elated pedestrians a lively
sprint only the night before his Waterloo. Being emboldened by the
seeming servility of the neighborhood, bruin finally went to a
farmhouse and, forcing the kitchen door, marched boldly into the
well-ordered room to see what they were going to have for dinner.
While waiting for this meal, he amused himself by tumbling the pots and
pans about. This enraged the thrifty housewife, who seized a
double-barreled shotgun standing in the corner and discharged both
barrels simultaneously at the intruder. When the smoke cleared away,
it was discovered that she had bagged a bear weighing three hundred
pounds.

The dancing bear of song and story, as well as of real life, has long
been the delight of children, but he is not now seen as frequently as
of yore. Bears in the circus to-day play a minor part in the
performance.

This short introductory chapter is the pedigree and characteristics in
brief, of Ursus, the bear, whose varieties, like those of Reynard, the
fox, are legion.

I have tried to give the reader some idea of the bear in general, but
these facts about bruin must be varied as the climate varies between
the arctic regions and the tropics. If a meat diet makes man cross and
brutal, and a fruit and vegetable diet makes him amiable and indolent,
they affect bruin in the same manner.

But wherever you find a bear, be he a grizzly, black, or polar, basking
in the tropical sun, or freezing upon the ice-floe, he will still be
the same droll old chap, shuffling and shambling, sniffing and
inquiring with his keen nose. If he be the smaller black or brown
bear, he will often be found in the company of man, conducting himself
with dignity, and generally showing much good behavior for a wild beast.

Black Bruin

CHAPTER I

A THIEF IN THE NIGHT

Outside, the fitful early April wind howled dismally, swaying the
leafless branches of the old elm, and causing them to rub complainingly
against the gable end of the farmhouse. Two or three inches of fine
snow had fallen the day before and the wind tossed it about gleefully,
festooning the window-sashes and piling it high upon window-sills. It
was one of old winter's last kicks and made it seem even more wintry
than it really was.

Although the wind moaned and the snow danced fitfully, within a certain
quaint farmhouse in Northern New York was warmth and comfort, all the
more apparent by the touch of winter outside.

A cheerful fire