"Once there was a big black papa bear, and he had a little black cub
bear. They lived in the woods a long way from any one. The mamma bear
had gone to the bear heaven, and so they lived alone.
"One night, as it was getting very, very cold, the papa bear went
a long, long way to find something to eat for the little bear, and
he walked and walked until he was very tired; but he could not find
anything to eat, for the snow had come and covered the ground, and all
the berries were gone.
"The papa bear grew more and more tired; he was so tired that as he
walked his eyes would close, and he could not keep them open, and his
head would nod so sleepily, but he kept on, hoping that he would soon
find something to eat for his little cub bear.
"So he walked and he walked. His eyes closed--he was so sleepy, sleepy,
sleepy. Soon he started home, and walked, and walked, and walked, until
he met the little cub bear, who had come out to meet him; and he said:
"'Dear little cub bear, I am so sleepy that I can not keep my eyes open
at all.'
"And the little cub bear said, 'I am so sleepy that I can not keep my
eyes open at all.'
"Then the papa bear said, 'I am going to find you a nice place to
sleep.'
"So they walked, and walked, and got sleepier, and sleepier, until they
came to a great hollow tree. Way up at the top of the tree was a hole
large enough for the little cub bear to get in. The papa bear told the
little cub to climb up the tree and go in the hole, and see if there
was a good place in the tree to sleep.
"The little cub did as his papa told him to; he climbed up and up until
he came to the hole in the top of the tree, and then he looked into the
hole to see if there was a good place in the tree for him to climb down
on the inside. The little cub bear turned around and backed into the
hole, and soon the papa bear could see nothing of the little cub bear,
for he was inside the tree. But he could hear him scratch as he slid
down on the inside of the tree.
"The papa bear listened, as he stood outside of the tree on the ground,
and he could hear the little cub's claws scratch, scratch, scratch.
And he listened again, and he could hear the little cub bear's claws
scratch, scratch, scratch. And he listened again, but he couldn't
hear anything. And he listened, and he couldn't hear anything. And he
wondered, and wondered, where the little cub was.
"So he listened again. This time he heard a faint sound, just inside
the tree, and he knew that the little cub bear was clear down inside
the tree at the bottom.
"The papa bear said, 'Go to sleep, dear little cub.'
"The little cub lay down in the bottom of the hollow tree, and curled
up into a little ball and closed his eyes. It was a nice, warm, soft,
sleepy place. And the papa on the outside heard the little bear lie
down, and so he listened and listened. And soon he heard the softest
little snore. Just the softest snore.
"And then the papa bear went a little farther, and found another hollow
tree, and he climbed up, and up, until he came to a big hole in the top
of the big tree, and he backed into the hole and scratched his way down
and down inside the hollow tree, until he came to the bottom, and then
he rolled himself up into a big, black ball, so snug and warm, and went
to sleep.
"He snored so quietly, and the little cub bear and the papa bear slept
all winter long in the cozy warm hollow trees, but once in a while the
papa bear would climb up, and up, out of the tree and go over to the
little cub's tree, and listen, and he would hear the faintest little
snore, so gentle.
"And then the papa bear would say, 'Dear little cub, I love you,' and
pat the tree.
"Then he would go back to his own hollow tree, up and up he would climb
outside, and down and down inside, until he came to the nice warm place
where his bed was.
"There he would curl up into a ball, and shut his eyes, and go to
sleep, and snore and snore and snore all night, and all day, and all
night, and all day, the whole winter long."
And the little cub was asleep before the story was ended, for, you see,
the story has no end.
Afterward many wonderful stories were told in the cave of Jimmie Bear,
and many wonderful things happened to the animals there; but I think
that we must say "Good-by" now to the dear little cub and to all of the
animals.