ootsteps, because the
travelling was so good. Suddenly round the end of a hollow tree, he
found himself face to face with a large black she-bear.

Now Dusty Star knew nothing about the babies in the tamarack swamp, nor
that this great furry blackness was their blessed heating apparatus gone
out for a walk. But he knew that a bear as a bear can be an extremely
dangerous animal if there is any reason for its being cross. Also he
knew that, of all the wild creatures, a bear is the most human, and is
prepared, at a moment's notice, to do all sorts of unexpected things.

Goshmeelee gazed at Dusty Star with disapproval out of her little
shining eyes. She had no desire to have people hanging about the borders
of the tamarack swamp, whether they had business there or not. They
might mean no harm to her babies, even if they found them, which was
very unlikely; but she wasn't going to take any risks. What sort of
creature this new animal was, she couldn't directly decide. Its going on
its hind legs was bear-like, but, except on the top of its head, it was
very deficient in fur.

Dusty Star remembered that Lone-Chief once presented to him a piece of
very old Indian wisdom: "Bear won't bother you, if you don't bother
bear." But in case you _did_ meet a bear that seemed determined to be
bothered, another piece ran: "If Bear is angry, make medicine with your
mouth."

Now although Dusty Star was sure he hadn't done anything to make
Goshmeelee angry, he was quick enough to see by the glint in her eyes
that she was uneasy in her mind. So, he thought it could do no harm if
he followed Lone-Chief's second piece of advice.

The "medicine" he made with his mouth was very curious. It consisted of
all sorts of Indian words the like of which Goshmeelee had never heard
in all her life before. The sound was very strange, yet she did not find
it altogether unpleasant. A creature that could make a noise like this
was certainly to be studied. So, in order to study more at her ease
Goshmeelee sat down in front of Dusty Star, with her big black paws
hanging in front of her, while she held her head first on one side and
then on the other, in a comical kind of way.

Translated into our own language, this is the "medicine" which Dusty
Star made:

"I am the Little Brother.
I am the Little Brother to all the Forest Folk.
But I am the Little Brother to Kiopo first of all.
The forest is very big, and has many ranges.
If it is b