ow a timid
mouse would leap nimbly by, and, at the least signal of danger, would
disappear as if by enchantment; then a frolicsome squirrel, vaulting as
fearlessly from bough to bough as if he were not fifty feet from the
ground, would arouse him for a minute from his sulky mood, and light up
his fierce eye with an expression of interest which it was very clear
had no higher source than a hope that the little tumbler might fall down
and break his neck, for daring to be in such a good humour. But the
birds, above all, excited his anger; for seeing them flying about gaily
in the sun, which tinged the tops of the trees so gloriously, Bruin
actually growled with indignation--a sound which nearly caused that
accident to Master Squirrel that our ungracious hero had desired for
him, so terribly was he frightened.

A few days thus spent sufficiently recovered him to render him capable
of moving, when he descended from his temporary hospital, and, with the
aid of a thick staff, which he had provided himself for the purpose, set
off once more, supplying his wants in the way of food with such edibles
as fell in his way, a bear not being remarkably particular concerning
its quality or kind. One only thought now possessed him,--that of
quitting the wooded ground where his life had hitherto been passed, and
reaching one of those spots where, as he had heard his parents relate,
animals of various kinds congregate together, and live in habitations
raised by their own ingenuity; in fact, a city.

"At least," he thought, "if what I have heard of such places be true,
and that merit of every kind is certain there to meet its reward, and be
properly appreciated, I shall stand a better chance than my neighbours."
With this reflection, he shuffled on a little quicker; and the reader,
who has been thus allowed a private view of his motives, will observe
that modesty was not among Bruin's list of virtues.

After a day's march, with sundry restings by the way--for he was not in
good travelling order--he reached the outskirts of the wood; and when he
got beyond it, he stood still to mark the prospect, which was, in sooth,
a very charming one, and the more striking to him as being so entirely
novel. As he stood on a rising ground, the scene lay beneath; and the
sun, which was nearing the horizon, darted his level beams through a
gentle mist that was beginning to rise from the valley, and made a
wondrous golden haze, shedding beauty over every ob