a little child is like a butterfly, thinking only of the pleasures of the moment. nellie ribsam came down close to the edge of the creek and threw some crumbs out upon the surface. in the clear water she could see the shadowy figures of the minnows, as they glided upward and snapped at the morsels.
she became so interested in the sport that she kept walking down the bank of the stream, flinging out the crumbs until there was none left in her hand; then she debated whether she should go back after her lunch basket or wait where she was until nick appeared on the bridge.
"it's a bother to carry the basket with me," she said to herself; "i had to leave it on the ground when i was after grapes, so i'll wait till nick comes, and then i'll call to him. won't he be scared when he sees me down here!"
from where she stood, she observed the bridge above her head, and consequently nick could look directly down upon her whenever he should reach the structure.
nellie felt that she would like to go on down the creek to the big pond into which it emptied; but she knew better than to do that, for she would be certain to miss her big brother, and it was already beginning to grow dark around her.
"i wonder what makes nick so long," she said to herself, as she sat down on a fallen tree; "i'm so tired that i never can walk the four miles home."
she had sat thus only a brief while, when her head began to droop; her bright eyes grew dull, then closed, and leaning against a limb which put out from the fallen tree, on which she was sitting, she sank into the sweet, dreamless sleep of childhood and health.
had she not been disturbed she would not have wakened until the sun rose, but at the end of an hour, an involuntary movement of the head caused it to slip off the limb against which it was resting with such a shock that instantly she was as wide awake as though it was mid-day.
ah, but when she sprang to her feet and stared about her in the gloom she was dreadfully alarmed!
she was quick-witted enough to understand where she was and how it had all come about. the gibbous moon was directly overhead, and shone down upon her with unobstructed fullness.
"nick has gone over the bridge while i was asleep," was her instant conclusion; "and father and mother will be worried about me."
her decision as to what she should do could not but be the one thing—that was to climb back up the bank to the bridge, cross it, and hurry homeward.
there was a little throbbing of the heart, when she reflected that she had several miles to travel, most of which was through the gloomy woods; but there was no hesitation on the part of nellie, who, but for the sturdy teaching of her parents, would have crouched down beside the log and sobbed in terror until she sank into slumber through sheer exhaustion.
"i have been a bad girl," she said to herself, as she reflected on her thoughtlessness; "and mother will whip me, for i know she ought to; and mother always does what she ought to do."
there was no room for doubt in the mind of the child, for she understood the nature of her parents as well as any child could understand that of its guardian.
nellie was some distance below the point where the bridge spanned the creek, but she could see the dim outlines of the structure as she started toward it. it seemed higher than usual, but that was because the circumstances were different from any in which she had ever been placed.
the little one was making her way as best she could along the stream in the direction of the bridge, when she was frightened almost out of her senses by hearing a loud, sniffing growl from some point just ahead of her.
it was a sound that would have startled the bravest man, and nellie was transfixed for the moment. she did not turn and run, nor did she sink in a swoon to the ground, but she stood just where she had stopped, until she could find out what it meant.
she was not kept long in waiting, for in less than a minute the noise was repeated, and at the same moment she caught the outlines of a huge black bear swinging along toward her. he was coming down the bed of the creek, with his awkward, ponderous tread, and when seen by nellie was within fifty feet of her.
when it is remembered that he was of unusual size and proceeding straight toward the child, it seems impossible that she should have done anything at all to help herself. the sight was enough to deprive her of the power of motion and speech.
but it was in such a crisis as this that little nellie ribsam showed that she had not forgotten the teaching of her parents: "god helps them that help themselves."
with scarcely a second's pause, she whirled on her heel and dashed down the stream with the utmost speed at her command.
the bear could not have failed to see her, though it is not to be supposed that he was looking for the little girl when he first came that way. furthermore, had the chase lasted several minutes nellie must have fallen a victim to the savage animal.
it required no instruction to teach her that there was but one way in which she could escape, and that was by climbing a tree. had there been a large one near at hand she would have ascended that as quickly as possible; but, fortunately, the first one to which she fled was a sapling, no larger than those she had climbed during the afternoon, and no one could have clambered to the highest point attainable quicker than did the frightened little girl.
had she been a veteran hunter, nellie could not have made a better selection, for she was fully twenty feet from the ground, and as much beyond the reach of the bear as though she were in her trundle-bed at home.
but the position was a frightful one to her, and for several minutes she believed the animal would tear the tree down and destroy her.
"i have done all i can for myself," she murmured, recalling the instruction of her parents, "and now god will do the rest."
beautiful, trusting faith of childhood! of such, indeed, is the kingdom of heaven.
the huge bear, which from some cause or other had ventured from the recesses of the wood, was but a short distance behind the little wanderer when she climbed so hastily beyond his reach. he acted as though he was somewhat bewildered by the unusual scene of a small child fleeing from him, but nothing is so tempting to pursuit as the sight of some one running from us, and the brute galloped after nellie with an evident determination to capture her, if the thing could be done.
when he found the child had eluded him for the time, he sat down on his haunches and looked upward, as though he intended to wait till she would be compelled to descend and surrender herself.
the small tree in which nellie had taken refuge was several yards from the edge of the stream, the bank sloping so steeply that the water never reached the base, excepting during a freshet.
it was a chestnut, whose smooth bark rendered it all the more difficult to climb, but nellie went up it as rapidly as a man ascends telegraph poles with the spikes strapped to his boots.
the bear clawed the bark a little while, as a cat is sometimes seen to do when "stretching" herself, and it was during these few minutes that the girl thought nothing could save her from falling into his clutches.
when he ceased, she peered downward through the branches, and could just see the massy animal near the base of the tree, as if asking himself what was the next best thing to do.
it will be admitted that the situation of nellie ribsam was one in which few children of her tender years are ever placed. happy it is, indeed, that it is so, for what one in a thousand would have retained her self-possession?
in explanation, it may be doubted indeed whether nellie fully comprehended her peril. had she been older, her consternation, doubtless, would have been greater, as the emotion she showed some years later, when placed in great danger, would seem to prove.
but there was one fact of which she was firmly convinced: she had complied with her father's instructions, for, as has been shown, she put forth every possible exertion to save herself, and now she called on heaven to assist her.
perched in the top of the tree, with the enormous bear sitting beneath and looking hungrily upward, she prayed:
"heavenly father, please take care of me and don't let that big bear catch me; don't let papa and mamma feel too bad, and please make the bad bear go away and let me alone."
