and climbed up into a thick evergreen
tree to rest. I suppose I went to sleep and some men who were out
hunting for a Christmas tree must have picked out mine and tied the
limbs together tight with cords and cut it down. Then I suppose they
must have carried me home and set the tree up in its place and untied
the cords, for the first I knew I was tumbling out on to a carpet in a
big room, and a lot of children were screaming and running in every
direction. I was bigger and some fatter than that cub we saw with the
Italian--poor little fellow.

"I'd like to talk to that villain about five minutes alone," continued
Horatio, grimly. "I'm sure I could interest him. I'd tell him about the
man that used to beat me, and I might give him an imitation of what
happened to him," and the big fellow rose and walked back and forth in
excitement.

"But go on with your story, Ratio; what happened to you after you fell
out of the Christmas tree?"

"Oh! the children tamed me and fed me till I got so big they were afraid
of me, and then I ate up some young pigs and a calf and went away."

"You ran away, you mean. What happened then?"

"Well, I went quite a distance and fell in with a circus. I learned to
dance there and stayed with them a while. But one day the young ibex
came in to see me and they couldn't find anything of him after that
except his horns, and seemed suspicious of me, so I went away again."

"Oh, Ratio!"

"Yes; I travelled and changed about a good deal till by and by I fell in
with the Italian who promised to teach me to play the violin, and he did
teach me some, as you know, but he wasn't kind to me, so I--I wore
mourning for him a while, and went away again. Then I met up with you,
and you taught me the second part of our tune, and we went into
partnership and I reformed, and we've been together ever since. We've
been in some pretty close places together, Bosephus, but I've always
managed to pull us through safely, and you have behaved very nobly, too,
at times, Bosephus--very nobly, indeed."

"Are you sure you have reformed, Horatio?"

Horatio swung the violin to his shoulder and drew the bow across the
strings. Then he sang softly:--

[Illustration: Music]

"Oh, there's some folks say a nigger won't steal,
But I caught one in my corn-fiel'.

[Illustration: Music]

And there's other folks say that a Bear will tame,
But I wouldn't trust him with my----"

he hesitated, and then, with a