The Adventures of Buster Bear Read online

  Now when Little Joe Otter found that Buster Bear had been too smart forhim and that instead of spoiling Buster's fishing in the Laughing Brookhe had really made it easier for Buster to catch all the fish he wanted,Little Joe went off down to the Smiling Pool in a great rage.

  Billy Mink stopped long enough to eat the fat fish Buster had left onthe bank and then he too went down to the Smiling Pool.

  When Little Joe Otter and Billy Mink reached the Smiling Pool, theyclimbed up on the Big Rock, and there Little Joe sulked and sulked,until finally Grandfather Frog asked what the matter was. Little Joewouldn't tell, but Billy Mink told the whole story. When he told howBuster had been too smart for Little Joe, it tickled him so that Billyhad to laugh in spite of himself. So did Grandfather Frog. So did JerryMuskrat, who had been listening. Of course this made Little Joe angrierthan ever. He said a lot of unkind things about Buster Bear and aboutBilly Mink and Grandfather Frog and Jerry Muskrat, because they hadlaughed at the smartness of Buster.

  "He's nothing but a great big bully and thief!" declared Little Joe.

  "Chug-a-rum! He may be a bully, because great big people are very apt tobe bullies, and though I haven't seen him, I guess Buster Bear is bigenough from all I have heard, but I don't see how he is a thief," saidGrandfather Frog.

  "Didn't he catch my fish and eat them?" snapped Little Joe. "Doesn'tthat make him a thief?"

  "They were no more your fish than mine," protested Billy Mink.

  "Well, _our_ fish, then! He stole _our_ fish, if you like that anybetter. That makes him just as much a thief, doesn't it?" growledLittle Joe.

  Grandfather Frog looked up at jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun and slowlywinked one of his great, goggly eyes. "There comes a foolish green fly,"said he. "Who does he belong to?"

  "Nobody!" snapped Little Joe. "What have foolish green flies got to dowith my--I mean _our_ fish?"

  "Nothing, nothing at all," replied Grandfather Frog mildly. "I was justhoping that he would come near enough for me to snap him up; then hewould belong to me. As long as he doesn't, he doesn't belong to any one.I suppose that if Buster Bear should happen along and catch him, hewould be stealing from me, according to Little Joe."

  "Of course not! What a silly idea! You're getting foolish in your oldage," retorted Little Joe.

  "Can you tell me the difference between the fish that you haven't caughtand the foolish green flies that I haven't caught?" asked GrandfatherFrog.

  Little Joe couldn't find a word to say.

  "You take my advice, Little Joe Otter," continued Grandfather Frog, "andalways make friends with those who are bigger and stronger and smarterthan you are. You'll find it pays."

  "You take my advice, Little Joe Otter," continuedGrandfather Frog. _Page 26._]

  VI

  LITTLE JOE OTTER TAKES GRANDFATHER FROG'S ADVICE

  Who makes an enemy a friend, To fear and worry puts an end.

  Little Joe Otter found that out when he took Grandfather Frog's advice.He wouldn't have admitted that he was afraid of Buster Bear. No one everlikes to admit being afraid, least of all Little Joe Otter. And reallyLittle Joe has a great deal of courage. Very few of the little people ofthe Green Forest or the Green Meadows would willingly quarrel with him,for Little Joe is a great fighter when he has to fight. As for all thosewho live in or along the Laughing Brook or in the Smiling Pool, theylet Little Joe have his own way in everything.

  Now having one's own way too much is a bad thing. It is apt to make oneselfish and thoughtless of other people and very hard to get along with.Little Joe Otter had his way too much. Grandfather Frog knew it andshook his head very soberly when Little Joe had been disrespectful tohim.

  "Too bad. Too bad! Too bad! Chug-a-rum! It is too bad that such a fineyoung fellow as Little Joe should spoil a good disposition by suchselfish heedlessness. Too bad," said he.

  So, though he didn't let on that it was so, Grandfather Frog really wasdelighted when he heard how Buster Bear had been too smart for LittleJoe Otter. It tickled him so that he had hard work to keep a straightface. But he did and was as grave and solemn as you please as headvised Little Joe always to make friends with any one who was biggerand stronger and smarter than he. That was good common sense advice, butLittle Joe just sniffed and went off declaring that he would get evenwith Buster Bear yet. Now Little Joe is good-natured and full of fun asa rule, and after he had reached home and his temper had cooled off alittle, he began to see the joke on himself,--how when he had worked sohard to frighten the fish in the little pools of the Laughing Brook sothat Buster Bear should not catch any, he had all the time been drivingthem right into Buster's paws. By and by he grinned. It was a littlesheepish grin at first, but at last it grew into a laugh.

