h the Hermit
could detect, one or the other of the cubs would receive a boxing from
his mother which would set him howling. The punishment was soon
forgotten, however, and it is to be hoped that it did them good. Over
and over they rolled on the brown pine needles, two furry balls cuffing
and biting at each other. Then they paused and sat up panting, exactly
as Mother Bruin was sitting.

The effect was so ludicrous that the Hermit had much ado to keep from
laughing aloud, but he also had a wholesome fear of Mother Bruin when
she felt that her cubs might be in danger. So he stifled the laugh that
would have betrayed his presence and at length slipped unobtrusively
away.

While shambling through the forest one day Mother Bruin made a wonderful
discovery. She came to a tree which had recently fallen to the forest
floor and from within came a curious humming. She stopped abruptly to
listen, her great head cocked to one side and her eyes shining with
anticipation. The cubs also paused, cocked their heads upon one side and
waited expectantly. Mother Bruin soon assured herself that there could
be no mistake. With her terrible claws she ripped open the rotting log,
disclosing a mass of well-filled honey-comb and liberating a great swarm
of bees. The air was soon filled with their angry buzzing.

The cubs decided that the spot was not a healthful one and retreated to
the bushes, but Mother Bruin paid no attention to the enraged owners of
the hive. For a few moments the cubs watched wonderingly; then the tree
with its appetizing odour called them and they shambled up to it, the
bees being too busy carrying away their store to bother them.

One of the cubs thrust a little black paw into the mass of amber honey
and then, as any child would have done, transferred the paw to his
mouth. Immediately there spread over his comical little face a look of
utter happiness. The other cub, seeing her brother thus pleasantly
engaged, lost no time in following his example and the two were soon
smeared with honey from top to toe. Never were little bears happier.

The three gorged themselves until they could hold no more. And all the
next day the cubs were busy licking their own paws and furry coats, or
each other's. It mattered not which, for both bears were literally "as
sweet as honey."

As the season advanced and the cubs grew more self-reliant, Mother Bruin
occasionally left them for a whole day or night while she traveled
farther than