The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Evil Eye
Read The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Evil Eye Online
Authors: Stan & Jan Berenstain
1. Favorite and Least Favorite Things
2. Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen
Excerpt from
The Berenstain Bears Chapter Book: Maniac Mansion
Favorite and Least Favorite Things
Most of us have favorite things: our favorite color, our favorite TV show, our favorite ice cream flavor. Most of us have least favorite things as well, like too much homework, being grounded, and asparagus. And, of course, the folks in Beartown had their favorite and least favorite things.
The Bear Scouts' favorite thing was earning merit badges. They had a whole slew of them on display in their secret chicken coop clubhouse at the edge of Farmer Ben's farm. Their least favorite things were crooks and swindlers (although they sort of liked Ralph Ripoff, Beartown's leading crook and swindler).
Ralph Ripoff's favorite thing was cheating folks out of their hard-earned money; his least favorite thing was getting caught at it (and he'd been getting caught at it quite a lot lately).
Gramps's favorite thing was carving monkeys out of peach pits; his least favorite things were Weasel McGreed and his underground gang of henchweasels. Though McGreed and his underground gang had been quiet lately, Gramps wasn't so sure they'd been wiped out by the earthquake that the mighty and powerful Bigpaw had turned back on them.
Bigpaw had his favorite and least favorite things, too. His favorite thing was to sit on his mountain ledge and play on his giant tree-trunk banjo and sing. Bigpaw's least favorite thing: mosquitoes. That's right. Mosquitoes.
Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen
“Uh-oh,” said Scout Brother when he saw Ralph Ripoff setting up his little swindle table right there in the center of town near the police station. Brother and his fellow scouts had come to do some merit-badge research at the library, which was next to the police station.
“He's been warned to stay out of town with those crooked games and tricks of his,” said Scout Fred.
“Looks like he's selling something,” said Scout Sister.
“Let's go see what it is,” said Scout Lizzy.
A small crowd had gathered around Ralph. The Bear Scouts joined the crowd. “Four-leaf clovers for sale!” cried Ralph. “Four-leaf clovers for sale! Get your four-leaf clovers here! One for a dime! Three for a quarter! Step right up and buy yourself a million dollars' worth of luck for one thin dime!”
Brother stepped right up and said, “Here's a dime, Ralph. I'll take one of those four-leaf clovers.”
“What are you doing?” whispered Sister. “You know what a cheat Ralph is!”
“I know exactly what I'm doing,” said Brother, holding out his dime.
“Well, if it isn't my favorite cubs, the Bear Scouts,” said Ralph. “Here you are! One genuine four-leaf clover, guaranteed to bring you luck. Why don't you get some for your friends? They're three for a quarter,
you know. Then you'll have enough for the whole troop.”
“No thanks,” said Brother. “One will be enough for my purposes.”
“What purposes?” asked Sister.
Brother led the troop off to the side and looked closely at the four-leaf clover. “Just as I thought!” he said. “Leave it to Ralph to know how to make a three-leaf clover into a four-leaf clover!”
“A three-leaf clover into a four-leaf clover?” said Fred. “That's impossible.”
“Not for Ralph,” said Brother. “Here, look.” The rest of the troop looked.
“Well, I'll be!” said Sister.
“How about that!” said Fred.
Here's how Ralph made three-leaf clovers into four-leaf clovers:
1. An ordinary three-leaf clover.
2. Split one of the three leaves down the center.
3. Round off the corners of the split leaf.
