BRUNO MUST DEPART 119 



never walked round it, but went through it or over 

 it. To him it made no difference whether a chair 

 had two, three, or four legs. 



Imagine then my consternation one afternoon 

 when I saw him bound into the front hall through 

 the door, which had inadvertently been left open. 

 I rushed after him, to save the furniture, or pick up 

 the pieces and clear away the wreck. At first he 

 could not be located. Everything was in order 

 nothing broken, and all quiet. Presently a glad 

 shout of relief from Comrade brought me to her 

 side. There, comfortably ensconced in a velvet- 

 seated chair, sat our friend Bruno. He had evi- 

 dently come for an afternoon call and was now 

 patiently waiting for tea to be served. For his gen- 

 tlemanly behavior on this occasion I rewarded him 

 with three figs and a small bunch of raisins ; then, 

 politely and cautiously, I showed him the door. 



Our cook was very fond of Bruno. The bear 

 always relished the food that she gave him, and 

 often accepted her invitation to come into the 

 kitchen. On one of his visits, when cook's atten- 

 tion was elsewhere, he slipped into the pantry. 

 Not since the days of his childhood, when he rev- 

 eled in the sugar-barrel, had he sniffed such 

 delicious odors. A big brown jug of molasses was 

 conveniently at hand. He slid it out from under 

 the shelf, lapped up the sweet brown sugar that 



