The Story of Ben 43 



go into hiding for an hour to get her nerves quieted 

 down. But his final banishment from the house had 

 estabhshed a forced truce between them. He was 

 not allowed in her territory, and she took care not to 

 trespass on his. One day, however, when Ben was 

 nearly two years old, he was, for some reason or other, 

 allowed to come into the kitchen for a few moments. 

 And as he entered the room he spied the cat. In- 

 stantly his forgotten dreams returned; and when 

 pussy, her tail fluffed up to four times its rightful size, 

 took refuge in the kitchen pantry, Ben very deliberately 

 crossed the kitchen and blocked the pantry door. For 

 a few seconds the two glared at each other and then, 

 with a spit and a yowl, the cat made a mad dash around 

 the pantry shelves and, amid the din of falling stew 

 pans, vaulted clear over the bear's head and crouched 

 by the wood box behind the stove. Now Ben, when a 

 small cub, had been used to going under that stove, 

 and he saw no reason for not taking the same old 

 route. His head went under all right, but for an 

 instant the massive shoulders stuck. Then the power- 

 ful hind feet were gathered under him, there was a 

 ripping of linoleum as the sharp nails tore through 

 it, the hind legs straightened out, and the stove 

 went over with a mighty crash. A dozen feet of 

 stove pipe came tumbling down, the room was filled 

 with smoke, and from underneath the wreck a fright- 

 ened cat leaped through the door closely followed by 