  "I believe," said Little Joe as he wiped tears of laughter from hiseyes, "that Grandfather Frog is right, and that the best thing I can dois to make friends with Buster Bear. I'll try it to-morrow morning."

  So very early the next morning Little Joe Otter went to the best fishingpool he knew of in the Laughing Brook, and there he caught the biggesttrout he could find. It was so big and fat that it made Little Joe'smouth water, for you know fat trout are his favorite food. But he didn'ttake so much as one bite. Instead he carefully laid it on an old logwhere Buster Bear would be sure to see it if he should come along thatway. Then he hid near by, where he could watch. Buster was late thatmorning. It seemed to Little Joe that he never would come. Once henearly lost the fish. He had turned his head for just a minute, and whenhe looked back again, the trout was nowhere to be seen. Buster couldn'thave stolen up and taken it, because such a big fellow couldn't possiblyhave gotten out of sight again.

  Little Joe darted over to the log and looked on the other side. Therewas the fat trout, and there also was Little Joe's smallest cousin,Shadow the Weasel, who is a great thief and altogether bad. Little Joesprang at him angrily, but Shadow was too quick and darted away. LittleJoe put the fish back on the log and waited. This time he didn't takehis eyes off it. At last, when he was almost ready to give up, he sawBuster Bear shuffling along towards the Laughing Brook. Suddenly Busterstopped and sniffed. One of the Merry Little Breezes had carried thescent of that fat trout over to him. Then he came straight over to wherethe fish lay, his nose wrinkling, and his eyes twinkling with pleasure.

  "Now I wonder who was so thoughtful as to leave this fine breakfastready for me," said he out loud.

  "Me," said Little Joe in a rather faint voice. "I caught it especiallyfor you."

  "Thank you," replied Buster, and his eyes twinkled more than ever. "Ithink we are going to be friends."

  "I--I hope so," replied Little Joe.

  VII

  FARMER BROWN'S BOY HAS NO LUCK AT ALL

  Farmer Brown's boy tramped through the Green Forest, whistling merrily.He always whistles when he feels light-hearted, and he always feelslight-hearted when he goes fishing. You see, he is just as fond offishing as is Little Joe Otter or Billy Mink or Buster Bear. And now hewas making his way through the Green Forest to the Laughing Brook, surethat by the time he had followed it down to the Smiling Pool he wouldhave a fine lot of trout to take home. He knew every pool in theLaughing Brook where the trout love to hide, did Farmer Brown's boy,and it was just the kind of a morning when the trout should be hungry.So he whistled as he tramped along, and his whistle was good to hear.

  When he reached the first little pool he baited his hook very carefullyand then, taking the greatest care to keep out of sight of any troutthat might be in the little pool, he began to fish. Now Farmer Brown'sboy learned a long time ago that to be a successful fisherman one musthave a great deal of patience, so though he didn't get a bite right awayas he had expected to, he wasn't the least bit discouraged. He kept veryquiet and fished and fished, patiently waiting for a foolish trout totake his hook. But he didn't get so much as a nibble. "Either the trouthave lost their appetite or they have grown very wise," muttered FarmerBrown's boy, as after a long time he moved on to the next little pool.

&nbs
p; There the same thing happened. He was very patient, very, very patient,but his patience brought no reward, not so much as the faintest kind ofa nibble. Farmer Brown's boy trudged on to the next pool, and there wasa puzzled frown on his freckled face. Such a thing never had happenedbefore. He didn't know what to make of it. All the night before he haddreamed about the delicious dinner of fried trout he would have the nextday, and now--well, if he didn't catch some trout pretty soon, thatsplendid dinner would never be anything but a dream.

  "If I didn't know that nobody else comes fishing here, I should thinkthat somebody had been here this very morning and caught all the fish orelse frightened them so that they are all in hiding," said he, as hetrudged on to the next little pool. "I never had such bad luck in all mylife before. Hello! What's this?"

