The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Run-Amuck Robot

by Stan

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  1. “I Say, Young Chaps! I Say!”

  2. Trouble at the Bearsonian?

  3. Mysteriouser and Mysteriouser

  4. The Eye in the Window

  5. “Pssst!”

  6. To Spy or Not to Spy

  7. Gus’s Trail

  8. Into the Bowels of the Bearsonian

  9. The Body Beneath the Cloth

  10. “Come on Down!”

  11. “Professor! Professor! Come Quick!”

  12. Robow Mops Up

  13. “DUM-de-dum-dum!”

  14. Let’s Party!

  15. Overexposed

  16. An Idea Whose Time Has Come?

  About the Authors

  The Berenstain Bears and the Haunted Hayride

  Chapter 1: Job Hunt?

  Chapter 2: A Farmer’s Pride?

  Copyright

  Back Ad

  About the Publisher

  • Chapter 1 •

  “I Say, Young Chaps! I Say!”

  The Bear Scouts were headed for their secret chicken coop clubhouse at the far edge of Farmer Ben’s farm. They usually went across Ben’s cow pasture. But it was such a nice day they decided to take the long-cut around Squire Grizzly’s estate.

  The squire was the richest bear in Bear Country, and his estate looked the part. It was a beautiful place, with lovely gardens, handsome statues, and sparkling fountains. And, of course, there was the great mansion itself.

  As the scouts passed the long curving driveway, they heard someone calling.

  “I say, young chaps! I say!”

  The voice was familiar, but they couldn’t place it until they turned and saw Greeves, the squire’s butler. He was running down the driveway, waving and shouting. But Greeves wasn’t built for running. His big belly was covering at least as much distance bouncing up and down as its owner was moving forward.

  “I—I—say, young chaps! I—I—say!” called Greeves. He was almost out of breath.

  “Come on!” said Brother. “Let’s meet him halfway. Greeves isn’t built for that kind of work.”

  The scouts changed course and zipped up the driveway. When Greeves saw them coming, he stopped and sat on the curb.

  He was still trying to catch his breath when the scouts reached him.

  “Easy, Greeves, easy,” said Brother.

  “It’s okay,” said Sister. “Just wait till you catch your breath.” Scouts Lizzy and Fred nodded in agreement.

  “Er, what did you want to see us about, Greeves?” asked Brother.

  “Oh, it’s not I who wishes to see you, young sir,” said Greeves. “It’s Lady Grizzly who wishes to see you.”

  The scouts looked at each other. Then they looked back at Greeves, who had stood up and was looking almost like his dignified self again.

  “Lady Grizzly wants to see us?” said Brother.

  The scouts did quite a lot of face-making and shrugging as they followed Greeves up the driveway to the massive front doors of the mansion. What could Lady Grizzly possibly want with them?

  • Chapter 2 •

  Trouble at the Bearsonian?

  The Bear Scouts had been inside Grizzly Mansion before. They had come with Papa Q. Bear, Brother and Sister’s dad. Papa was just about the finest furniture- and cabinet-maker in Beartown. He did a lot of work for the squire—mostly on Lady Grizzly’s collection of priceless antiques. That’s how the scouts knew Greeves. They had come with Papa on pickups and deliv­eries. But they had never come in the front door before. Nor had they ever met Lady Grizzly face-to-face.

  The scouts followed Greeves into the entrance hall. While they gawked at the great chandelier and the portraits of Griz­zly ancestors, Greeves opened the double doors that led to the living room. Then he stood just inside them the way butlers do in the movies and said, “The Bear Scouts to see you, mum.” The scouts figured they were supposed to go in, so they did.

  Lady Grizzly greeted them warmly. “So good to see you,” she said. She shook hands with each scout. “Greeves,” she said. “Please send Millie in with the tea things.

  “Be seated, my dears,” continued Lady Grizzly, pointing to an antique table surrounded by five antique chairs. “Ah, yes. Here’s Millie with the tea things.”

