa Bear was very, very sorry. He licked the blood off
the little bear's face, and took him over to the house that the man had
made for them. After a long time the little bear went to sleep. But his
nose hurt so badly that he awoke in the night many times.
"The next morning the little bear said to his papa, 'Papa, I am sorry
that I didn't obey you; you knew best; you always do, and I'll try not
to be a bad little bear again.' The Papa Bear said, 'That's right, my
little one, I am sorry that you were so badly hurt; I will not scold
you, for I am sure that you have learned it is really best to do what
papa tells you to do, and not to do the things that your papa tells
you not to do.' The little bear said, 'I have, papa.' What do you
suppose they called the little bear after that. They called him the
'Split-Nosed Bear.'"
When the Papa Bear had finished the story, he said to the Cub Bear,
"What do you think of that story?"
And the little Cub Bear answered, "I think that it is best to do what
papa says."
Then the Papa Bear said, "That is right. Now you must run back into the
cave and go to sleep."
That night the little Cub Bear dreamed a bad dream. I do not know what
it was, but he spoke aloud in his sleep and said, "I am always going to
mind my papa," and then he felt the end of his nose with his paw. Can
you guess what he was dreaming about?
The next morning the little Cub Bear wakened very early and rubbed
his eyes and wondered whether any of the animals would come from the
circus. He listened and listened.
Pretty soon he heard a very faint little patter, as if made by very
small feet, and the Cub Bear listened and listened, and then he went to
the door and looked out, and he said:
"I see a very strange animal coming. He has the shortest little legs.
He is smaller than a very small dog, about as large as two cats, and he
has a funny little sharp nose, and he has black and white stripes down
his back."
Just then the owl saw the animal, and he said, "Who-o-o? who-o-o?" but
the animal didn't answer him. He came right along to the mouth of the
den.
Just as he reached there, the Circus Bear said, "I know who that is.
That is Mr. Badger. Ask him to come in."
So the little Cub Bear said very politely, "Come in, Mr. Badger;" and
the badger came in.
The Cub Bear said, "We are going to try to build a house large enough
for all the animals, so if they come to see us we will have a place
for them to stay. Can you help us?"
And the badger said, "I would be very glad to help you if I could,
because your brother was very good to me when we were in the circus."