s white, and its tail is short--" Silkie began, "and--"

"Its ears are too small," Cuffy told her, "and its tail is all curled
up."

"You'll see, children," Mr. Bear said again. "It's a surprise."

"A surprise!" Cuffy and Silkie both shouted. They thought that was the
name of the--oh! I almost told what the little animal really was.

Well! As Mr. Bear walked on toward his house, Cuffy and Silkie ran ahead
and burst in upon their mother, both of them shouting at the top of
their voices, "A surprise! A surprise! Father's bringing home a
surprise!"

"Why, Ephraim Bear!" Mrs. Bear exclaimed, as soon as she saw her
husband. "Wherever did you get that lovely little pig?"

There--now you know what it was that Mr. Bear had.

"It came from Farmer Green's, my dear," Mr. Bear said. "I remembered
that this was your birthday, and so I thought I would bring home
something 'specially nice, so that we could have a real feast."

Cuffy and Silkie had never eaten any pig before. And when there was
nothing left of the surprise except a few bones, Cuffy couldn't help
wishing that every day could be a birthday.

X

CUFFY CLIMBS BLUE MOUNTAIN

Cuffy Bear had never been very far up Blue Mountain beyond the place
where his father's house nestled among the evergreens. You know, the
summer before he had been a very small little bear indeed, and the
higher one goes up Blue Mountain the harder the climbing becomes. But
now Cuffy was growing very fast; and he was able to scramble up places
he could never have even crept a year ago. Each day now Cuffy climbed a
little nearer the top of Blue Mountain. And at last the day came when he
reached the very top. It was so high that the trees did not grow there.
He found nothing but rocks everywhere, with just a little earth to fill
the cracks.

Cuffy thought it great fun to clamber about all by himself and look down
at the hills and valleys that stretched away in all directions. Indeed,
he hated to leave that delightful spot. But he noticed that the sun was
getting low in the west and he knew that he must hurry home. So Cuffy
started down the mountainside.

He did not pick out the easiest way to go. Oh, no! He chose the very
steepest places to slide down. And as he went slipping down the steepest
cliff of all he came upon something that gave him a great surprise. For
he saw, built right in the crack of a ledge, a big bird's nest made of
sticks. It was the biggest bird's nest Cuffy had