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. 
