hing pleased him more than a rough-and-tumble, and he
was quite an expert wrestler, once he learned how to floor his
adversary.

Whenever two or three boys came into the farmyard, if Black Bruin was
anywhere about, he would shuffle up to them and rearing upon his hind
legs, invite them, in the plainest language, "to come on."

His master also taught him to hold a broom in his arms in imitation of
a gun, and march up and down like a soldier. When this feat was
performed by their shaggy friend, the children would shout with
delight, at which the cub would loll out his tongue and seem greatly
pleased. He appeared to understand clearly that they thought him the
smartest bear in the world.

His old trick of hunting for hens' nests now recurred to him, and he
returned to it with renewed zest. In fact, Black Bruin seemed not to
forget any of his many forms of mischief, but rapidly acquired new ones
as well.

He not only hunted hens' nests outside, but frequently broke into the
hen-house, just like any other chicken thief, and ate eggs freely.

He always skulked into a corner when caught and seemed to expect the
thrashing that he got for such thieving.

He followed the farm-hands into the hay-field, as he had done the year
before, to look for bumblebees' nests, but he was not content with
lawful plunder.

One day the haymakers took their dinner to a distant field where they
expected to spend the day. All went well until the dinner-hour came,
when it was discovered that Black Bruin had tipped over the coffee jug,
pulled out the cork, and probably licked up the sweetened fluid. He
had also opened the dinner-basket, and only a few crumbs and some
pickles remained of what would have been dinner for three men.

To add insult to injury, the vagabond was lying asleep upon the
farmer's coat which he had thrown upon the ground, having a fine nap
after his hearty meal.

There was nothing to do but for all hands to go back to the farmhouse
for dinner.

The farmer had surrounded his beehives with a strong, high, barbed wire
fence, and had thought them quite safe even from the prying curiosity
of his bear-cub, but one day he found out differently.

On hearing a great humming about the hives, as though the bees were
swarming, he went to investigate. There in the midst of the hives was
the old honey thief. He had dug a hole in the ground and had crawled
under the barbed wire fence. Two of the hives were overturned and
p