"
"And all you know of them," returned Kelly, is that a cat has
nine
lives, and a barking dog won't bite. You're a nature faker."
Herrick refused to be diverted.
"It hurt me," he said. "They were so big, and good-natured, and
helpless. I'll bet that woman beats them! I kept thinking of them
as they were in the woods, tramping over the clean pine needles,
eating nuts, and--and honey, and----"
"Buns!" suggested Jackson.
"I can't forget them," said Herrick. "It's going to haunt me,
to-morrow, when I'm back in the woods; I'll think of those poor
beasts capering in a hot theatre, when they ought to be out in
the
open as God meant they----"
"Well, then," protested Kelly, "take 'em to the open. And turn
'em
loose! And I hope they bite YOU!"
At this Herrick frowned so deeply that Kelly feared he had gone
too
far. Inwardly, he reproved himself for not remembering that his
friend lacked a sense of humor. But Herrick undeceived him.
"You are right!" he exclaimed. "To-morrow I will buy those bears,
take them to the farm, and turn them loose!"
No objections his friend could offer could divert him from his
purpose.
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