BRUNO IN BELMONT 87 



Owing to his uncouth manner of feeding from 

 his wooden trough, it was quite a task to keep him 

 clean and presentable. Condensed milk is sticky, 

 and if not removed at once accumulates all kinds 

 of dirt. Though the cub was not opposed to a bath, 

 for some reason he did n't care particularly to have 

 me scrub the gluey remains of his meals from his 

 face. Perhaps it was because a good deal of force 

 had to be employed in order to complete his toilet. 

 My method was simple, though rough. Grasping 

 the youngster firmly by the back of his neck, I 

 went rapidly over his dirty countenance with a 

 big sponge. As Bruno grew larger, this act became 

 more difficult and carried with it an element of 

 danger. 



One day, when I was in a hurry with his clean- 

 ing and was perhaps a little rough in my treatment, 

 he bit my hand. I cuffed his ears quite soundly, 

 and gave him a piece of my mind. In spite of this 

 lesson, the next day he bit me again, without any 

 occasion for it, and added a few scratches with his 

 claws as if to show his authority. This time I chas- 

 tised him with a switch. Next morning I was pre- 

 pared for more trouble. I had ready at hand a 

 good-sized stick, for I had made up my mind that 

 the bear had to be taught that I was his master. 

 I wanted to get a picture of the proceedings, should 

 anything happen that might be of interest. 



