The Tale of Cuffy Bear

by Arthur Scott Bailey

  Sleepy-Time Tales

  THE TALE OF CUFFY BEAR

  by

  ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

  Illustrated by Harry L. Smith

  New YorkGrosset & DunlapPublishers

  1915

  Cuffy Gave It One Good, Hard Cuff]

  +-------------------------------+ | | | _SLEEPY-TIME TALES_ | | by | | ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY | | ---- | | THE TALE OF CUFFY BEAR | | THE TALE OF FRISKY SQUIRREL | | THE TALE OF TOMMY FOX | | THE TALE OF FATTY COON | | THE TALE OF BILLY WOODCHUCK | | THE TALE OF JIMMY RABBIT | | THE TALE OF PETER MINK | | THE TALE OF SANDY CHIPMUNK | | THE TALE OF BROWNIE BEAVER | | THE TALE OF PADDY MUSKRAT | | | +-------------------------------+

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER

  I CUFFY WAKES UP

  II CUFFY BEAR FINDS A PORCUPINE

  III CUFFY AND THE WONDERFUL SPRING

  IV CUFFY LEARNS SOMETHING

  V CUFFY AND THE MAPLE-SUGAR

  VI CUFFY MEETS A MAN

  VII THE ICE GOES OUT OF THE RIVER

  VIII CUFFY LEARNS TO SWIM

  IX A SURPRISE

  X CUFFY CLIMBS BLUE MOUNTAIN

  XI MRS. EAGLE IS ANGRY

  XII CUFFY BEAR GOES TO MARKET

  XIII HAYING-TIME

  XIV CUFFY LIKES BAKED BEANS

  XV HUNTING FOR A BEE-TREE

  XVI THE BEES STING CUFFY

  XVII CUFFY BEAR GOES SWIMMING

  XVIII CUFFY FRIGHTENS HIS MOTHER

  XIX THE LITTLE BEAR PETER

  XX LEARNING TO BOX

  XXI THE FOREST FIRE

  XXII THE RAIN COMES

  XXIII CUFFY BEAR GROWS SLEEPY

  I

  CUFFY WAKES UP

  Far up on the side of Blue Mountain lived Cuffy Bear with his father andmother and his little sister Silkie. Mr. Bear's house was quite thefinest for many miles around. It was what people call a cave, being madeentirely of stone, and so there was no danger of its ever catching fire;and since it was built straight into the side of the mountain the roofwas so very, very thick that Cuffy's father never had to worry for feara tree would fall upon his house and hurt his family. No matter how hardthe wind blew, Mr. Bear was never afraid of that.

  Little Cuffy was not a bad bear at heart. But often when he was playingwith Silkie, his sister, he would lose his temper and cuff her on thehead and make her cry. Then his father or his mother would cuff _him_.Somehow, he never could learn not to strike out when he became angry.That was why he was called Cuffy. It happened sometimes that a day ortwo would pass without Cuffy's cuffing his sister. And Mr. Bear and Mrs.Bear would begin to think that at last Cuffy had been cured of his badhabit.

  "I do believe the child is growing better mannered," Mrs. Bear would sayto her husband, as they watched their son and daughter playing upon thefloor. And then just as likely as not, the first thing they knew Cuffywould give Silkie a good, hard box on the ear, or a slap right on theend of her nose.

  But for a long time every winter Cuffy was never naughty. You mightthink that that was just before Christmas. But no--it was not then. Allwinter long Cuffy was just as good as any little bear could be. He wasgood because he was asleep! You see--when cold weather came, Mr. andMrs. Bear and their children stayed in their cozy house, which was snugand warm, and slept and slept and slept for weeks and weeks until springcame.

  Now, this tale begins on the very first day of spring. And on that dayMr. Bear waked up. He rose slowly to his feet, for his bones felt stiffbecause he had been asleep for such a long time. And he was hungry--oh!very hungry, because he had not eaten anything for months and months,since he went to sleep at the beginning of winter.

  He went to the door of his house and looked out. And he saw that theweather was warm and fine. So he stepped back into the bedroom andsaid--

  _"Ou-e-e-ee!"_ Just like that. And then Mrs. Bear awaked. "Spring hascome," Mr. Bear told her, "and I am going out to fetch something to eat.Wake up Cuffy and Silkie and tell them that it is time to get up."