  There, on the bank beside the little pool, were the heads of threetrout. Farmer Brown's boy scowled down at them more puzzled than ever."Somebody _has_ been fishing here, and they have had better luck than Ihave," thought he. He looked up the Laughing Brook and down the LaughingBrook and this way and that way, but no one was to be seen. Then hepicked up one of the little heads and looked at it sharply. "It wasn'tcut off with a knife; it was bitten off!" he exclaimed. "I wonder now ifBilly Mink is the scamp who has spoiled my fun."

  Thereafter he kept a sharp lookout for signs of Billy Mink, but thoughhe found two or three more trout heads, he saw no other signs and hecaught no fish. This puzzled him more than ever. It didn't seem possiblethat such a little fellow as Billy Mink could have caught or frightenedall the fish or have eaten so many. Besides, he didn't remember everhaving known Billy to leave heads around that way. Billy sometimescatches more fish than he can eat, but then he usually hides them. Thefarther he went down the Laughing Brook, the more puzzled Farmer Brown'sboy grew. It made him feel very queer. He would have felt still morequeer if he had known that all the time two other fishermen who had beenbefore him were watching him and chuckling to themselves. They wereLittle Joe Otter and Buster Bear.

  VIII

  FARMER BROWN'S BOY FEELS HIS HAIR RISE

  'Twas just a sudden odd surprise Made Farmer Brown's boy's hair to rise.

  That's a funny thing for hair to do--rise up all of a sudden--isn't it?But that is just what the hair on Farmer Brown's boy's head did the dayhe went fishing in the Laughing Brook and had no luck at all. There arejust two things that make hair rise--anger and fear. Anger sometimesmakes the hair on the back and neck of Bowser the Hound and of someother little people bristle and stand up, and you know the hair on thetail of Black Pussy stands on end until her tail looks twice as big asit really is. Both anger and fear make it do that. But there is only onething that can make the hair on the head of Farmer Brown's boy rise, andas it isn't anger, of course it must be fear.

  It never had happened before. You see, there isn't much of anything thatFarmer Brown's boy is really afraid of. Perhaps he wouldn't have beenafraid this time if it hadn't been for the surprise of what he found.You see when he had found the heads of those trout on the bank he knewright away that some one else had been fishing, and that was why hecouldn't catch any; but it didn't seem possible that little Billy Minkcould have eaten all those trout, and Farmer Brown's boy didn't oncethink of Little Joe Otter, and so he was very, very much puzzled.

  He was turning it all over in his mind and studying what it could mean,when he came to a little muddy place on the bank of the Laughing Brook,and there he saw something that made his eyes look as if they would popright out of his head, and it was right then that he felt his hair rise.Anyway, that is what he said when he told about it afterward. What wasit he saw? What do you think? Why, it was a footprint in the soft mud.Yes, Sir, that's what it was, and all it was. But it was the biggestfootprint Farmer Brown's boy ever had seen, and it looked as if it hadbeen made only a few minutes before. It was the footprint of BusterBear.

  Now Farmer Brown's boy didn't know that Buster Bear had come down to theGreen Forest to live. He never had heard of a Bear being in the GreenForest. And so he was so surprised that he had hard work to believe hisown eyes, and he had a queer feeling all over,--a little chilly feeling,although it was a warm day. Somehow, he didn't feel like meeting BusterBear. If he had had his terrible gun with him, it might have beendifferent. But he didn't, and so he suddenly made up his mind that hedidn't want to fish any more that day. He had a funny feeling, too, thathe was being watched, although he couldn't see any one. He _was_ beingwatched. Little Joe Otter and Buster Bear were watching him and takingthe greatest care to keep out of his sight.

  All the way home through the Green Forest, Farmer Brown's boy keptlooking behind him, and he didn't draw a long breath until he reachedthe edge of the Green Forest. He hadn't run, but he had wanted to.

  "Huh!" said Buster Bear to Little Joe Otter, "I believe he was afraid!"

  And Buster Bear was just exactly right.

  IX

  LITTLE JOE OTTER HAS GREAT NEWS TO TELL

  Little Joe Otter was fairly bursting with excitement. He could hardlycontain himself. He felt that he had the greatest news to tell sincePeter Rabbit had first found the tracks of Buster Bear in the GreenForest. He couldn't keep it to himself a minute longer than he had to.So he hurried to the Smiling Pool, where he was sure he would find BillyMink and Jerry Muskrat and Grandfather Frog and Spotty the Turtle, andhe hoped that perhaps some of the little people who live in the GreenForest might be there too. Sure enough, Peter Rabbit was there on oneside of the Smiling Pool, making faces at Reddy Fox, who was on theother side, which, of course, was not at all nice of Peter. Mr. and Mrs.Redwing were there, and Blacky the Crow was sitting in the BigHickory-tree.

