CHAPTER XXVII

A DREADFUL NIGHT FOR A LITTLE BEAR

A lot of people, great and small,

Are like a frightened little Bear—

Where danger there is none at all

They somehow get a dreadful scare.

Mother Bear.

More and more Black Shadows crept through the Green Forest and all around Boxer¹, the lone², lost little Bear, as he sat crying and wishing with all his might that he never, never had thought of running away. He wanted to be back in the great windfall which had been his home. He wanted Mother Bear. “Boo, hoo,[160] hoo,” sobbed³ the little Bear, “I would just as soon have a spanking⁴. I wouldn’t mind it at all if only I had my Mother. Boo, hoo, hoo.”

Now there are many keen ears in the Green Forest after dark, and no one can cry there and not be heard. Hooty the Owl⁵ was the first to hear those sobs⁶, and on wings that made no sound at all he flew to see what was the matter. Perched on top of a tall stump⁷ just back of Boxer, it didn’t take Hooty long to understand that this little Bear was lost.

“He needs a lesson,” thought Hooty. “He needs a lesson. He must have run away from home. There is nothing around here[161] for him to fear, but it will be a good thing for him to think here is. Here goes to give him a scare he won’t forget in a hurry.”

Hooty drew a long breath and then hooted⁸ as only he can. It was so sudden, so loud and so fierce, that it was enough to frighten even one accustomed to it. Boxer, who never had heard that call close at hand before, was so frightened he lost his balance and fell over on his back, his legs waving helplessly. But he didn’t stay on his back. I should say not! In a twinkling he was on his feet and running pell-mell.

Again rang out Hooty’s terrible[162] hunting call, and Boxer was sure that it was right at his heels. As a matter of fact, Hooty had not moved from the tall stump. Headlong Boxer raced through the woods. And because it was quite dark and because he was trying to look behind him, instead of watching where he was going, he pitched heels over head down the bank of the Laughing Brook¹⁰, splash into a little pool where Billy Mink¹¹ was fishing. The tumble and the wetting frightened the little Bear more than ever, and Billy Mink’s angry snarl¹² didn’t make him feel any better. Without so much as a glance at Billy Mink, he scrambled¹³ to his feet and up the[163] bank, sure that a new and terrible enemy was at his heels.

More heedlessly than ever he raced through the Green Forest and just by chance entered the thicket¹⁴ where Mrs. Lightfoot the Deer had a certain wonderful secret. Mrs. Lightfoot jumped, making a crash of brush.

“Oh-oo,” moaned Boxer, dodging¹⁵ to one side and continuing headlong. When he could run no more, he crept under a pile of brush and there he spent the rest of the night, the most dreadful night he ever had known or was likely ever to know again. Old Man Coyote happened along and yelled as only he can, and unless you know what it is, that[164] sound is quite dreadful. Boxer never had heard it close at hand before, and he didn’t recognize it. He was sure that only a great and terrible creature could make such a dreadful noise, and he shook with fear for an hour after.

So all night long the little Bear heard strange sounds and imagined dreadful things and couldn’t get a wink⁹ of sleep. And all the time not once was any real danger near him. There wasn’t a single thing to be afraid of.