“Well, Father Lee, if Benjamin can overcome his evil feelin’s for his master, I ought to do so for mine, as Gretchen says. My bad spirit in this matter has long troubled me; it has caused a cloud to come over me when singin’ hymns. I will give it all up now—I will give up everything, and just follow the better spirit. I want to do right, so that I can sing hymns.”
When Father Lee left the cabin, Mrs. Woods accompanied him to his boat on the river.
As they were passing along under the tall spruces whose tops glimmered in the sun, and whose cool shadows made the trail delightful and refreshing, a black she-bear suddenly rose up before them, and a cub started up by her side. The great bear and the little bear both stood on their haunches, with their fore-feet outstretched like arms, as in great surprise. Mrs. Woods stopped and threw up her arms, and Parson Lee drew back.
Mrs. Woods looked at the little bear, and the little bear at her.
“Roll over, roll over!” she suddenly exclaimed. A strange event followed, very strange indeed in the eyes of the startled missionary. The little bear rolled itself into a ball, and began to turn over and over, and to come toward them in its somersaults.
The mother bear made a peculiar noise, dropped upon her four feet and ran off into the timber; and the little one, hearing the noise and movement, leaped up and followed her.
“What does that mean?” asked the missionary, in astonishment.
“That is Little Roll Over. I taught him that trick myself. He was once a pet of mine, and he ran away.”
“Extraordinary!” said the missionary; “and it seems to me, if you have such a good influence over bears, you might do a great deal of good among the Indians.”
“And I will,” said Mrs. Woods. “I mean to live so I can sing hymns, and feel right about it.”
On the return home, Mrs. Woods looked everywhere for her pet bear. She did not fear the old bear, for these animals are generally harmless if unmolested. She called, “Roll Over! Roll Over!” when she came to the place where she had had the adventure. But there was no answer except from the blue jays that piped out their shrill call in the tall trees.
Mrs. Woods came home to have a long battle with herself. Her idea of happiness seemed to be the freedom to sing hymns with a clear conscience, and the poor pioneer woman’s philosophy was not very far from right.
CHAPTER XI.
MARLOWE MANN’S NEW ROBINSON CRUSOE.
Besides the Narrative of Lewis and Clarke, which was used in the school as a reader, Mr. Mann made use of another book in his teaching which greatly delighted his pupils and often awakened their sympathies. It was called “John E. Jewett and Thompson.” It presented a picture of life on the coast early in the century. The strange story was much as follows: