Now, one of the black-looking logs was a large bear that was lying asleep, and the little girl jumped right upon his growling majesty. The bear arose, evidently not quite pleased at being made a stepping stone, took the little girl in his great shaggy paws, and gave her an ugly hug, such as only a bear can give. Mr. Bear would have squeezed the breath out of the body of the poor little girl, had not the good old cow seen the danger. The courageous creature, instead of running away, turned back immediately, and began goring the bear with her horns in such a way as to force old Bruin, if he valued a whole hide, to turn round and defend himself. So he let go his hold on the little girl, who, though sadly frightened and bruised, was still strong enough to run towards home. Presently the bear followed her. Immediately the cow attacked him again with her horns, and drove him off. This continued till they got out of the wood, when the bear ran back to his own home. The gentleman who told us this story said he had seen the little girl, and that she had never quite recovered from the effect of the horrid squeeze of the grim old bear, but still suffered in her chest. Still she was thankful that her life was saved, and always considered the good old cow her preserver." "Why, Mother," said Frank, "I did not think that a cow could be good for any thing but to give milk." "In Germany, they use cows for draught, and make them work pretty hard. There you see cows every day doing the same work that our oxen do, and giving the poor man his supper at the end of the day besides; and it is said that the labor does not hurt them. The Germans feed the cows well, treat them gently and kindly, but make them, as well as the dogs, work for a living." "Now I will tell you a story about a pike. We are apt to think fishes very stupid; that they have no feeling. A gentleman in England, a surgeon and a naturalist, told me of what he had himself seen. A pike had struck its head against a tenter hook on a post in the pond where he was swimming. His agony was so great that he darted backward and forward with the greatest rapidity, then buried his head in the mud, then whirled his tail round and round, and threw himself up into the air to the height of two or three feet, and, at last, he threw himself out of the pond upon the grass. Dr. Warwick placed his hand on the fish, examined the injury, and observed that the hook had entered the skull, wrenching up one side of the bone and depressing the other, and that a small part of the brain had escaped. With a toothpick the doctor restored the bones to their proper places. The patient remained perfectly still during the operation, and after-ward was returned to his native element. He seemed restless for a little while, and then lay quiet. Dr. Warwick then made a sort of cradle in which he placed the poor sufferer, who seemed disposed to lie still on one side."