  Gently Mrs. Bear roused Cuffy and Silkie.

  "Come, children! Run out and play and get your lungs full of nice, freshair. Now, be good and don't go far away!" she said.

  II

  CUFFY BEAR FINDS A PORCUPINE

  For a few minutes Cuffy stood in the doorway and blinked and blinked. Herubbed his eyes, for the bright sunlight hurt them. But soon he andSilkie were frisking and tumbling about in the front-yard.

  After a little while Cuffy remembered that there was an old tree over inthe pine woods--just the finest tree to climb that anybody could want.

  "Let's go over to the old tree and play," Cuffy said.

  "But Mother told us not to go far away," Silkie reminded him.

  "Oh! I don't care," Cuffy said. "Besides, we'll be back before sheknows it."

  But Silkie would not go with him. So naughty Cuffy started off alone forthe pine woods. He found the old tree. It seemed smaller than heexpected. The reason for that was because Cuffy himself had grown tallduring the months that he had spent in sleep.

  He climbed the tree to the very top and as he looked down over the snowhe saw something moving a little way off. Whatever it was, it was muchsmaller than Cuffy himself, so he was not afraid. And he scrambled downto the ground and ran as fast as he could go to the place where he sawthe small thing moving. Cuffy wanted to see what it was. He was alwayslike that.

  Cuffy found a little animal covered with stiff, sharp quills and he knewthat it was a porcupine. And all at once Cuffy felt very hungry. Heremembered that his father had sometimes brought home porcupine meatand--yes, Cuffy actually smacked his lips! His mother was always tellinghim not to smack his lips, but Cuffy forgot all about it now.

  As Cuffy came running up Mr. Porcupine rolled himself into a round balland lay perfectly still. Now, Cuffy remembered that his father had oftentold him never to touch a porcupine, because if he should he would gethis paws stuck full of quills. But now Cuffy decided that he would showhis father that he too was clever enough to kill a porcupine. So hestepped close to the little round, prickly ball and gave it one good,hard cuff.

  The next instant Cuffy gave a howl of pain. He was so angry that hestruck the porcupine once more with his other front-paw.

  Again Cuffy howled! Now both his front-paws were full of quills. Theylooked just like pincushions. And as Cuffy saw what had happened hebegan to cry. He wanted his mother.

  So home he started. All the way he had to walk on his hind legs, becauseit hurt him terribly whenever he put one of his front-paws on theground.

  Cuffy wept very hard when Mrs. Bear pulled out the quills. And his pawswere so sore that he could not feed himself. His mother had to put intohis mouth bits of the frozen turnips that his father found in FarmerGreen's field. And though afterward Cuffy did many things that he oughtnot to have done, he never, never touched a porcupine again.

  III

  CUFFY AND THE WONDERFUL SPRING

  The pricks of the porcupine's quills made Cuffy Bear's paws so sore thatit was several days before he could run about again. And during all thattime Cuffy was a very good little bear. He did not cuff his sisterSilkie once. You see, he knew it would hurt his sore paws if he did.

  The days were still fine. Cuffy loved to feel the bright sunshine uponhis black coat. It warmed him through and through and he did not care atall if his feet _did_ get wet in the melting snow.

  At last one afternoon when his paws were quite well again Cuffy str
ayedsome distance down the side of Blue Mountain, He was alone, becauseSilkie was asleep. You know, she was younger than Cuffy and still had totake naps. Cuffy had slid and tumbled down the mountainside until he wasfurther from home than he knew. It did seem good to be able to put hispaws upon the ground again without whimpering with pain. And coming to ashort, steep place, Cuffy felt so glad that he actually turned asomersault and landed in a heap at the foot of the bank. He sat therefor a moment, brushing the soft snow out of his face, when a flash oflight dazzled his eyes. It came from a tree right in front of him. AndCuffy at once jumped up and ran to see what it was. He found that someone had fastened a shiny, new tin bucket to the trunk of the tree.

