CHAPTER IV
WITH THE RANGER’S CHILDREN
FUZZY-WUZZ made a big mistake when he tried to grab that owl. For no sooner had he got a taste of the feathers than Clickety-Clack was after him with beak and claws. When they finally called it off, the hearth rug bore a souvenir of both fur and feathers.
After that the little bear made many a playful, puppy-like dash at his fellow pet, but if ever he came too near, he got as good as he gave. It was tit for tat between them.
True, there were other ways in which Fuzzy managed to have a good time. For instance, he was always on the look-out for a romp in the children’s bed, if he was the first one up of a morning. The children’s mother objected, until the Ranger suggested a tubbing for the young bear.
This surprising thing,—a tub bath,—happened when Fuzzy-Wuzz had been a member of the Ranger’s family for about a week. No sooner did he find himself in the washtubful of warm, soapy water than he struck out vigorously for shore and scrambled over the edge of the tub. This process was repeated till the Ranger took a hand.
In the end Fuzzy-Wuzz emerged as clean a cub as any one could wish, but he stayed clean just until he was put on his leash and allowed to have a run outside. The California dry season had begun, with its dust, and the roly-poly rascal liked nothing better than to roll on his back.
The great trouble with the Ranger’s backyard, from Fuzzy’s point of view, was that there were no trees to climb. The clothes pole only went so far, and it had no bark and was dreadfully hard to get one’s claws into; but Fuzzy used to scramble up and down that clothes pole for all he was worth, pausing each time at the top to sit looking down at the children.
As the weeks flew by and the little bear grew stronger, he longed more and morefor the freedom to climb and romp and race the way Mother Nature meant him to. It got to be mighty tiresome to live on the end of a chain or be cooped up in the cabin. He would gaze into the green woods behind the house, and whimper and beg to be let out, but it seemed as if no one understood.
The Ranger was afraid if he let the cub go some big animal would get him. There were great yellow cougars (California lions) in the mountains, and perhaps timber wolves. Besides, even a wildcat could have made way with such a tiny cub, and no telling but that even a pair of coyotes (slinking yellow wild dogs that they are) might harm him. These animals were all afraid to come too near the cabin, for they were cowardly where human beings were concerned. But once let Fuzzy-Wuzz spend a night in the woods and no telling if he would ever see the morning.
Sometimes they could hear the coyotes’ bark, or the lion’s cry. Then Fuzzy’s fur would rise along his spine, and he wouldhuddle closer to the children on the hearth rug. But he never thought of that when the sun shone through the forest and he longed for freedom.