  Millie set a large silver tray on the table. There were fancy china cups and saucers, a silver teapot, and a stack of dessert dishes on the tray. At its center was a dish of tea cakes. They were frosted with pink, white, and chocolate icing. Atop each cake was a nutmeat. There were almonds on the pink ones, walnuts on the white ones, and pecans on the chocolate ones. They looked delicious.

  “Oh, dear,” said Lady Grizzly as she began to pour. “It just occurred to me. You might prefer milk.”

  “That’s okay, ma’am,” said Brother. “We’re all allowed to drink tea on special occasions.”

  “Would you prefer lemon or sugar with your tea?” As the scouts said which, Lady Grizzly placed a wedge of lemon on a saucer or plunked a sugar cube into a cup.

  The scouts were out of their minds with curiosity about why Lady Grizzly wanted to see them.

  “Er, Lady Grizzly,” said Brother, “was there something special you wanted to see us about?”

  “Oh, yes. Something very special in­deed,” said Lady Grizzly. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s my understanding that you are friendly with Professor Actual Factual, director of the Bearsonian Insti­tution.”

  “That’s right,” said Brother.

  “And that you are quite fond of him.”

  “Quite fond,” said Brother.

  “And,” continued Lady Grizzly, “you would be willing to help him in any way you could?”

  “Oh, yes,” said Brother. “We’d do just about anything to help the professor.”

  “Good. Then it’s settled,” said Lady Grizzly. “You’re to report to the Bearsonian as junior docents tomorrow morning.”

  “Junior who-cents?” said Sister.

  “The Bearsonian opens at nine. I’ll pick you up in my limo at eight-thirty. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve things to attend to.”

  The scouts had all kinds of questions. But their mouths were so full of pink, white, and chocolate cake, they couldn’t ask them.

  “Greeves,” said Lady Grizzly. “Would you please see our friends out?”

  Before the scouts quite knew what was happening, that’s where they were: out.

  “Docent?” said Brother. “What the heck’s a docent?”

  “Docent,” said Fred, who read the dictionary just for fun, “pronounced DÔ-sent: A guide or lecturer at a museum or university.”

  “Does anybody have any idea what’s going on with Lady Grizzly?” asked Brother.

  “Knock-knock,” said Sister.

  “Who’s there?” said Lizzy.

  “Docent,” said Sister.

  “Docent who?” said Fred.

  “I docent think Lady Grizzly is telling us everything she knows,” said Sister.

  As the scouts left the Grizzly estate, they were convinced of two things. One, something mysterious was going on at the Bearsonian. And two, they’d better show up at Eagle Road the next morning and find out what the heck it was.

  • Chapter 3 •

  Mysteriouser and Mysteriouser

  The fact that the next day was born in a thick fog just added to the mystery. As the scouts waited at Eagle Road, questions rose with the fog. Was Professor Actual Factual in trouble? If so, what sort of trouble? If the professor wanted them to be junior docents, why didn’t he just ask them? True, the scouts hadn
’t been to see the professor in quite a while. The professor had done so much for them that they couldn’t help feeling a little guilty about that.

  They heard Lady Grizzly’s limo before they saw it. The huge eggplant-colored car appeared out of the fog like a purple ghost. It slowed to a stop. Fitch, the chauffeur, got out. He opened the door for the scouts.

  But wait! It wasn’t Fitch. It was Greeves wearing a chauffeur’s cap. Was it simply that Fitch had the day off? Or was there more to it than that? Mystery was piling onto mystery.

  Lady Grizzly gave the scouts a little smile. But that was all. She seemed lost in a fog of thought at least as thick as the one they were driving through.

  By the time they neared the Bearson­ian, the ground-hugging fog had begun to burn off. The museum’s great towers and turrets could be seen, but the rest of the enormous building was still shrouded in fog.

  As the limo pulled into the parking lot, they heard a loud banging sound. Peering through the fog, the scouts saw a strawhatted figure banging on the door of the Bearsonian with his cane. It was Ralph Ripoff. His bright green plaid suit shone through the fog.

  What was Bear Country’s leading crook and swindler doing banging on the door of the Bearsonian at opening time?

