Edison Marshall

“ The cub had never been close to a human being before, and certainly Danny had never seen a bear. They started out their acquaintance with no preconceived prejudices. The best part of it all was that they smelled delightful to each other.
One who has not studied animals cannot imagine how important this point was. Cubs, and in all likelihood babies, judge things sometimes by their taste, occasionally by their feel, often by their sound, and frequently by their appearance; but when they are really in doubt, they rely on their sense of smell. ”

“ What else went on in the minds of either no human being may say for sure. Certainly Danny had not the least idea of being afraid. He scrambled to his feet and ran toward the strange creature, hoping that something interesting would come to pass. Certainly the bear figured out various things about the child, separating him somehow not only from her enemies, but from those lesser creatures of whom she was, by the nature of her dentition, the technical enemy.
Perhaps she found godhead in him. No one knows. Wild beasts have strange ways and inscrutable thoughts. ”

“ Through some queer animal reasoning she decided that she need not be frightened of little Danny. Frightened things are apt to stick spines into one, or inject deadly poison, or nip at one's hamstrings; but creatures who sat quietly, and had bright welcoming eyes, were simply brothers of the wood. As was the case with the cub, he had no prejudices to overcome.
Doubtless, had he known this animal to be a bear, the little boy would have been profoundly frightened, because he had heard a bear story now and again from an imaginative aunt ”

“ If any kind of wild animal smells a man, even for the first time, he can be counted on to separate himself from the malodorous biped with promptness and dispatch. The only exceptions are those of man-eating carnivores and a few other animals whose noses are abnormally inefficient.
Evidently the human smell that animals hate and fear does not develop in children of the age of four, because the bear cub took very kindly to little Danny. ”

“ Boy, I've killed deer for meat, and that's all right, and I've killed varmints for skins and for killing my stock, and that's all right, and I've killed other critters for the fun of killin', and maybe that's all right, too. I don't know. I ain't sure. It's natural, anyhow. What I'm ashamed of is killing things because I thought they ought to be killed. ”

“ Now it happens that human beings have a terribly offensive smell to all wild creatures. This fact does not particularly flatter homo sapiens, but a fact it remains, and we might as well make the best of it. ”