there is a great river which comes rushing through the mountains, where the cliffs are dark with trees, and the heavy snows are slow to melt, even when spring has made the valleys green and warm. here, on a cliff, snug and warm beneath the roots of a great tree, lived mrs. bear and her family of cubs. three baby bears there were; and in their fine black coats with dark brown edges they were very handsome.
for their playmate, however, there was a little stranger. just a funny little fox, whose fur was the color of a flame of fire. he was a rare little fox, being of such a lovely color. had the hunters in the valley dreamed that he was living on the mountain above their very farms, they would never have rested until they got him, for his skin would bring a fortune in the world of men and money.
but of this the little fox knew nothing, for ever since the day that good mrs. bear had found him, lost and weak and hungry, where he had fallen down to sleep in the snow, he had led the happiest of lives with the little baby bears. they could not run as fast as he could, nor could they bark as prettily, but they were wonderful at turning somersaults, and at playing leap-frog, and they were more than generous to him. they gave him the best place at dinner, and when they all went to sleep, they cuddled him up between them, while the big mrs. bear slept with her nose to the door. blow the wind as it might, they were all as warm as toast.
but one fine day in early summer mrs. bear broke the news to her family that the foxes, one and all, were looking for their child. one way or another, the news had gone down from the mountain to the high pastures and fields at the edge of the farms, and it was joy to the heart of the fox mother, to learn that her beautiful fireflame was alive.
of course he must go back. and by an arrangement most agreeable to mrs. bear, she was to venture with her adopted baby as far as the blackberry patches and the great maple groves at the foot of the mountain. the foxes would meet her, and with sweet little fireflame safe in the bosom of his family, all would be well.
just as it was planned, the excursion was made; but all the way down the mountain mrs. bear kept finding more and more berries to eat.
"here i must stop on my way back," she would say.
"and here is another wonderful patch! such blueberries i have never seen in my whole life."
so it was late when at last she came to the clearing, and fireflame kissed the motherly mrs. bear good-by. and it was night before that good lady could tear herself from the berry patches and trundle herself home to her family.
alas! she had lingered too long. stray dogs from the farms had scented her presence; and although she had followed a brook until she was well on her way to the cliff, and her footsteps were hard to follow, they had soon learned her whereabouts. back to their masters they had gone, and it was scarcely morning when the hunters set out. the dogs were barking and their great tongues were lolling from their mouths. and the men with their rifles, and the knives for skinning the bear when they got her, were striding up the mountain, laughing and shouting as they went. no sooner were they near the woods, however, than their laughter ceased and the hounds grew deathly quiet; for that is the way of the hunter. he must be quiet and quick, for he is the companion of death, and that terrible creature walks abroad only with cruel men who have learned his craft.
the foxes took in the situation at once. but none of them dared to stir. to cross the path of those hunters was a terrible risk. they shivered and shook in their deep burrows to hear the hounds.
"it's lucky for us that the wind blows up the mountain," was all they could say.
"and what are they after?" cried poor little fireflame. "whom are they hunting?"
but then the truth dawned on him. old grandpa fox and good mother fox were quiet, for they did not dare to tell fireflame that it was dear mrs. bear who was being trailed. besides, they were ashamed; for it was plain that something must be done, yet no one dared to move.
"she ought to have crossed and recrossed the river," said grandpa fox. "that's the way to do it. but i mistrust she was engaged too long with those tempting berries. she was not discreet."
"they'll get her and her young ones too!" wailed mrs. fox, who was nearly beside herself. for it is a terrible thing to know what you ought to do, but to be lacking in the courage to do it.
little fireflame could stand it no longer. in a bound he was out of the burrow. the whole fox family screamed after him to come back; but he paid no heed. he was well up the pasture, and far into the woods before their voices ceased to ring in his ears.
it was a test of his wits, and he was very young. no dog could overtake him if he ran, and he had the start; but to catch up to the hunters and pass them, and so reach mrs. bear in time, was a task that would try the wits of the wisest fox.
now a beautiful bird flew past, and although he never knew why he did it, the brave little fireflame followed that bird. over the brook and back again he went, always bearing upward to the crest of the mountain. it was not the path by which he had come the day before, but higher he went and higher, with the far, snowy peak in front of him.
the bird would vanish, but after fireflame had gone as fast as his beautiful legs would carry him and when he was so tired that he could not see for the mist in his eyes, the silent wings would be beside him, then in front; and fireflame would bend to his race as though it were just begun.
soon he was on the narrow edge of the cliff. the sun lay full and bright upon the foaming river far below, and fireflame recognized the spot. by a path that no one knew, he had come to the home of mrs. bear. there she was, the three little bears with her, playing under the fir tree.
he bounded in upon them, but not before the bird had brushed his cheek with its wings and then flown away, straight as an arrow, into the sun.
fireflame gasped out his news in one breath.
it was quick work that brought the bear family to the edge of the river. there mrs. bear and her cubs began their journey to the fields of snow, and the caves that were safely beyond the reach of the hunters. she could not thank fireflame at all. she could only look at him with tears of gratitude; while the three little bears, greatly confused, were as solemn as though they had never played tag in their lives.
"but you will visit us some day," the biggest baby bear said, clinging to fireflame's paw, "and we will all play together again."
the hunters climbed up to the deserted cliff; but they never caught the trail of mrs. bear again. for the good river and the soft snows are friendly to the hunted people, and whatever they know they take with them to the great ocean, where it is of no use to any one.
fireflame went home. he knew that he was safe, so he took his time.
but to the end of his days, he never knew what bird it was that showed him the way in the dark and unfamiliar woods.
