An episode appeared twice a month
in The Michigan Farmer magazine.
Whitepaw Joins a Circus
"Where had Whitepaw disappeared to?" Jerry asked
Uncle Joe the next day when we visited the tower. Uncle Joe was busy
for a moment and Jerry waited eagerly for a reply.
"When I last saw Whitepaw, everything was coming
along fine. I suppose everything would have continued that way and Whitepaw
would have been back in Friendly Forest within a short time if a black
bear had not escaped from the circus while it was in town that night.
She was Tickles, the trick bear of the circus that rode bicycles, jumped
through hoops, and did other tricks. She had discovered that someone
accidentally left the door of her cage unlatched.
"The circus folks set out to quickly overtake Tickles.
But Tickles wasn't to be so easily overtaken. She was out from behind
the tents before anyone could stop her. She headed right up main street
towards the place where Whitepaw was. Whitepaw must have seen her coming
and, thinking it was his mother and forgetting all about the window,
he must have jumped right through the window. When Tickles was finally
caught, Whitepaw was with her. Not knowing where Whitepaw came from,
and being in a hurry, the circus people just took him along to join
the circus where he, too, was to learn to do tricks.
"The man who was to train Whitepaw began by winning
the friendship of the little bear. The first time he visited Whitepaw
he took a stick of red and white sugar candy. At first he would only
look at the candy but after awhile out came his little red tongue. He
liked the taste and licked and licked and licked. Every day for a week
or more the man came with a stick of candy for Whitepaw. One day the
trainer brought a bicycle to him. The bicycle had wheels about the size
of dinner plates and was just the size of the little bear. It had a
third wheel which kept the bicycle from tipping over. Whitepaw had never
seen a bicycle before, much less ride one, and he kicked and struggled,
his feet going up and down. Little by little Whitepaw learned to stay
on his bicycle. Soon he could make his little feet go up and down and
the bicycle went around and around the platform.
"One day Whitepaw found that something had happened
to his bicycle. It had always had three wheels. Now it had but two.
He was puzzled but got on as usual and his trainer helped him. They
went around and around together several times.
"When Whitepaw was able to ride his bicycle well,
he was given other things to do. The first of these things was to roll
a ball back and forth across the platform. Then he learned that if he
threw the ball on the platform it would bounce up and down. He also
learned to climb a pair of steps and turn somersaults. Finally, Whitepaw
completed his round of tricks.
"Did Whitepaw ever actually act in the circus, Uncle
Joe?" Jerry asked.
"He acted in the circus and became a very good performer,
too, but not for long." Uncle Joe replied.
Click HERE to read "Whitepaw
Returns to Friendly Forest"
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© 2004 Leo VanMeer
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