"The wretch," exclaimed the indignant wife, but her husband only
laughed until the tears ran down his cheeks.

"You didn't get any mail, did you?" she asked, when his mirth had
subsided.

"Yes, I did," he answered. "Here is a letter. I had forgotten all
about it." The letter proved to be from a town thirty or forty miles
to the north, and was as follows:

"DEAR SIR: I have been much interested in reading in our local paper
the account of a strange visitor that you had at your house early in
the week. I think I may be able to shed some light on that
extraordinary event.

"About eight years ago I secured a bear-cub when it was still small and
brought it up in my household. There was at the same time in my family
a baby to which the cub became much attached. No dog was ever more
devoted to a child, than was the bear-cub as the two grew up together.
They were constant companions and were inseparable.

"Finally the bear became so strong a partisan of the child that she was
really jealous of the rest of the family. She seemed to think that the
child belonged to her. The second summer on several occasions the two
strayed far from home. The bear seemed to like to toll the child away,
where she could have it all to herself.

"One day when the boy refused to follow where its shaggy companion led,
the bear fastened her teeth in the man-cub's clothes and carried her
small master, kicking and protesting, to the woods, where both were
found some hours later.

"I interfered at this point and shipped the bear away to a summer
hotel, where they wanted something to amuse the visitors. She soon
tired of the company and escaped to the wild.

"Now I am confident that our old Blackie and your bear are one and the
same, but the matter is easily settled. Our bear had lost a toe on her
left hind leg, the consequence of getting in front of the mowing
machine in the tall grass when she was small. Please examine your
specimen in this particular and let me hear from you."

"The riddle is solved," exclaimed the husband excitedly tossing the
letter across the table to his wife. "I noticed the missing toe when I
removed the skin. It is a great relief to have the matter cleared up."

CHAPTER IV

THE CUBHOOD OF BLACK BRUIN

For several weeks the furry, fuzzy little bear in the box behind the
kitchen stove did little but drink milk and sleep. If he did crawl out
of his box on to the floor, it was simply to inves