  Cuffy felt that he _must_ have that bucket to play with. He knew that hecould have heaps of fun rolling it about on the ground. And he was justgoing to knock it off the hook that held it when he noticed that a smallspout had been driven into the tree just above the bucket. And as Cuffystood there on his hind legs, reaching up as high as he could, he saw atiny drop fall from the spout and go splash! into the bucket. Then, ashe watched, another drop fell; and another and another and another.Cuffy wondered where they came from. It must be--he thought--that therewas a spring inside that tree. Yes! he was sure of it, for the bucketwas half full of water. He felt thirsty, for he had not had a drinksince lunch-time. And so Cuffy stuck his head into the pail and took agood, big swallow.

  The next instant he squealed with joy. It was the nicest water he hadever tasted in all his life, for it was quite sweet--just as ifsomebody had left a heap of honey in the bottom of the bucket. But whenCuffy licked the end of the spout with his little red tongue he foundthat that tasted sweet too. Yes! it certainly was a wonderful spring.Cuffy was very glad that he had found it. And he decided that he woulddrink all he could of the delicious, sweet water and leave the pailhanging there. Then he could come back the next day and there would bemore of that wonderful water all ready and waiting for him to drink up.

  IV

  CUFFY LEARNS SOMETHING

  After leaving the wonderful spring Cuffy Bear was so long getting homethat he decided he would not say anything to his father and mother aboutwhat he had found. You see--he was afraid they would tell him not to goso far away from home again. But Cuffy had not been long in the snuglittle house before he had a terrible stomach-ache. He stood the pain aslong as he could without saying anything. But he simply _had_ to hangonto his little fat stomach with both his front paws. And at last hebegan to cry softly. Then Mrs. Bear asked him what he had been doing;and before Cuffy knew it he had told all about finding the delicious,sweet water.

  "How much did you drink?" asked his mother.

  "Oh--only a little," Cuffy answered faintly.

  Then Mrs. Bear nodded her head three times. She was very wise--was Mrs.Bear. And she knew quite well that Cuffy had drunk a great deal too muchof that nice-tasting water. So she made Cuffy lie down and gave him somepeppermint leaves to chew. In a little while he began to feel so muchbetter that before he knew it he had fallen asleep.

  When Cuffy waked up he found that his father had come home. And soon Mr.Bear had Cuffy on one knee, and Silkie on the other, and he was tellingthem all about maple-sugar. For of course you knew all the time thatwhat Cuffy had found was not a spring at all--but a sugar-maple tree,which Farmer Green had tapped so that he might gather the sap and boilit until it turned to maple-sugar. If Cuffy had gone further down themountainside he would have found a great many other trees, each--likethe one he discovered--with a tin bucket hanging on it to catch thesweet sap.

  "So you see there are many things for little bears to learn," Mr. Bearsaid, when he had finished. "And the one _big_ lesson you must learn isto keep away from men. Farmer Green visits those trees every day togather the sap. So you must not go down there again."

  A cold shiver went up and down Cuffy's back at these words. FarmerGreen! Cuffy had heard a great deal about Farmer Green and he certainlydid not want to meet him all alone and far from home. But as soon as thetickle of that shiver stopped, Cuffy forgot all about his fright.

  "This maple-sugar--does it taste as good as the sweet sap?" he asked hisfather.

  "Yes, my son--a hundred times better!" Mr. Bear replied. "I ate someonce And I shall never forget it."

  _A hundred times better!_ After he had gone to bed that night the wordskept ringing in Cuffy's ears. _A hundred times better! A hundred timesbetter!... A hundred_--And now Cuffy was fast asleep and--I am sorry tosay it--sucking one of his paws for all the world as if it was a pieceof Farmer Green's maple-sugar.

  V

  CUFFY AND THE MAPLE-SUGAR

  Another day had come and all the morning long Cuffy Bear and his sisterSilkie played and played as hard as they could. They played that theywere making maple-sugar. And they pretended to hang buckets on all thetrees near Mr. Bear's house. There were no maple trees about Cuffy'shome--only pine and hemlock and spruce--but if you are just _pretending_to make maple-sugar any sort of tree will do.

  While they were playing Cuffy kept wishing for some _real_ maple-sugar.After all, the little cakes of snow that he and Silkie made and _called_maple-sugar seemed very tasteless, no matter how much Cuffy pretended.And later, when Silkie was taking her nap, and Cuffy had no one to playwith, he became so angry with the make-believe sugar that he struck thelittle pats of snow as hard as he could and spoiled them. And then,after one look toward the door of his father's house--to make sure thathis mother did not see him--Cuffy started on a trot down themountainside.

