HOW THE BADGER MADE MRS. BEAR BLIND

LD Mrs. Bear, so they say, Was an easy-

going body who thought well of every-

one. Her Wigwam was all by itself, and her

next-door neighbour was so far off that he was

not her neighbour at all, but was the neighbour

of someone else! So Mrs. Bear asked an old woman to live with her for company.

One cold night in winter the two old women made up a good fire, and lay down and went to sleep—Indian-fashion—with their backs to the fire. Mrs. Bear’s feet were near the old lady’s head, and the 01d lady’s feet were near Mrs. Bear’s head.

Now when they were sound asleep, the Bad- ger came prowling around. He looked in at the door of the Wigwam and saw the old women asleep, heads and points. At once he saw a chance for a rare bit of mischief; so he went into the woods and cut a fine long sappling pole, and poked one end of it into the fire until it was a burning coal. Then he touched the soles of Mrs. Bear’s feet with it. Mrs.

Bear waked and cried out to her companion: 164 -