oted with respect her great bulk. Moreover, he was unarmed.
To say the least, the situation was an unpleasant one, and he wished
heartily that he had not been so quick to make friends. Every crackling
twig in the forest brought a quickening of his pulses but, fortunately
for him, Mother Bruin was miles away, enjoying a meal of berries.

Meanwhile the Hermit's situation was growing more uncomfortable. One of
the cubs seemed to have made up his mind that the man had more sugar,
which he was deliberately keeping from them. Accordingly he attempted to
scale the Hermit as he would a tree, a proceeding to which the man
objected most emphatically. The cub was big and heavy and his claws were
sharp. With a yell the man dislodged him and sprang aside.

As it happened, this movement was his salvation, for it recalled to his
mind the bag upon his back. The bag contained two apples and several
cookies which he had carried with him, expecting to be gone from his
cabin the greater part of the day. Now as he remembered them, he gave a
sigh of relief. The cubs watched him with interested eyes as he drew the
good things from the bag and deposited them upon the ground under a big
tree. As he had hoped, the bears at once fell upon them and became so
engrossed that he was able to slip out of sight behind the tree. He
immediately took to his heels, never stopping until he had put a safe
distance between himself and the too-friendly bear cubs.

The paths of the man and the cubs, however, were destined often to
cross. Not long after this experience they met again. In the Hermit's
clearing, close to the fence, stood a sweet apple tree loaded with
fruit. Approaching it one day to see if the apples were ripening, the
Hermit discovered two furry balls among the branches and found himself
looking into two pairs of bright little eyes. Quickly ascertaining that
Mother Bruin was not present, he paused beneath the tree and called, in
as stern a voice as he could assume, "Come down out of my apple tree,
you little thieves!"

The more timid bear climbed to a higher branch, but the male cub sat
comfortably, his feet dangling, one paw holding to the branch and the
other to the trunk, and looked down at the man. His expression so
resembled that of a small boy caught stealing apples, that the Hermit
laughed aloud and Pal trotted up to see what was going on.

At sight of the bears the dog seemed to go wild. He circled the tree,
barking furiously, while t