r.

"And you won't scratch me with your long, sharp claws?" again whined the
boy.

"Scratch you with my long, sharp claws! No!" again growled the bear.

"And you won't, like the bull and the cat and the wolf, go a-jumping
over there, at that steep place in the hill?" still urged the boy,
though a little less whiningly.

"Do like the bull and the cat and the wolf? No!" rejoined the bear, a
little less growlingly.

"And you won't kick up, and rear up and cut capers, like a horse?" The
boy, by this time, not whining at all.

"Kick up, and rear up and cut capers, like a horse? No! Spur me, if I
do!" And this time, so far from growling, the monster actually
chuckled--so funny could he be when he tried.

"And now, having felt around on every side, you have, I hope, succeeded
at last in finding out on which side of your mug your nose is, and are
ready to come up and take me at my offer. And Sprigg, my boy, for once
and for all--of this be assured--that so far as you trust me, so far are
you safe. Perfect your trust--perfect your safety."

Sprigg was by no means of a confiding nature; people prone to lose sight
of the truth never are. But on receiving this reassurance of good faith,
he walked up boldly enough to the bear, who, as his young rider drew
near, swayed his back to enable him, with the greatest ease, to mount.

"But I have nothing to hold myself on by," said our hero, now fairly
astraddle of his strange steed, though pressing as lightly upon it as
possible.

"Take a lock of my hair! If a lock of hair is good for keeping one's
mind on a friend, why not as good for keeping his body there, too?" Here
he chuckled a little again, then added:

"But the young human thing, brave as he is, may not have as much faith
in a lock of hair as some people have, or pretend to have. So, up with
you, Manitou-Echo, and give him a lock of your arms."

Whereat, fetching first a nimble flounce, the red moccasins, as if their
wearer made a pivot of his head in the air, described a circular
flourish aloft, and in a twinkle, there they were at the bear's flanks,
each with a toe at one of our hero's naked heels. In another twinkle
Sprigg felt himself clasped tightly around the waist, by what seemed to
be a pair of small arms; small, but, bless me! how strong, as the boy
was but too glad to discover the moment after.

"All right?" To which, receiving an affirmative kick from the moccasins,
the bear, to Sprigg's dismay, made direc