06

How Ethan Found a Pet

While Ethan was in the mountains, he learned about the wild animals living there. This story will tell you how he found a wonderful pet.

Ethan's brother was Captain of the rangerswho took care of a large forest in the White Mountains.A great many wild animals lived in the forest, and it was part of the rangers' work to see that no one hurt them.

Ethan was very proud of his big brother. “A captain,” he thought, “can do anything that a brave, strong man can do.” So he was a very happy boy when his mother and father let him go one winter to visit his brother.

The Captain lived in a small log house. Every morning he and Ethan went to a big rock from which they could see far across the forest.

One morning as they stood on the rock, Ethan saw two men crossing an open place in the forest below them. The Captain saw them, too, and Ethan knew from the look on his brother's face that something was wrong.

“They are carrying guns,” the Captain told him.“They will kill some animal if I don't stop them. I must hurry.” And he started down the mountain-side.

Ethan watched his brother until the trees hid him. Then the boy waited. How quiet everything seemed! But suddenly he heard first one shot and then another.

“Those men have shot some poor animal,”thought Ethan.“Oh, I hope it isn't one of the deer that come to the house every day to be fed.”

The boy wanted very much to find out what had happened, and he ran as fast as he could go after his brother.

The path on which Ethan ran went past a cave that was called Bears' Cave. Ethan had often looked at this cave, because the Captain had told him that a bear was asleep in it for the winter.

All at once the boy heard his brother's voice. A minute later he was beside the Captain, who was talking to two hunters. At their feet lay a large, brown bear that they had killed.

The Captain took the hunters' guns away from them. Then he said to Ethan, “I will have to take these men out of the forest.” And he marched them before him down the path.

While Ethan was looking sadly at the big bear, he heard a cry from the cave,“Wa-a-ah!”It sounded al most like a real baby.“Why, it must be a baby bear,”said the boy.“The big bear that the hunters killed must have been its mother, and now the poor cub is left all alone.”

Ethan wished very much that he could see the little fellow, but the cave was too dark.

The cub cried again. Then Ethan got down on his hands and knees and crawled into the cave.

Feeling around in the dark with one hand, he found a ball of warm fur. It squealed, but Ethan picked it up. Then he crawled out of the cave, and looked at what he had found.

It was the smallest bear he had ever seen, no bigger than a fat house cat. Its little pink mouth had no teeth, and the bottoms of its tiny hind feet looked like a baby's hands. It cried and cried.

Ethan put the baby bear under his coat and ran toward the house. Still the little fellow cried.“There, there!” said the boy as he patted it gently.“What are you crying for? Are you hungry?”

As soon as Ethan reached the house, he put the cub down on the floor and opened a can of milk. He warmed the milk, put it into a dish, and held it out to the cub, who was trying to hide in a dark corner.

“Snook! —Snook!”went the cub as he sniffed at the milk. But he did not drink it.

“Here! It's good!”said Ethan. Then he put his finger into the milk and held it near the cub's nose. The hungry little fellow licked and licked the boy's finger.

“What a baby you are!”laughed the boy. Then suddenly he thought of something. On his brother's table he found an ink dropper that the Captain had brought with him to fill his pen. Ethan took the rubber cap off and made a tiny hole in it. Then he found a small bottle in the cupboard and filled it with milk. Last of all, he put the rubber cap on the little bottle of milk.

“Here is your bottle, Snooks,” said the boy, putting the rubber into the bears pink mouth.

The cub held the bottle in his paws, shut his eyes, and drank. How happy Ethan was to see the bear's tiny sides filling out. When the bottle was empty, the little fellow rolled over and went to sleep. Gently Ethan took him in his arms, put him in a chair, and covered him up.

“Well, well,” said the Captain when he came home in the afternoon. “What have we here?” He touched his finger to the little bear's black nose. At once the cub put a paw around his nose, rolled over, and began to cry. Ethan hurried to give him another bottle of milk.

“That is Snooks,” the boy said to his brother.

Then Ethan told how he had found the cub.

“Poor little fellow,” said the Captain. “Where is he going to sleep?”

Ethan found an apple box and made a soft bed in it for Snooks. When the cub had been fed for the last time that night, and put into his warm box, Ethan crawled into his own cot.

The little boy was almost asleep when a cry, that grew louder and louder, came from the apple box.

“That cub can't be hungry again,” said Ethan in surprise.

“Maybe he is lonesome,”answered the Captain.

Ethan sat up. “Well, give him to me then,” he said. His brother put the little ball of fur under the covers. For a few minutes the cub rolled about and sniffed happily. Then, with just his little black nose sticking out, he went to sleep.

“My!” thought Ethan, “I'm glad that I was not afraid to go into that cave. There aren't many boys who can have a little cub like Snooks for a pet.”

1. Tell what work rangers do.

2. How do you know that Ethan's brother was a good ranger ?

3. Why did Ethan follow his brother down the mountain-side ?

4. Why had Ethan often looked at Bears' Cave?

5. Ethan was a very brave boy. Find the lines which tell that he was brave.

6. Read each name on the left and then find the words on the right that tell about it