and Brutus were the best of friends. The good dog was too noble
to be jealous.

XV

THE GREEN STRANGER

For five happy years John lived with the good Hermit, and became a
sturdy lad of fourteen before anything new happened of great moment to
the animal kingdom. In all this time he had seen no human creature
except the Hermit himself. Their hut was so far in the forest that no
travelers ever passed that way.

But John was never lonely, for he had the kindest of fathers in the
Hermit, and the happiest of comrades and playmates in the circle of
pets, ever increasing, who gathered about the abode of peace. Brutus
was still his dearest friend. But the wolf was almost as intimate. As
for Bruin, he was never a constant dweller with the colony, but came
and went at will. Sometimes he disappeared for weeks at a time, and
they knew that he was wandering through the forest which stretched for
miles in every direction, pathless and uninhabited. And sometimes they
wondered what adventures the big brother might be enjoying.

"If only he could tell me!" wished John. But this kind of gossip was
still impossible between them.

One day John was out in the forest, not far from the Hermit's hut,
cutting wood for the winter, which was near at hand. He was alone, for
a wonder. The wolf had come with him, but had now trotted away into
the forest on business of his own. The bear had disappeared some weeks
before, on one of his pilgrimages. Brutus was at that moment with the
Hermit in the hut; for the dog divided his attentions between the young
friend and the old.

John had lifted his axe to attack a certain tree when, with a scurry of
little feet, a frightened hare came bounding past him, ears laid back
and eyes bulging with fear. It was so strange to see a startled
creature in this peaceful wood, that John dropped his axe wonderingly.
Then he noted that the birds were chattering nervously overhead, and
his quick ear caught furtive rustlings in the underbrush all around
him. The forest was alive with fears. Presently the wolf came
bounding past, with wild eyes, evidently making for the hut. John
called, but the frightened creature did not pause.

Very soon John heard over his shoulder an unusual sound. He turned
quickly, and saw a sight which made his heart rise in his throat.

Across an open glade in the wood his friend the bear was lumbering on
all fours, wild-eyed, with lolling tongue and panting breath.