The Bears on Hemlock Mountain
Page 1
Jonathan that there are no bears on Hemlock Mountain, no bears at all. So he isn’t afraid to set out alone over the mountain. But as Jonathan discovers one cold winter night, people aren’t always right. … There are bears on Hemlock Mountain!
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ALADDIN Simon & Schuster, New York Cover designed by Karin Paprocki Cover illustration copyright © 2012 by Thomas Flintham Ages 6–9
The outline of this story was kindly given to me by Colonel Henry Shoemaker, State Archivist of Pennsylvania, who collects “tales told by the people.”
He has granted me permission to use it, and I have given it more detail and form. The central element, however—the story of the boy, the bear and the iron pot, is unchanged. It is, of course, a small “tall tale.”
Third Aladdin Paperbacks edition May 2000
Second Aladdin Paperbacks edition 1992
First Aladdin Paperbacks edition 1981
Copyright © 1952 by Alice Dalgliesh
Copyright renewed © 1980 by Margaret Evans
Aladdin Paperbacks
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuser.com
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Also available in an Atheneum Books for Young Readers hardcover edition.
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7286-0(eBook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dalgliesh, Alice.
The bears on Hemlock mountain / by Alice Dalgliesh; illustrated
By Helen Sewell—3rd Aladdin Paperbacks ed.
p. cm.
Summary: A young boy sent on an errand over Hemlock Mountain is not so sure he likes going alone, because there may be bears on the mountain, but with the help of the big iron pot he borrows, he completes his errand.
ISBN-13: 978-0-689-71604-1 (ISBN-10: 0-689-71604-4)
[1. Bears—Fiction.] I. Sewell, Helen, date. ill. II. Title.
PZ7.D153Be 1992
[E]—dc20 91-40166
TO JONATHAN NOON
Contents
Chapter 1 About Jonathan
Chapter 2 Young Uncle James
Chapter 3 The Iron Pot
Chapter 4 Up Hemlock Mountain
Chapter 5 Down Hemlock Mountain
Chapter 6 Aunt Emma’s House
Chapter 7 There May Be Bears
Chapter 8 Watch Out, Jonathan!
Chapter 9 Paws on the Snow
Chapter 10 There ARE Bears
CHAPTER 1
About Jonathan
Jonathan lived in a gray stone farmhouse at the foot of Hemlock Mountain. Now Hemlock Mountain was not a mountain at all, it was a hill, and not a very big one. But someone had started calling it Hemlock Mountain, and the name had stuck. Now everyone talked about “going over Hemlock Mountain.”
It was the year when Jonathan was eight that he went over Hemlock Mountain. He was a fine big boy for his age. That was why his mother could send him over the Mountain all by himself.
The winter had been a cold one. Even now, in early spring, there was snow on the ground. The birds and the squirrels and the rabbits had a hard time finding anything to eat, so every day Jonathan remembered to feed them. Jonathan loved animals and birds. He knew the tracks that each one made in the snow.
The small creatures could not find enough to eat, but it was not so with Jonathan’s aunts and uncles and cousins. All they had to do was to come to the gray stone farmhouse and there was always plenty of food. Jonathan’s mother was a fine cook and all the aunts, uncles and cousins knew it. They liked to drop in for supper and to sit around the table in front of the big fireplace.
Such good suppers! There would be roast chicken or roast duck or roast goose, brown and done to a turn. There would be potatoes and turnips, carrots and corn. And of course there would be pies—pumpkin and apple and squash. While for those who like cookies, there were crisp brown ones cut into every shape you can imagine.
Jonathan’s mother liked company but sometimes—oh, once in a while—she wished they did not have so much of it. Or that the aunts and uncles and cousins were not quite so hungry.
CHAPTER 2
Young Uncle James
Jonathan was very fond of his uncles. He was fond of his cousins and his aunts. It was pretty fine for a boy to have so many uncles and aunts. If all his uncles and aunts stood side by side they would go all the way from the house to the gate—or very nearly.
He liked all the uncles, but best of all he liked young Uncle James. Young Uncle James was only fourteen years old, so he and Jonathan were friends.
Young Uncle James had eyes that saw and ears that heard.
“Look,” he would say to Jonathan. “Down by that tree stump is a cottontail.”
Then he and Jonathan were very still. They could see the little brown rabbit washing his face and his ears.
“Listen,” young Uncle James would say. “There is a song sparrow. Do you hear what he says?”
Then he and Jonathan were very still. They could see the song sparrow singing on a branch. And the song sparrow was saying, over and over again,
“Put on the kettle, kettle, kettle!”
Once Jonathan and Uncle James went down to the brook. It was late in the day and the shadows were long.
“What are we going to see?” asked Jonathan.
“Wait and you will find out,” said Uncle James.
So they waited and listened. It was hard for Jonathan to keep so still.
They waited and listened. And at last a raccoon came down to the brook. He had an apple in his mouth.
“Look!” said Uncle James. “Look carefully, Jonathan.”
Jonathan looked. The raccoon took the apple in his two front paws. He dipped it in the water and dipped it and dipped it and dipped it again.
“’Coons like their food wet,” said Uncle James.
