36 BOOK OF A HUNDRED BEARS 



To return to Mose. He was taken quite young 

 as the result of an accident that happened to his 

 mother, and was carried a hundred miles in a 

 wagon, nourished on crackers and condensed milk. 

 That he survived the latter shows the strength of 

 of his constitution. In the roomy home that 

 Mose entered was a tame prairie dog, one of the 

 most delightful of household pets, by the way. 

 One would think that friendly commerce between 

 such natures would be impossible, but in fact 

 they became great friends, for the prairie dog 

 soon discovered Mose's tender point, his nose, 

 and rejected too great familiarity with a swipe in 

 the right place that always sent Mose under the 

 bed to whimper for an hour. His favorite amuse- 

 ment was a roomy rocking-chair. He would 

 scramble to the top of it and swing back and for- 

 ward by the hour, till a disregard of the laws of 

 gravity would send him over and he always lit on 

 his nose. Most of the time he went around nurs- 

 ing his nose and asking sympathy for it. He 

 grew amazingly. Abundant food brought out the 

 beautiful glossiness of his black coat and all the 



