THE BLACK BEAR—COMEDIAN 101 
out his forepaws he guided the course of the 
barrel and controlled its speed. 
Once while two black bear cubs were fleeing 
before a forest fire they paused and true to their 
nature had a merry romp. Even the threaten- 
ing flames could not make them solemn. Each 
tried to prevent the other from climbing a tree 
that stood alone in the open; round it they 
clinched, cuffed, and rolled so merrily that the 
near-by wild folk were attracted and moment- 
arily forgot their fears. 
The black bear has more human-like traits 
than any other animal I know. He is a boy in 
disguise, will not work long at anything unless 
at something to produce mischief. Occasionally 
he finds things dull, like a shut-in boy or a boy 
with a task to perform, and simply does not 
know what to do with himself—he wants com- 
pany. 
He is shy and bashful as a child. He plans no 
harm. He does not eat bad children; nor does 
he desire to do so. Nothing would give him 
greater delight than to romp with rollicking, 
irrepressible children whose parents have black- 
ened his character. 
In other words, the black bear is just the 
opposite in character of what he has long been 
and still is almost universally thought to be. A 
million written and spoken stories have it that he 
