CHAP. ii. BRUIN THE BEAR. 33 



flutist's tall hat over his eyes. If any act of retribution 

 is justifiable this was. To practise the flute anywhere 

 within earshot is annoying ; to do so in a tall hat would 

 be simply exasperating. 



It would be easy to fill a small volume with anecdotes 

 of captive bears. They would show that Bruin is not so 

 stupid as he is sometimes painted, even if they did not 

 altogether justify the Swedish saying that the bear unites 

 the wit of one man with the strength of ten. Frank 

 Buckland's bear, Tiglath Pileser, was cute enough to know 

 where to find the sweetstuff, of which he, in common with 

 his race, was so inordinately fond ; for one day when he 

 had broken his chains he was found in a small grocer's 

 shop seated on the counter, and helping himself with 

 liberal paw to brown sugar and lollipops, to the no small 

 discomfort of the good woman who kept the shop. A 

 black bear in America had a weakness for chickens. His 

 master noticed the thinning of the poultry yard, and 

 suspicion fell on Bruin owing to the feathers which lay 

 round his pole. They could not catch him in the act how- 

 ever. He was too sharp for that, and if disturbed when he 

 had but half demolished a pullet he would hastily sit on 

 the remainder and look as innocent as could be. He was 

 discovered at last, however, by the cackling of a tough old 

 hen which he had failed to silence. 



When fearlessly faced the bear will often refuse an 

 encounter even with a woman. Mary Reynolds, an American 

 girl, was afflicted with what is called " double personality." 

 She led two distinct lives which alternated the one with 

 the other. In the one life she was dull, taciturn and morose ; 

 in the other merry, jocose and buoyant. When first she 

 woke up, after a profound and prolonged sleep, to the latter 

 state, she was found to have forgotten all that she had ever 

 learnt. Her mind was a blank. She did not recognize 



D 



