But the name of Strawberry Bank had caught the ears of Hannah and small
Sam, who rushed to the spot begging for the story of the first berries
picked there by these very men when they were boys.

Uncle Samuel pulled the two children to his knees, offering instead a
true bear story.

"Now, all this happened," he explained, "to my Cynthia and John, your
cousins, way down in Rhode Island. They had been to the edge of the
clearing and had gathered a basket of fine blackberries for their mother.

"'Just what I want for a pasty,' she told them, 'and so well picked that
I will make you a gingerbread man for dinner.'

"Their eyes shone like the berries, as their mother pulled the molasses
pitcher from the shelf. But there was not a drop in it.

"'Our very last,' she reported, as she looked into the keg in the corner.

"The shine went out of their eyes until Cynthia suggested that she and
John go to the neighbors and borrow some. Their mother hesitated, for the
children had never been there alone, but those little things looked so
disappointed that she let them go.

"Well, they got there all right, I suppose, and had the pitcher filled.
They started home, probably talking about their gingerbread dolls, when
little John called out eagerly, 'See the big dog, sister; he is coming
right to us!'

"Cynthia knew that the creature was a bear. The sight of him so startled
her that she jerked the pitcher and spilled a great spot of molasses on
the ground.

"The bear was very near by that time and ran for the molasses.

"'Run, Johnny, run!' Cynthia cried, pulling him on. She stopped a moment
later to pour out more molasses for the hungry bear, who was already
chasing after them.

"'Run, Johnny, run!' she cried again, anxious not to lose a moment for
those little short legs, and so the two kept on. When the last drop of
molasses was poured out, and Cynthia had dropped the pitcher for the
bear, little John stubbed his toe and fell just before the turn of the
path to the cabin.

"Now it happened," explained Uncle Samuel, "that a few minutes before
this accident word had reached me that two bears had been seen in the
woods that morning, and I had rushed home to say that the children must
not go out. Before I had finished speaking, their mother had grabbed the
gun from the wall and had dashed down the path.

"I tore ahead with my musket. We made the turn as the bear was bounding
away from the well-licked pitcher after the childre