This was going to be a big day for bear scouts Brother, Sister, and Cousin Fred. To earn their Official Rescue Merit Badges, they had formed a rescue squad. Now all they had to do was find somebody to rescue. "Finding somebody to rescue is no problem at all," said Papa. "You happen to be looking at the world's greatest rescue expert. I have rescued bears from every imaginable danger—roaring fires, raging rivers, terrible earthquakes. Just follow me and we'll find somebody to rescue pretty quick." But when Papa dived into the pond, he found that Gran wasn't over her head at all. There had been a dry spell and the pond had become very shallow. Gran was simply resting on the bottom of the pond, cooling off. "Don't you worry," said Papa after the bear scouts had pulled him out of the muck and hosed him down. "I'll help you earn your merit badges. "Look! Right over there in Farmer Ben's meadow-Farmer Ben's daughter! She's being chased by a bull! To the rescue!" But Papa was wrong again. Farmer Ben's daughter was merely leading Old Bossy out for milking. She wasn't in the bull's pen. Once again the bear scouts got Papa out of trouble—this time by waving their scout hats at the bull, giving Papa a chance to escape. The bear scouts were beginning to wonder if they were ever going to earn their merit badges. "Of course you are!" said Papa. "You're going to have your chance right now! Because there's a poor chap being attacked by a swarm of angry bees!" Once again it was Papa Bear to the rescue. And once again it was Papa Bear in big trouble! The "poor chap" was really Beehive Bruin, the beekeeper, and he wasn't being attacked. He was just tending his bees, which weren't a bit angry. At least not until Papa butted in. The scouts were becoming very discouraged. "If we're going to earn our merit badges today, we're going to have to rescue somebody soon," said Sister Bear. "And you will!" shouted Papa. "Because there's an unfortunate fellow trapped on a narrow ledge. One

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