BEN; THE STORY OF A CUB. 



5 



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confinement, however, and went to 

 biting his cage and tearing it to 

 pieces with his claws. It withstood 

 this only a day or 2, and after that 

 we simply put a collar and a dog 

 chain on the little chap. We would 

 fasten the other end of the chain to 

 the pack, and the bear would sit on 

 the load and ride as gracefully as a 

 circus monkey. He soon learned to 

 vary the monotony of his daily ride 

 by taking hold of the chain with one 

 paw a little above his neck, dropping 

 off the load and swinging about the 

 horse's legs. At first Pard, the pony, 

 objected to this, and would buck and 

 kick and dance ; but he gradually 

 made up his mind that this was use- 



less, and thereafter was patient under 

 all kinds of scratching and biting 

 which the little imp saw fit to inflict 

 on him. Finally Ben would hang on 

 to his chain with one foot and would 

 apparently go to sleep, dangling 

 against the horse's legs as he walked 

 or cantered along the rail. 



In the course of the next 2 or 3 

 weeks we killed several other bears, 

 and finally had 14 bear skins in the 

 outfit. When we would get into camp 

 we would spread these out, to con- 

 tinue the drying process. Every time 

 they were thrown out, and as soon as 

 Ben was released from the load, he 

 would go hunting among them, and 

 within a few minutes would find the 



GOOD MORNING, PARD. 



