CHAPTER V 

 BRUNO IN BELMONT 



BRUNO'S journey in a big box in the baggage-car 

 was uneventful, and in due course he arrived 

 safely at our suburban home in Belmont, a few 

 miles outside Boston. Here the bear found every- 

 thing to his liking. At night, and when not in 

 company with some member of the family, he 

 stayed in his quarters in a box-stall in the cow- 

 barn; but generally, throughout the daytime, he 

 roamed wherever he wished about the grounds. 

 Our country place comprises several acres and, to- 

 gether with the adjoining homes of my brothers 

 and nieces, provided Bruno with a considerable 

 amount of territory in which to exercise and play. 



There were trees to climb, a brook to wade in, 

 and a small pond where lived a colony of frogs. 

 But best of all for the bear, when he grew older, 

 were the gardens with vegetables, fruit, straw- 

 berries, cherries, raspberries, and currants, all for 

 his choosing. It was some time, however, before 

 he gave up his diet of condensed milk with bread 

 and water. He still insisted on feeding from the 

 wooden trough of his childhood, and he still had 

 the habit of plunging his nose up to his eyes in the 

 sticky milk 



