BOXER AND WOOF-WOOF
’Tis sometimes well, it seems to me,
To see, but appear not to see.
_Mother Bear._
Not in all the Green Forest could two livelier or more mischievous
little folks be found than Boxer and Woof-Woof. Boxer was just a wee
bit bigger than his sister, but he was no smarter, nor was he the least
bit quicker. For more than three months they had lived under the great
windfall in the Green Forest without even once poking their funny
little noses outside. You see, when they were born they were very small
and helpless.
And the first time they had poked their heads out, Peter Rabbit had
given them a terrible scare by thumping the ground with his hind feet.
Safely back in their bedroom they snuggled together.
“Who do you suppose that terrible fellow was?” whispered Woof-Woof. How
that would have pleased Peter could he have heard it!
“I haven’t the least idea,” replied Boxer. “I guess we are lucky to be
safely back here. Did you notice how his ears stood up?”
“We must ask Mother Bear about him,” said Woof-Woof. “He was only
about our size, and perhaps he isn’t so terrible after all. Here she
comes now.”
“Let’s not say anything about it,” whispered Boxer hurriedly. “You know
she told us not to go outside. We may see him again sometime and then
we can ask her.”
So when Mrs. Bear arrived she found Boxer and Woof-Woof curled up with
their arms around each other and looking as innocent as it was possible
for baby Bears to look. Mother Bear grinned. She knew just what had
happened out there, for she had seen it all. You remember that she had
frightened Peter Rabbit even more than he had frightened the cubs. But
she wisely decided that she would say nothing about it then.
“These cubs have had their first lesson in life,” thought she, as she
watched them trying so hard to appear to be asleep. “They disobeyed
and as a result they got a great fright. I won’t tell them that Peter
Rabbit is one of the most harmless fellows in all the Great World. They
will remember this fright longer if I don’t. These scamps are growing
like weeds. They went outside tonight while I was away, and that
means that it is time to take them out and show them something of the
Great World. If I don’t, they will try it again while I am away, and
something might happen to them. They are still so small that if Old Man
Coyote should happen to find one of them alone I am afraid the sly old
sinner would make an end of that cub.”
She poked the two cubs. “You’re not asleep,” said she. “Don’t think you
can fool your mother. To-morrow morning you can go outside and play a
little while, providing you will promise not to go more than one jump
away from the entrance to this home of ours. There are great dangers in
the Green Forest for little Bears.”
Of course Boxer and Woof-Woof promised, and so for several mornings
they played just outside the entrance while their mother pretended to
take a nap. It was then that Chatterer the Red Squirrel and Sammy Jay
and Blacky the Crow had great fun frightening those twin cubs. And
they didn’t know, nor did the twins, that all the time Mother Bear knew
just what was going on and was keeping quiet so that the twins might
learn for themselves.