That was the way of it. Every day Jonathan and Uncle James listened and looked. They never threw sticks at the animals, or scared the birds. Soon all the animals and birds were their friends. The squirrel was the best friend of all. He came very near to get nuts from Jonathan.
“Uncle James,” said Jonathan. “Did you ever see a bear?”
“Well, now,” said Uncle James, looking important. “I believe I did. But it was years ago, Jonathan.”
“How many years ago?”
“Before you were born. Yes, it was before you were born.”
“I would like to see a bear,” said Jonathan. “I would rather see a bear than anything in the world.”
“Maybe you will!” said Uncle James.
That was all he said. But Jonathan kept on thinking about bears.
CHAPTER 3
The Iron Pot
Now if there are lots of aunts and uncles there are likely to be lots of new cousins. Jonathan kept having new cousins all the time.
It happened that a new small cousin of Jonathan’s was being christened. So, of course, all the aunts and uncles and older cousins were going to the christening. Afterwards, so they thought, it would be fine to have supper in the gray stone farmhouse.
It was fine when relatives came in ones and twos, or threes and fours, or even in fives and sixes. But this particular time twenty of them were coming.
“Twenty of them!” said Jonathan’s mother.
“Whatever shall we do?”
“Give them a good, big, hearty stew,” said Jonathan’s father. “Fill ’em up with it and then give ’em cookies. That should be enough.”
/> “It’s a fine idea,” said Jonathan’s mother as she rolled out the cookie dough and cut it into stars and bells, hearts and flowers, rabbits and birds and a dozen other things.
“A fine idea. But where in all the world shall I get a pot big enough to make a stew for twenty—no, twenty-three—people? For of course you and Jonathan and I must be counted in.”
“I should think so!” Jonathan’s father said. “And remember I am very hungry this cold weather.”
He certainly was.
But then he was a big man and worked hard on the farm. Even in the wintertime he worked hard, for there were the cows to be milked and all the other animals to be fed. There was wood to be cut. This kept the big fire going so that Jonathan’s mother could cook all the good things the family liked to eat. Jonathan helped carry in the wood.
Jonathan’s mother kept thinking about the stew and about the pot that would be big enough to cook it.
“I know!” she said to Jonathan, as he brought in an armful of wood, “your aunt Emma, over across Hemlock Mountain, has the biggest iron pot you ever laid eyes on.”
“I never laid eyes on it,” said Jonathan.
“Then you are going to,” said his mother. “Your father is much too busy to go for it, but you can go and fetch it.”
“Me?” said Jonathan. “All alone? They say there are bears on Hemlock Mountain.”
“Stuff and nonsense,” said his mother. “Many’s the time I’ve been over Hemlock Mountain and not a bear did I see. Your Uncle James must have been telling you stories. Besides if there were bears they’d be asleep this time of year. And besides there are no bears.”
“But it’s a long way and the pot is heavy,” Jonathan said. “And bears wake up in the spring.”
“You are a big boy, now,” his mother told him. “Get on your warm coat and your warm cap and your warm muffler and go quickly, for you must be back before it is dark. Tomorrow, early, I shall start the stew.”
So Jonathan put on his coat and his muffler and pulled his warm cap down over his ears. He filled his pockets full of nuts for the squirrels on Hemlock Mountain, and he took some bread crumbs for the birds.
Then Jonathan went tramping to the gate, his boots making big footprints in the snow. Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Then suddenly he turned and went back.
“Ma,” he said when his mother opened the door, “will you give me some carrots?”
“Some carrots? Whatever for?”
“For the rabbits on Hemlock Mountain. I have nuts for the squirrels, and bread crumbs for the birds. Now I want carrots for the rabbits.”
“Well, of course,” said his mother, and she gave him a bunch of carrots. Then she went to the cookie jar and brought out a handful of cookies.
“And these are for you,” she said. “Just in case you should be late coming over the mountain. But you must not be late, for it still gets dark early.”
“Thank you,” said Jonathan, and he put the cookies in his pocket. “I won’t be late, because
MAYBE
THERE ARE BEARS
ON HEMLOCK MOUNTAIN!”
Then he was off again, crunch, crunch, crunch in his big boots, making big footprints all the way to the gate.
CHAPTER 4
Up Hemlock Mountain
When Jonathan was out of sight of the house, his mother began to worry just a little bit about bears on Hemlock Mountain.
Stuff and nonsense, she said to herself. There are no bears on Hemlock Mountain. But perhaps … She went back to her cookie making and tried to forget about it.
But she couldn’t forget. She found she was cutting out cookies to a kind of rhythm:
Jonathan went up Hemlock Mountain eating a cookie as he went.
It was very still on Hemlock Mountain. The only sound was Jonathan’s boots going crunch, crunch, crunch on the snow. He could look back and see the big footprints that he made. It was very lonely. So lonely that Jonathan made up words to go with the crunch, crunch of his boots. Strangely enough they were the same words as his mother’s:
THERE are NO BEARS
ON HEMLOCK MOUNTAIN,
NO BEARS AT ALL.