  What do you suppose he was going to do?

  To tell the truth, Cuffy himself did not quite know. When he came to thetree that he had found the day before he stopped and drank some of thesap once more; and he tried to imagine how sugar would taste _a hundredtimes sweeter_. Then Cuffy went on down the mountainside.

  At last he spied a little house in a clearing. From its chimney astream of smoke rose, and as Cuffy peeped from behind a tree he saw aman come out and pick up an armful of wood from the woodpile nearby.While Cuffy watched, the man carried in several loads. Soon the smokebegan fairly to pour out of the chimney; and then the man came out oncemore, picked up an axe near the woodpile, and started off toward theother side of the clearing.

  Cuffy was trembling with excitement. The wind blew right in his face andbrought to him two odors that were quite different. One was theman-scent, which Cuffy did not like at all, and which made his legs wantto run away. The other smell was most delightfully sweet. And it madehis nose want to go forward.

  Which do you think won--Cuffy's nose or his legs?... Yes! His nose won!Pretty soon Cuffy slipped from behind the tree and scampered as fast ashe could run to the door of the sugar-house--for that was what he hadfound. He stuck his head inside and oh, joy! there was no one there.

  Just inside the door stood a tub full of something brown. One sniff toldCuffy that it was maple-sugar and he began to gulp great mouthfuls ofit. Yes! his father was right. It certainly was a hundred times sweeterthan the sap.

  In the middle of the room was a big pan which gave off clouds of steam.Cuffy wanted to see it. And with his mouth full of sugar he walked up tothe pan and looked into it. He saw a golden liquid, and Cuffy felt thathe simply _must_ taste that too. So he dipped both his front paws rightinto the bubbling syrup.

  VI

  CUFFY MEETS A MAN

  And then how Cuffy Bear did roar--just one second after he had stuck hispaws into the steaming pan. You see--he was so greedy that he had neveronce stopped to think that the syrup was boiling hot.

  Now, usually if you pick up anything hot you can drop it at once. But itis not so with hot maple syrup. Cuffy's paws were covered with thesticky brown stuff. He rubbed them upon his trousers, and he roaredagain when he saw what he had done.

  Then Cuffy had a happy thought. He would go out and shove his paws intoa snowbank. That would surely cool them. So out of the sugar-house hedashed and across the clearing he ran, screaming _"Ough! ough! ough!"_at the top of his voice, for the
hot syrup made his paws smart terribly.In his haste Cuffy did not notice that he was headed in the direction inwhich the man had disappeared.

  Now it happened that the man who tended the sugar-house fire had goneonly to the edge of the clearing; and when he heard Cuffy's shrieks helooked around in great surprise. He and Cuffy saw each other at the sametime. And like a flash Cuffy turned and fairly flew the other way.

  The man ran after him for a few steps. But he soon saw that he couldnever catch Cuffy. So he stood still and watched the little bear bobinto the woods and vanish.

  Poor Cuffy's heart was beating as if it would burst. He was sofrightened that he forgot all about his burned paws and he ran and ranand ran up the steep mountainside. He did not mind the climb; he wasused to that. But to his great alarm the snow clung to his sticky pawsuntil each was just a great, round lump. They looked like the hands of asnow-man.

  Cuffy found it very hard to run with his paws like that. But he kept onand on, until at last he came in sight of his father's house. Then hestopped and sat down, right behind a knoll, where his mother could notsee him. He was very tired. And though he was no longer afraid that theman would catch him, he began to be afraid of something else.... Apunishing? No--no! He had not thought of that. Cuffy was afraid that hecould never get rid of those big heavy lumps. He was afraid his pawswould always be covered with those hard balls of snow. You mustremember that he was a very _young_ little bear.

  Well! After he had got his breath again Cuffy began to nibble at hissnow mittens. And little by little--to his delight--he removed them. Andstill he kept on nibbling at his paws, and--yes! he actually put themright inside his mouth and sucked them. He forgot all about his_manners_, for underneath the snow he found the most beautiful, waxymaple-sugar you can imagine. Each paw was just one big lollypop! Andthough his burns still hurt him, Cuffy did not care very much. For thoselollypops were _two hundred times_ sweeter than anything he had evertasted in all his life!