The boy thought he would use the delay to figure out some plan of escape, but he was so worried he could not direct his thoughts where he would; instead he began to think of the great help that iron had been to mankind.  They needed iron for everything.  There was iron in the plough that broke up the field, in the axe that felled the tree for building houses, in the scythe that mowed the grain, and in the knife, which could be turned to all sorts of uses.  There was iron in the horse’s bit, in the lock on the door, in the nails that held furniture together, in the sheathing that covered the roof.  The rifle which drove away wild beasts was made of iron, also the pick that had broken up the mine.  Iron covered the men-of-war he had seen at Karlskrona; the locomotives steamed through the country on iron rails; the needle that had stitched his coat was of iron; the shears that clipped the sheep and the kettle that cooked the food.  Big and little alike—­much that was indispensable was made from iron.  Father Bear was perfectly right in saying that it was the iron that had given men their mastery over the bears.

“Now will you or won’t you?” Father Bear repeated.

The boy was startled from his musing.  Here he stood thinking of matters that were entirely unnecessary, and had not yet found a way to save himself!

“You mustn’t be so impatient,” he said.  “This is a serious matter for me, and I’ve got to have time to consider.”

“Well, then, consider another moment,” said Father Bear.  “But let me tell you that it’s because of the iron that men have become so much wiser than we bears.  For this alone, if for nothing else, I should like to put a stop to the work here.”

Again the boy endeavoured to think out a plan of escape, but his thoughts wandered, willy nilly.  They were taken up with the iron.  And gradually he began to comprehend how much thinking and calculating men must have done before they discovered how to produce iron from ore, and he seemed to see sooty blacksmiths of old bending over the forge, pondering how they should properly handle it.  Perhaps it was because they had thought so much about the iron that intelligence had been developed in mankind, until finally they became so advanced that they were able to build great works like these.  The fact was that men owed more to the iron than they themselves knew.

“Well, what say you?  Will you or won’t you?” insisted Father Bear.

The boy shrank back.  Here he stood thinking needless thoughts, and had no idea as to what he should do to save himself.

“It’s not such an easy matter to decide as you think,” he answered.  “You must give me time for reflection.”

“I can wait for you a little longer,” said Father Bear.  “But after that you’ll get no more grace.  You must know that it’s the fault of the iron that the human kind can live here on the property of the bears.  And now you understand why I would be rid of the work.”