  Little Joe Otter swam straight to the Big Rock and climbed up to thevery highest part. He looked so excited, and his eyes sparkled so, thatevery one knew right away that something had happened.

  "Hi!" cried Billy Mink. "Look at Little Joe Otter! It must be that foronce he has been smarter than Buster Bear."

  Little Joe made a good-natured face at Billy Mink and shook his head."No, Billy," said he, "you are wrong, altogether wrong. I don't believeanybody can be smarter than Buster Bear."

  Reddy glared across the Smiling Pool at Peter._Page 45._]

  Reddy Fox rolled his lips back in an unpleasant grin. "Don't be toosure of that!" he snapped. "I'm not through with him yet."

  "Boaster! Boaster!" cried Peter Rabbit.

  Reddy glared across the Smiling Pool at Peter. "I'm not through with youeither, Peter Rabbit!" he snarled. "You'll find it out one of these finedays!"

  "Reddy, Reddy, smart and sly, Couldn't catch a buzzing fly!"

  taunted Peter.

  "Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog in his deepest, gruffest voice. "Weknow all about that. What we want to know is what Little Joe Otter hasgot on his mind."

  "It's news--great news!" cried Little Joe.

  "We can tell better how great it is when we hear what it is," repliedGrandfather Frog testily. "What is it?"

  Little Joe Otter looked around at all the eager faces watching him, andthen in the slowest, most provoking way, he drawled: "Farmer Brown's boyis afraid of Buster Bear."

  For a minute no one said a word. Then Blacky the Crow leaned down fromhis perch in the Big Hickory-tree and looked very hard at Little Joe ashe said:

  "I don't believe it. I don't believe a word of it. Farmer Brown's boyisn't afraid of any one who lives in the Green Forest or on the GreenMeadows or in the Smiling Pool, and you know it. We are all afraid ofhim."

  Little Joe glared back at Blacky. "I don't care whether you believe itor not; it's true," he retorted. Then he told how early that verymorning he and Buster Bear had been fishing together in the LaughingBrook, and how Farmer Brown's boy had been fishing there too, and hadn'tcaught a single trout because they had all been caught or frightenedbefore he got there. Then he told how Farmer Brown's boy had found afootprint of Buster Bear in the soft mud, and how he had stopped fishingright away and started for home, looking behind him with fear in hi
seyes all the way.

  "Now tell me that he isn't afraid!" concluded Little Joe. "For once heknows just how we feel when he comes prowling around where we are. Isn'tthat great news? Now we'll get even with _him_!"

  "I'll believe it when I see it for myself!" snapped Blacky the Crow.

  X

  BUSTER BEAR BECOMES A HERO

  The news that Little Joe Otter told at the Smiling Pool,--how FarmerBrown's boy had run away from Buster Bear without even seeing him,--soonspread all over the Green Meadows and through the Green Forest, untilevery one who lives there knew about it. Of course, Peter Rabbit helpedspread it. Trust Peter for that! But everybody else helped too. You see,they had all been afraid of Farmer Brown's boy for so long that theywere tickled almost to pieces at the very thought of having some one inthe Green Forest who could make Farmer Brown's boy feel fear as theyhad felt it. And so it was that Buster Bear became a hero right away tomost of them.

  A few doubted Little Joe's story. One of them was Blacky the Crow.Another was Reddy Fox. Blacky doubted because he knew Farmer Brown's boyso well that he couldn't imagine him afraid. Reddy doubted because hedidn't want to believe. You see, he was jealous of Buster Bear, and atthe same time he was afraid of him. So Reddy pretended not to believe aword of what Little Joe Otter had said, and he agreed with Blacky thatonly by seeing Farmer Brown's boy afraid could he ever be made tobelieve it. But nearly everybody else believed it, and there was greatrejoicing. Most of them were afraid of Buster, very much afraid of him,because he was so big and strong. But they were still more afraid ofFarmer Brown's boy, because they didn't know him or understand him, andbecause in the past he had tried to catch some of them in traps and hadhunted some of them with his terrible gun.