e could feel
it thump, thump, thump against his jacket. But there was no sound
except the breaking of twigs and the rustling of leaves under the
heavy step of the cows.

"Home at last!" said Nathan.

His father heard him open the great gate, and came out with a light.

Nathan stood aside to let the cows go through the gateway. He always
counted them as they went through.

One, two, three, four, five--one, two, three, four, five--Nathan
rubbed his eyes. Then he counted again. One, two, three, four, five,
six! Where did the sixth cow come from? Was it a cow? It looked more
like a dog.

"Father!" cried Nathan. "Here's a bear with the cows!"

Mr King laughed. He had opened the barn door. The cows were going in,
one by one.

"What a boy you are!" he said. "You and Tom Shaw--why, it is a bear!"

Yes, it really was a bear. Mr King swung the lantern close, to make
sure.

When the bear saw the bright light, he turned slowly; then he went
back through the gateway across the road, into the wood path.

"Let me get my gun!" cried Mr King. "Take the lantern, Nathan!"

"Oh, don't shoot him, father!" begged Nathan. "Please don't shoot him.
He came all the way through the woods with me, and he did not hurt me
at all."

The boy was almost crying. He was holding his father's arm with both
hands.

"Please don't shoot him!" he said again.

"Well," said Mr King, "I don't like to let a bear go like that. He
seems gentle enough, but he might do some harm. Where did you find
him, Nathan?"

"I did not find him," said the boy, still holding fast his father's
arm. "He must have been in the woods. I was counting the cows just
now, and there he was! I wish you would let him go. He was good to me
when he might have hurt me. I think it would be mean to shoot him
now."

"It is strange that the cows were not frightened," said Mr King. "I
suppose the old fellow was cold. He thought you looked as if you were
a kind boy, Nathan."

Nathan knew that his father would not go after the bear now. He
laughed gaily as he went into the barn.

"I wish Tom Shaw had been here," said he. "I think I shall come home
by the road to-morrow night. I am not very fond of bears, after all."

_The Man on the Chimney_

FANNY E. COE

Once upon a time some workmen were repairing the tall chimney of a
factory. It was so tall that no ladder could reach its top, so the men
went up and down on a rope. The rope passed through a pulley which was
fi