  “Good morning, Ralph,” said Brother. “What are you doing here?”

  “Well,” said Ralph. “If it isn’t my little chumps—or, chums—the Bear Scouts. Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m doing what you should be doing: protest­ing this outrage.”

  The scouts looked around for an out­rage. They didn’t see any.

  “What outrage is that, Ralph?” asked Brother.

  “This outrage,” said Ralph, pointing to the door.

  It was the kind of door with a window. Covering the glass on the inside was a sign. It said:

  • Chapter 4 •

  The Eye in the Window

  The scouts had to admit that Ralph had a point. The Bearsonian was a public mu­seum, and it was supposed to be open to the public—even to a crook like Ralph.

  “It doesn’t make any sense,” said Fred.

  “It doesn’t make any dollars or sense,” said Ralph. “This is a public institution supported by taxes....”

  Ralph stopped in midsentence. He hadn’t seen Lady Grizzly. But now the fog was lifting.

  “Why, Lady Grizzly,” said Ralph. “I have admired you, lo these many years. I can’t tell you what a rare pleasure this is.”

  Nobody ever said Ralph wasn’t a smoothie—especially with the ladies. The scouts watched as Ralph went into action. In one smooth motion, Ralph doffed his hat, placed it under his arm along with his cane, took Lady Grizzly’s hand, and kissed it. And while he was still bent over, he fished a jeweler’s glass out of his pocket, placed it in his eye, and looked closely at the huge ring on Lady Grizzly’s finger.

  “What a beautiful emerald, my lady. As rare a jewel as yourself.”

  Lady Grizzly blushed as Ralph straightened up and put his hat back on.

  “I’d say that emerald is about seven­teen carats,” said Ralph.

  “Seventeen and a half, actually,” said Lady Grizzly.

  “My dear lady, as much as I hate to leave your charming company, I must. But I would add that it’s a sad day when a citizen can’t enter the Bearsonian and do a little dinosaur research.”

  “Dinosaur research?” chorused the scouts.

  “Yes,” said Ralph. “I’m working on a new theory of how dinosaurs became extinct. Well, ta-ta!”

  Ralph tipped his hat, and off he went, twirling his cane.

  “You’re the one who ought to be extinct, Ralph!” shouted Sister.

  “Why are you being rude to that charming gentleman?” asked Lady Grizzly.

  “‘Charming gentleman’?” said Fred. “That’s Ralph Ripoff, the biggest crook in Bear Country.”

  “You mean,” said Lady Grizzly, “that Mr. Ripoff is not entirely honest?”

  “Lady Grizzly,” said Brother, “Ralph is as dishonest as the day is long on the longest day of the year.”

  “And you don’t believe he was here to do research on dinosaurs?” asked Lady Grizzly.

  “No,” said Lizzy. “But he was here to do research on something just as old: the Bearsonian’s gem collection. It’s worth zillions, and Ralph’s been after it for years.”

  “What a shame,” said Lady Grizzly. “Such a charming fellow. But, as you can see, the professor is behaving rather badly. He’s got no business closing down the Bearsonian like this. I mean, it’s Bear Country’s most important museum. Bears come from all over to visit it.”

  “Maybe the professor’s just off on one of his research projects,” said Fred.

  “Wild goose chases is what the squire calls them,” said Lady Grizzly.

  “As a matter of fact,” said Lizzy, who was into nature, “the professor has done some important research on wild geese.”

  “I know that, and I’m a big fan of the professor’s,” said Lady Grizzly. “It’s my husband, Squire Grizzly, who’s the prob­lem. He’s head of the museum’s board of directors, and he’s got some real problems with the way the professor’s running the museum.”

  “Look,” said Brother. “Maybe the professor’s got a good reason for closing down the museum. What we’ve got to do is ask him. Let’s find out if he’s here. We’ll drive around back and check the sciencemobile. If the sciencemobile’s here, then so is the professor.”

  As the Bear Scouts and Lady Grizzly headed for the waiting limo, a corner of the “Closed until further notice” sign was lifted and an eye peered out. It looked like the eye of Professor Actual Factual—except that it had a strange, wild look.

