The Story of Ben 47 



and not calculated to make me popular in my new 

 home ; but, knowing that whatever had happened Ben 

 had not taken the offensive without ample cause, I un- 

 chained him and put him into the cellar of my house, 

 well out of harm's way, before looking further into the 

 matter. Then I went over to the temporary morgue 

 and found the corpse (needless to say it was one of the 

 Urlin boys) sitting up on the kitchen floor holding a 

 sort of an impromptu reception and, with the excep- 

 tion of Ben, the least excited of any one concerned. I 

 could not help admiring the youngster's pluck, for he 

 was an awful sight. From his feet to his knees his legs 

 were lacerated and his clothing torn into shreds; and 

 the top of his head — redder by far than ever nature 

 had intended — was a bloody horror. As soon as I 

 laid eyes on him I guessed what had happened. 



It developed that the two Urlin boys had broken 

 open the door of the shed and gone in to wrestle with 

 the bear. Ben was willing, as he always was, and a 

 lively match was soon on; whereupon, seeing that the 

 bear did not harm the two already in the room, another 

 of the boys joined the scuffle. Then one of them got 

 on the bear's back. This was a new one on Ben, but 

 he took kindly to the idea and was soon galloping 

 around the little room with his rider. Then another 

 boy climbed on and Ben carried the two of them at the 

 same mad pace. Then the third boy got aboard and 

 round they all went, much to the delight of themselves 



