John, with a knapsack on his shoulders, in which three little kittens
slumbered beside the provisions for their journey; there were always
new kittens in the Animal Kingdom. On his shoulder perched the raven,
and by a rope he led the bear, whom he felt safer to have close by his
side. Sometimes the bear trotted on all fours. Sometimes he walked
upright like a big brown man, towering over John's head. Now before
and now behind them went Blanche the cat, pretending as cats do that
she was neither following nor leading, but traveling quite
independently of them all. Frequently she disappeared into the bushes
or up a tree, but soon came scampering past, when she would stop to
make a hasty toilet. Overhead fluttered from tree to tree the carrier
pigeon and the other birds, who were John's pets and bound to follow
wherever he went.

The deer and her fawn went part way with them, and the little rabbits
hopped a staccato accompaniment for some time. But John did not urge
them to follow. He knew they were better off in the forest, where they
could take care of themselves.

All day they fared on the uneven path by which, nose to earth, Brutus
led them. And at last, weary and spent, they came to the little
village where the Hermit had taken horse for the longer journey.

John paused at the first house in the village and knocked at the gate.
A burly fellow came to the door.

"Hello!" he cried. Starting back when he saw the strange group
gathered in his dooryard. "What means all this?"

[Illustration: A strange company.]