[Illustration]

WHY THE BEAR'S TAIL IS SHORT


Did you ever go to a circus where there was a bear in a cage?

Did you notice how short his tail was?

I will tell you how the bear's tail came to be short.

One very cold day in winter, a fox saw some men taking home a load of
fish.

The fox jumped upon the wagon while the men were not looking.

He threw off some of the best fish until he had enough for his dinner.

Then Mr. Fox jumped from the wagon and began to eat the fish.

While he was eating the fish, Mr. Bear came along.

"Good morning," said Mr. Bear, "you have had good luck fishing to-day.
Those are very fine fish. How did you catch them?"