Books Should Be Free Loyal Books Free Public Domain Audiobooks & eBook Downloads |
|
Johnny Bear And Other Stories from Lives of the Hunted By: Ernest Thompson Seton (1860-1946) |
---|
![]()
JOHNNY BEAR and other stories from Lives of the Hunted by Ernest Thompson Seton
[Illustration] CONTENTS: JOHNNY BEAR His Whole Appearance Suggested Dyspepsia
But Johnny Wanted to See
A Syrup tin Kept Him Happy for a Long Time
TITO: THE STORY OF THE COYOTE THAT LEARNED HOW Coyotito, the Captive
They Considered Themselves Acquainted
Their Evening Song
Tito and her Brood
Tito's Race for Life WHY THE CHICKADEE GOES CRAZY ONCE A YEAR
JOHNNY BEAR
I
Johnny was a queer little bear cub that lived with Grumpy, his mother,
in the Yellowstone Park. They were among the many Bears that found a
desirable home in the country about the Fountain Hotel. [Illustration] The steward of the Hotel had ordered the kitchen garbage to be dumped in
an open glade of the surrounding forest, thus providing throughout the
season, a daily feast for the Bears, and their numbers have increased
each year since the law of the land has made the Park a haven of
refuge where no wild thing may be harmed. They have accepted man's
peace offering, and many of them have become so well known to the Hotel
men that they have received names suggested by their looks or ways. Slim
Jim was a very long legged thin Blackbear; Snuffy was a Blackbear that
looked as though he had been singed; Fatty was a very fat, lazy Bear
that always lay down to eat; the Twins were two half grown, ragged
specimens that always came and went together. But Grumpy and Little
Johnny were the best known of them all. [Illustration] Grumpy was the biggest and fiercest of the Blackbears, and Johnny,
apparently her only son, was a peculiarly tiresome little cub, for he
seemed never to cease either grumbling or whining. This probably meant
that he was sick, for a healthy little Bear does not grumble all the
time, any more than a healthy child. And indeed Johnny looked sick;
he was the most miserable specimen in the Park. His whole appearance
suggested dyspepsia; and this I quite understood when I saw the awful
mixtures he would eat at that garbage heap. Anything at all that he
fancied he would try. And his mother allowed him to do as he pleased;
so, after all, it was chiefly her fault, for she should not have
permitted such things. Johnny had only three good legs, his coat was faded and mangy, his limbs
were thin, and his ears and paunch were disproportionately large. Yet
his mother thought the world of him. She was evidently convinced that
he was a little beauty and the Prince of all Bears, so, of course, she
quite spoiled him. She was always ready to get into trouble on his
account, and he was always delighted to lead her there. Although such
a wretched little failure, Johnny was far from being a fool, for he
usually knew just what he wanted and how to get it, if teasing his
mother could carry the point.
II
It was in the summer of 1897 that I made their acquaintance. I was in
the park to study the home life of the animals, and had been told that
in the woods, near the Fountain Hotel, I could see Bears at any time,
which, of course, I scarcely believed. But on stepping out of the back
door five minutes after arriving, I came face to face with a large
Blackbear and her two cubs. I stopped short, not a little startled. The Bears also stopped and sat
up to look at me. Then Mother Bear made a curious short Koff Koff , and
looked toward a near pine tree. The cubs seemed to know what she meant,
for they ran to this tree and scrambled up like two little monkeys, and
when safely aloft they sat like small boys, holding on with their hands,
while their little black legs dangled in the air, and waited to see what
was to happen down below. [Illustration] The Mother Bear, still on her hind legs, came slowly toward me, and I
began to feel very uncomfortable indeed, for she stood about six feet
high in her stockings and had apparently never heard of the magical
power of the human eye. I had not even a stick to defend myself with, and when she gave a low
growl, I was about to retreat to the Hotel, although previously assured
that the Bears have always kept their truce with man... Continue reading book >>
|
eBook Downloads | |
---|---|
ePUB eBook • iBooks for iPhone and iPad • Nook • Sony Reader |
Kindle eBook • Mobi file format for Kindle |
Read eBook • Load eBook in browser |
Text File eBook • Computers • Windows • Mac |
Review this book |
---|