, every one of them buzzing as loud as ever he
could.

Cuffy was startled at the sight. And he was more startled when they
flew right into his face and lighted on his nose and began to sting.

Cuffy roared with the pain. Yes--he gave such a great roar that he
couldn't hear the bees at all. But the bees didn't seem to mind that.
_They_ weren't afraid. They just kept on stinging. And they went for
Cuffy's eyes, too. And some of them even crawled down his ears. _That_
was the worst of all.

Just for a few moments Cuffy slapped at the bees. And he tried to brush
them off his face. But as fast as he swept them away from one spot they
settled on another. And Cuffy felt exactly as if somebody was sticking
him with pins and needles. He forgot all about taking any of the honey
to eat. He only wanted to get away from those bees. So he began to slide
down the tree.

But Cuffy soon saw that the bees intended to go right along with him.
They seemed to have no idea at all of staying at home, and as he
scrambled down the tree Cuffy thought very quickly. He hadn't put a paw
on the ground before he knew what he was going to do. Cuffy Bear ran
straight for the brook that goes tumbling down Blue Mountain to meet
Swift River.

XVII

CUFFY BEAR GOES SWIMMING

As Cuffy Bear tore through the forest, with the bees clustering all
about his head, he thought he never would reach the brook. He was going
straight for the deep pool, which he had often visited in order to watch
the speckled trout darting about in the clear water.

Now and then Cuffy paused in his mad rush, to bury his face in the thick
blanket of dead leaves that covered the ground. But just as soon as he
raised his head the bees would settle on his face again. And Cuffy would
rush off once more as fast as he could go.

At last he came to the brook. And he leaped right off the big boulder
that hung high over the pool and landed _ker-splash!_ right in the
middle of it. How the water did fly in all directions! And Cuffy went
right down out of sight.

Of course, the bees wouldn't go down into the water too. They knew
they'd be drowned if they did. So they lingered in a swarm above the
water. They hovered there in the air and waited. And when, after a
moment, Cuffy's head came up out of the pool, they swooped down and
began to sting him again.

Cuffy promptly ducked his head. And he swam under water to the further
side of the pool and came up once more. To his surp