There was one good thing in having a coat like his, he told himself: even if it was warm in summer, it was so thick that he didn"t see how a bee could sting him through it.
And with that, Cuffy started to climb the old tree. It took him no time at all to hitch himself up the trunk. He shinned up just as any little boy would climb a tree. And in less time than it takes to tell it, Cuffy had reached the limb from which the nest hung, and he had stuck his paw right through the side of it.
You remember that something is always happening in the forest?
Well--something happened now. Suddenly a terrible roar came from inside the nest. It was a queer, far-off sort of sound, and it made Cuffy think of the noise Swift River made, where it tumbled over the falls. But Cuffy knew that there could be no water-fall inside the nest. He wondered if there was some strange animal in there.... And he drew back his paw very quickly. And then there came pouring out of the nest a perfect cloud of bees, 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 cl.u.s.tering 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 surprise the bees were right there waiting for him. And he ducked under again, and swam to the opposite side, near the big boulder. And once more, when he came up to breathe, he found the buzzing bees all ready to pounce upon his nose.
So poor Cuffy had to keep pulling his head down into the pool. He would keep it there just as long as he could hold his breath; and then he would simply _have_ to stick his nose out of the water in order to draw some fresh air into his lungs.
It was not long before Cuffy became very tired from so much swimming. So he found a shallow place where he could stand on the bottom of the brook, with just enough water to cover him, and where he could poke his nose out whenever he had to. And just as often as his little black nose came up above the surface of the pool the bees lighted on it and stung Cuffy again.
All the rest of the afternoon poor Cuffy had to stay there in the water.
For the bees did not leave him until sundown. And then, when the last one had gone, Cuffy crawled out of the brook and started toward home.
His little round body and his st.u.r.dy little legs were not warm now, as they had been when he sat down beneath the tree to get cool. For the mountain brook was ice-cold; and Cuffy felt quite numb from standing in it so long. But cold as he was, his face felt like fire. And for some reason, which Cuffy couldn"t understand, he could hardly see to pick his way through the shadows of the forest.
XVIII
CUFFY FRIGHTENS HIS MOTHER
When Cuffy Bear reached home, after his adventure with the bees, he found that his father and mother and his sister Silkie were just sitting down to their evening meal. Cuffy didn"t speak to them as he came into the room where they were. He felt too miserable to say a word, with his face aching and burning, and a terrible smarting in his eyes. So he just stumbled inside the room and tried to make himself as small as he could, so he wouldn"t be noticed.
Cuffy"s parents and his little sister all looked at the little bear who had come into their house without even a knock. And his father said, in a cross voice--
"Go away, little bear. Where are your manners?"
Cuffy didn"t know what to make of that. He didn"t know what his father meant. So he just stood there and stared.
"What do you want?" his father asked him. "Whose little bear are you?
And whatever is the matter with your face?"
Actually, Cuffy"s own father didn"t know him. And neither did his mother or his sister. You see, Cuffy"s face was so swollen from the bees"
stings that his face did not look like a little bear"s face at all. His nose, instead of being smooth and pointed, was one great lump. And he hadn"t a sign of an eye--just two slits.
"What"s the matter with you?" Mr. Bear asked again. "Are you ill? Have you the black measles?"
At that, Mrs. Bear rose hastily from the table and s.n.a.t.c.hed Silkie up from her high-chair and took her right out of the room. The thought of black measles frightened Mrs. Bear. You know, they are ever so much worse than _plain_ measles. And she was afraid Silkie would catch them.
Well, poor Cuffy felt more miserable than ever. He saw that his own family didn"t know him. And he wondered what was going to become of him.
Then, when his father told him very sternly to leave his house at once, Cuffy began to cry.
"Oh! oh! oh!" he sobbed. "It"s me--it"s only me!" he cried. That very morning, at breakfast, his father had told him to say "It is I," instead of "It is _me_." But Cuffy forgot all about that, now.
"What! Are you my Cuffy?" his father exclaimed. For he knew Cuffy at last. You see, the bees hadn"t stung Cuffy"s _voice_. And in no time at all Cuffy was tucked into his little bed and his mother was gently licking his poor, aching face with her tongue. Among bears that is thought to be the very best thing to do for bee-stings.
After a while Cuffy stopped crying. And it was not long before he had fallen asleep.
But it was two days before Cuffy Bear felt really himself again. And then his father went off into the forest with him and Cuffy led the way to the bee-tree; for Mr. Bear knew enough about bees so that he could take their honey away from them without getting stung badly. He didn"t mind just a _few_ stings, you know.
Well--what do you think happened? When they came to the old tree Mr.
Bear took just one look at the nest into which Cuffy had thrust his paw. And then he began to laugh, though he was somewhat disappointed, as you will see.
"Those aren"t bees!" he told Cuffy. "That"s a hornets" nest!... We"d get no honey there."
XIX
THE LITTLE BEAR PETER
One day late in the summer Cuffy Bear went blackberrying. And on his way home he stopped at the deep pool where the hornets had chased him. He stayed there for a little while to watch the speckled trout as their bright sides flashed out of the depths of the clear water. As Cuffy stood on the big boulder and looked down, he could see himself quite plainly, reflected in the still surface of the water. He waved a paw.
And the little bear in the brook waved _his_ paw too. Of course Cuffy knew that it was himself he saw. But he pretended for a time that it was some other little bear who was playing with him. And he was having lots of fun.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Cuffy Received a Slap on His Nose]
You see, Mr. Bear"s family was the only bear family for miles and miles around. And Cuffy often wished he had other little boy-bears to play with. To be sure, he had his sister, Silkie. But she was a girl, and younger than he was, besides.