  • Chapter 5 •

  “Pssst!”

  The professor’s got to be inside the museum,” said Brother when they reached the rear of the building. “There’s the 28 sciencemobile in its regular spot.”

  “And there’s Saucer One in its hangar,” said Fred.

  The sciencemobile was a white van that the professor fitted out for fieldwork. It had digging tools for fossil hunting, diving gear for marine study, and a minilab for doing tests. It even had a telescope built into its roof to study the stars. Saucer One was a combination plane, blimp, and sub­marine. It was used to fight pollution.

  The Bear Scouts and Lady Grizzly stood in the hangar and looked up at the great craft.

  “You see,” said Brother, “the professor is not only a great scientist, he’s a great in­ventor.”

  “Yes,” said Lady Grizzly. “But why has he closed the museum until further no­tice?”

  That’s when a piercing “Pssst!” was heard.

  “Did you hear a loud ‘pssst!’?” said Sister.

  It was followed by an equally loud “Bear Scouts! Bear Scouts! Over here!”

  The scouts scanned the museum. There were lots of doors. But one of them was half open. Behind the door was a shadowy figure.

  It was the professor, of course. He hurried them into the museum, then led them down some steps to a small basement room that the scouts had never seen be­­fore. Nor had they ever seen the professor looking or acting so strangely. His eyes had a wild look. His tweed knicker suit, usually as neat as a pin, was badly smudged and wrinkled. And were those burn marks on his sleeves?

  But Lady Grizzly had come to read Actual Factual the riot act, and that’s what she did. “Professor,” she said. “The Bearsonian is a public institution. You have no business closing it down. I’ll be very frank. Squire Grizzly is very upset with you. You don’t return his phone calls. You don’t even answer his letters. If you don’t mend your ways, I’m very much afraid that the ‘Closed until further notice’ sign will be changed to read, ‘Under new manage­ment’.”

  The professor slumped under Lady Grizzly’s attack. He was about to answer when Grizzly Gus, his helper, appeared at the doorway.

  “It’s time to prepare for the tests, pro­fessor,” he said.

  “Not now,” said the
professor.

  “But, professor,” insisted Gus. “All is in readiness!”

  “Not now!” said the professor.

  Gus was gone. Down some steps from the sound of it.

  What sort of tests? wondered the scouts. And did they have anything to do with the strange goings-on at the Bear­sonian?

  “Alas, Lady Grizzly” said the professor. “What you say is true. I have neglected the museum. The reason is that I’m working on a project that is so important that I must not stop. I must press on. I owe it to myself. I owe it to science. I owe it to all bearkind!”

  “Professor,” said Brother, “are you working on some kind of secret invention? Is that why you’ve neglected your duties and closed the museum?”

  “Guilty as charged,” said the professor. “But this is the invention of a lifetime! An invention that will change the nature of life itself!”

  Lady Grizzly and the Bear Scouts put their heads together and had a little meeting right then and there.

  “… an invention that will change the course of history! …”

  “This invention,” said Lady Grizzly. “When will it be completed?”

  “One cannot say for sure,” said the professor. “But it shouldn’t be too much longer. Another test or two … and then, of course, I shall present it to the world. It will be my gift to bearkind.”

  “Well,” said Lady Grizzly, “the scouts and I have put our heads together and come up with a plan that should satisfy both you and the squire. Do you want to hear it?”

  “I’m all ears, madame,” said the profes­sor. “All ears, heart, and soul.”

  • Chapter 6 •

  To Spy or Not to Spy

  The professor may have been all ears, heart, and soul, but when he heard the plan he knew it wouldn’t work. The plan was for the Bear Scouts and Lady Grizzly to reopen the museum while he and Gus finished their secret invention.

  He thought the idea of the Bear Scouts serving as junior docents was fine. The Bear Scouts knew the Bearsonian very well—especially Fred, who not only read the dictionary just for fun but the encyclopedia as well. But there was no way the museum could be reopened right away, even with the help of the Bear Scouts.