He was a brave bear, wasn't he, to be afraid of an umbrella? Mother hurried on, and just as she got to the edge of the woods, out he came again. Then she opened the umbrella at him again, and shouted as loud as she could, and away he went. Mother was so tired and frightened she almost fainted when she got home. "I don't believe it was a bear; it must have been neighbor Clapp's big heifer," grandma said. But just as she said it, they heard a loud squeal. They ran to the door, and there was the bear carrying off a pig. He had jumped into the pen and got it. [Illustration: THE BEARS AT THE ZOÖLOGICAL GARDEN.] Aunt Stella seized the dinner horn and blew a loud blast. That was the way they used to call the settlers together when anything was the matter. There was a great rush for grandfather's house, and when the men heard about the bear they said. "We must kill him as soon as possible." So they had a great hunt for him. They hunted all that night and the next day. They found him, at last, sitting upon the stump of a hollow tree, and they killed him. What do you think they found in the hollow stump? Three little cubs. The hunters brought the cubs to grandfather's farm, and uncle Stephen kept one of them for a pet. My little daughter Anna often asks to hear the story of how the "Bear wanted to eat grandma." Last summer I took Anna to the Zoölogical Garden. There we saw a family of bears. One old bear was sitting in a tree, with his arms folded. "Why, how pleasant he looks," said Anna. "I don't believe he would eat anybody." "No, I don't think he would," I said. "He is tame, and he would rather have a sweet bun to eat than anything else." [Illustration: {A LIZARD ON A GRASSY BANK.}] [Illustration: SHETLAND PONIES AT HOME.] ANNA'S BIRTHDAY GIFT. "Anna, Anna!" shouted Harry. "Come quick, do! O such a!"--But mamma clapped her hand right over his mouth, and he couldn't say another word. "Pat, pat, pat!" Anna heard a queer sound of feet on the veranda, and in at the open windows trotted just the dearest little Shetland pony all saddled and bridled. Harry was leading it. A card hung from the saddle, and on it was printed, "A birthday gift for my little Anna, from Grandpa." "There! what do you think of that?" asked Harry. "I think," said Anna, as soon as she could speak, "that no little girl ever had such a splendid, _splendid_ grandpa as mine!" "Isn't he, though!" said Harry. "And now I'll get out Boy Blue and we'll ride over and thank him." Boy Blue is Harry's pony. Do you know where these lovely little Shetland ponies live when they are at home? They live in the northern islands of Great Britain. RALPH AND THE BUTTERFLIES. Ralph was walking with papa in the fields, when he saw a red and black butterfly. It was on a thistle. [Illustration: {A BUTTERFLY.}]