XVIII TWINKLY SHOWS HIS METTLE No, indeed, Twinkly Eyes was not the Bear to give up just when he had one paw in the honey! For the same paw that covered his nose from the angry insects, as he clung to the old pine, also brought to his tongue the most wonderful flavor he had ever known. All the smarting and burning in tongue and lip could not spoil that flavor. He must have more of it, and that at once! For what had he watched and waited these long weeks if not for this very chance? Was he to be driven from the feast by a little brown insect with a barb in the end of its tail? No indeed! No mere honey bee could make him turn back now. Struggling still nearer that dark round hole from which the fragrance issued he drew a long breath and plunged in. [Illustration: “My how his little black eyes danced with the delight of it!” —Page 55 ] Another needle point, red hot, stung him, this time on the lid of his right eye; and if the sting on his lip had tortured him, this was something far, far worse. He whimpered unhappily, and rubbed the sore place gently against his upraised foreleg. My! how those bees did buzz and threaten him! But they couldn’t reach him through his fur, so long as he kept his face protected. He clung to his hole just the same, and by and by he dug his free paw deep into the honeycomb within and brought a great luscious chunk to his mouth. Now that their little store was really disappearing, despite all they could do the bees at once began setting to work to rescue some of their treasure. Still there were enough left on guard to give Twinkly cause for watchfulness. He grabbed another mouthful, and gulped it down, with the bees that still clung to it. My, how his little black eyes danced with the delight of it! If only that eyelid would not smart so dreadfully! It was swelling, too, and he could hardly see out of that eye at all. His tongue was swollen, too, on the tip end where the bee had stung him, till it began to feel so big he feared he wouldn’t be able to close his jaws in another minute. But he would not give up! Not Twinkly Eyes! Not till every last smell of that honey was gone! Now that he had risked it thus far, he reasoned, he might as well have something to sweeten his pain. The little Black Bear was nothing if not persistent, and persistence is a virtue that stands one in good stead in the wilderness. Then suddenly a most surprising thing happened. [Illustration: [Bear]] XIX DOWN BUT NOT DOWNED A great many things can happen to a bear cub that he doesn’t expect to happen.