n, till the whole swarm of bees had reentered their nest. Now Jacky
jerked his nose up, hitched softly out a little farther till right
over the fateful paper globe. He reached out, and by lucky chance put
one horny little paw-pad over the hole; his other arm grasped the
nest, and leaping from the branch he plunged headlong into the pool
below, taking the whole thing with him. As soon as he reached the
water his hind feet were seen tearing into the nest, kicking it to
pieces; then he let it go and struck out for the shore, the nest
floating in rags down-stream. He ran alongside till the comb lodged
against a shallow place, then he plunged in again; the wasps were
drowned or too wet to be dangerous, and he carried his prize to the
bank in triumph. No honey; of course, that was a disappointment, but
there were lots of fat white grubs--almost as good--and Jack ate till
his paunch looked like a little rubber balloon.

"How is that?" chuckled Lan.

"The laugh is on us," answered Bonamy, with a grimace.

III. THE TROUT POOL

Jack was now growing into a sturdy cub, and he would follow Kellyan
even as far as Bonamy's shack. One day, as they watched him rolling
head over heels in riotous glee, Kellyan remarked to his friend: "I'm
afraid some one will happen on him an' shoot him in the woods for a
wild B'ar."

"Then why don't you ear-mark him with them thar new sheep-rings?" was
the sheep-man's suggestion.

Thus it was that, much against his will, Jack's ears were punched and
he was decorated with earrings like a prize ram. The intention was
good, but they were neither ornamental nor comfortable. Jack fought
them for days, and when at length he came home trailing a branch that
was caught in the jewel of his left ear, Kellyan impatiently removed
them.

At Bonamy's he formed two new acquaintances, a blustering, bullying
old ram that was "in storage" for a sheep-herder acquaintance, and
which inspired him with a lasting enmity for everything that smelt of
sheep--and Bonamy's dog.

This latter was an active, yapping, unpleasant cur that seemed to
think it rare fun to snap at Jacky's heels, then bound out of reach. A
joke is a joke, but this horrid beast did not know where to stop, and
Jack's first and second visits to the Bonamy hut were quite spoiled by
the tyranny of the dog. If Jack could have got hold of him he might
have settled the account to his own satisfaction, but he was not quick
enough for that. His only r