Strenuous Animals. Veracious Tales by Edwin J. Webster. Illustrated by E. W. Kemble & Bob Addams.

Octavo, red cloth with illus. paper labels to covers, gilt letters, 157 pp. Very Good, with edgewear that includes a small chip to upper spine. Contents: The Imported Grizzly; The Return of the Prodigal; The Fate of the Balloonist Dog; The Spectacled Eagle; The Cable-Laying Ferret; The Downfall of the Pet Frog; The Oil-Loving Dogfish; An Ursine Checker-Player. From story: Tom Wilson's imported grizzly created lamentable havoc among Pike County animals during his short yet strenuous career," said said Deacon Todgers pensively. "But in the end he fell a victim to the intelligence and scientific knowledge of the dean of the local black bears. And when Tom Wilson came to look for the remains of his pet he found that nothing but a patient search over this and the surrounding counties could collect enough for a decent burial. "Tom captured the gizzly out West when it was a cub and had trained it to hunt for him. When the bear was nearly full grown he brought him East and turned him loose on the innocent bears and wildcats of this county. The gizzly had been trained so that he wouldn't eat anything but cooked meat. While active, he wasn't an especially intelligent bear and, not being able to cook his own food, he would turn the proceeds of his hunting expeditions in to Tom Wilson. Tom would deduct a liberal share for the benefit of the person he described as honest Tom Wilson. The rest he cooked and gave to the grizzly. Of course, Tom got all the furs, and the game was as good as a gold mine to him. I remonstrated with him on the wickedness of it. Your bear comes here a stranger from the WEst, I told Tom. The first time he wanders out in the woods the local black bears give him the glad hand, and try to be hospitable and make him feel at home. And how does he repay them for their kindness? By outraging their tenderest feelings and converting happy, peaceable bears into furry corpses. You're teaching him to be a cannibal bear. No good will come of money earned that way. Tom only grunted that the furs seemed to sell for as much as if they were those of bears who had voluntarily committed suicide. So he let his grizzly continue his career of devastation unreproved. There's no denying the grizzly was a wonder when it came to hunting other animals. He was a big Silvertip. Literature, Animal Stories, Illustrated. bb/lh.…