know; but he saw no Mother, and the smell that sickened and terrified
him was worse than ever, so he quietly turned back toward the
timber-tangle of the Lower Piney, and nevermore came back to look for
his lost family. He wanted his Mother as much as ever, but something
told him it was no use.

As cold night came down, he missed her more and more again, and he
whimpered as he limped along, a miserable, lonely, little, motherless
Bear--not lost in the mountains, for he had no home to seek, but so
sick and lonely, and with such a pain in his foot, and in his stomach a
craving for the drink that would nevermore be his. That night he found a
hollow log, and crawling in, he tried to dream that his Mother's great,
furry arms were around him, and he snuffled himself to sleep.

[Illustration]




III.

Wahb had always been a gloomy little Bear; and the string of misfortunes
that came on him just as his mind was forming made him more than ever
sullen and morose. It seemed as though every one were against him. He
tried to keep out of sight in the upper woods of the Piney, seeking his
food by day and resting at night in the hollow log. But one evening
he found it occupied by a Porcupine as big as himself and as bad as a
cactus-bush. Wahb could do nothing with him. He had to give up the log
and seek another nest.