OF COURSE THERE ARE NO BEARS
ON HEMLOCK MOUNTAIN,
NO BEARS, NO BEARS, NO BEARS,
NO BEARS AT ALL.
When he got to the top of Hemlock Mountain, Jonathan was out of breath. So he sat down on a log to rest. And as he rested he took out of his pocket the nuts and the carrots and the bread crumbs. He put them on the snow a little distance from where he was sitting.
It was very still and quiet. To keep up his courage Jonathan said to himself:
THERE are
NO BEARS
ON HEMLOCK MOUNTAIN,
NO BEARS AT ALL.
THERE ARE NO BEARS
ON HEMLOCK MOUNTAIN, NO BEARS,
NO BEARS, NO BEARS,
NO BEARS
AT ALL.
Then there began to be little sounds all around him. And out of the woods came rabbits, hopping over the snow. They came straight to the carrots Jonathan had brought for them.
Out of the woods came squirrels. They looked around with bright eyes, and put one paw on their hearts, the way squirrels do. Then they came straight to the nuts Jonathan had brought for them.
And then came the winter birds, hopping and twittering. They came straight to the bread crumbs Jonathan had brought for them.
Jonathan sat as still as still. He was not lonely now. And he was not worried about bears. He had lots of company. For quite a long time he sat there watching the rabbits and the squirrels and the birds.
But time was going on and the sun was lower in the sky.
Jonathan knew he must be on his way. So he got to his feet, and his boots went crunch, crunch, crunch on the snow.
All the rabbits went hopping back to the woods. The squirrels looked around with their paws on their hearts. Then, whisk! and away up the trees. The birds flew up into the branches. Jonathan was alone.
CHAPTER 5
Down Hemlock Mountain
Now Jonathan started down the other side of Hemlock Mountain. It was very still and his boots went crunch, crunch, crunch on the snow. Jonathan could look back and see the endless footprints he was making.
It was quiet, so quiet! To keep up his courage Jonathan said to himself, marking time to the sound of his steps on the snow:
THERE are NO BEARS
ON HEMLOCK MOUNTAIN,
NO BEARS, NO BEARS AT ALL,
OF COURSE THERE ARE NO BEARS
ON HEMLOCK MOUNTAIN.
NO BEARS, NO BEARS, NO BEARS, NO BEARS
AT ALL.
He went down the mountain much faster than he had come up. At the bottom he stopped and looked back at the enormous footprints he had made in the snow. There were no other footprints, not any at all. Jonathan had been the only one on Hemlock Mountain. It made him feel lonesome just to think of it.
And as Jonathan stood still, there was a strange, small sound. Drip, drip, drip! The sun was warm on the south side of the mountain and the snow and ice were beginning to melt. Drip, drip, drip from the branches of trees. Drip, drip, drip from the rocks.
It sounds like spring, Jonathan said to himself. It feels like spring. I HOPE THE BEARS DON’T KNOW IT!
CHAPTER 6
Aunt Emma’s House
When Jonathan began to think about spring and about bears, it made him feel the need to hurry.
So he went on, very quickly. Down here on the other side of Hemlock Mountain the sun was even warmer. Drip, drip, drip, went the trees. Jonathan’s boots no longer went crunch on the snow. They sank into it, and he made bigger footprints than before.
Soon he was at his Aunt Emma’s house. By the gate some hungry birds were hopping about on the snow. Jonathan felt in his pockets. Yes, there were a few crumbs. So he threw them to the birds and went round to the back door.
Jonathan lifted the brass knocker and let it fall. How loud it sounded! But it was a cozy, c
omfortable sound, not a lonely one. Jonathan had come over Hemlock Mountain and here he was, safe at his aunt’s house! He began to feel big and noble and brave. Jonathan seemed to grow an inch taller as he stood waiting for his aunt to open the door.
Footsteps came hurrying through the kitchen. The door opened and there was his Aunt Emma. She was wearing a big white apron, and Jonathan hoped she had been cooking. By now he was very, very hungry.
“Mercy sakes, Jonathan!” said his Aunt Emma. “What are you doing here this snowy day? Come in!”
Jonathan went in, but first he shook the snow carefully off his boots. Aunt Emma was a good housekeeper. Then he went into the kitchen. A big fire was burning, and the kitchen was pleasant and warm. The air was full of a good smell. Jonathan sniffed — M-m-m- cookies!
It was quite hard to be polite. But Jonathan sat down in the rocker and tried not to look hungry. He had quite forgotten about the cookies eaten on the way.
“Well,” said his Aunt Emma, “what brings you here?”
“I came to see you, Aunt,” said Jonathan, full of politeness and hunger. The big black cat came and rubbed against his legs. Jonathan stroked her.
“Tush!” said his aunt. “You can’t tell me that you came all the way over Hemlock Mountain just for a visit?” Then she looked at him sharply.
“Jonathan! Did you come all alone over Hemlock Mountain?”
“Yes,” said Jonathan. “Why?”
“Because—” said his aunt.
“Because what?” asked Jonathan.
“Because, nothing.” But Jonathan knew she was thinking about BEARS.
The cat arched her back and purred. Jonathan thought he had been polite long enough. So he allowed himself to give just a small sniff.