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Buck Kelly, a foreman at the logging camp, brought the orphaned bear cub into company headquarters and up to Uncle Charles's office.
"I thought I told you to get rid of it," Uncle Charles said.
"I couldn't do it," Buck said. "None of the men could either. So we figured we'd let you do it."
"Give it to me, then," Uncle Charles ordered. The foreman handed over the tiny bear and then stepped back. He said later he thought Uncle Charles might kill the bear right then and there, given his reputation as a very hard man.
Uncle Charles cupped the bear in once hand and examined it. "Don't even have its eyes open yet," he said. "It's a mighty cute littler bugger, though, I'll give it that. You know, Buck, many a critter's been saved for no other reason than the good luck of being cute. Not a few dumb and useless people, too, for that matter. My wife comes to mind."
—The Atlantic Monthly
"Everybody should read Patrick McManus."
—The New York Times Book Review
"A style that brings to mind Mark Twain, Art Buchwald, and Garrison Keillor."
—People
