The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Evil Eye Read Online Free PDF Page B

into Big Red Rooster.

    As Ralph made his way back to his houseboat, he thought about hypnotism and the events of the day. Operation Revenge was perhaps just too much of a good thing. But that didn’t mean hypnotism couldn’t be a useful tool in separating folks from their money. He would need more practice, that’s all.
    Ralph was exhausted when he got back to his houseboat. He dragged himself up the gangplank and collapsed in his easy chair. Once again, Squawk, his pet parrot, greeted him with an unwelcome greeting. “Get a regular job! Get a regular job!” squawked Squawk.
    Hmm, more practice, thought Ralph, as he stared at the parrot. He walked over to the parrot, took out his watch, and started swinging it.
    â€œYou are getting sleepy,” said Ralph.
    â€œYou are getting sleepy,” repeated Squawk.
    â€œWhen I say the words ‘evil eye’ you will no longer be yourself,” said Ralph.
    â€œWhen I say the words ‘evil eye’ you will no longer be yourself,” repeated Squawk.
    â€œYou will be Big Barking Dog,” said Ralph.
    â€œYou will be Big Barking Dog,” repeated Squawk.
    â€œAnd so I say evil eye !” cried Ralph.
    No sooner had Squawk repeated the words “evil eye” than Ralph began running around on all fours barking and chewing the furniture. That’s what he was doing when the scouts arrived. The scouts had come to see if Ralph had survived.
    â€œArf! Arf!” barked Ralph, taking a bite out of the easy chair.
    â€œWhat do you suppose happened?” said Fred.
    â€œIt looks to me like Ralph tried to hypnotize Squawk and it backfired,” said Sister.
    â€œRalph,” said Brother. “When I snap my fingers, you will once again be your old rotten self.” Brother snapped his fingers, and once again Ralph was his old rotten self.

    â€œHi, guys,” said Ralph. “What’s happening?”
    The scouts looked at him as if he were some strange creature from a distant planet. “Later,” said Brother as he and the scouts exited the houseboat and headed for their clubhouse.
    The scouts earned their Soil Conservation Merit Badge, and they were very proud of it. But they were just as proud of the fact that they had saved Bear Country from the evil influence of . . .
    THE EVIL EYE!

Chapter 1
Mansion Mishap
    Papa Q. Bear was known far and wide as one of the finest carpenters in all Bear Country. That meant that he always had plenty of customers. In fact, he usually had a waiting list as long as your arm.
    But Papa had one special customer who was always at the top of his list. That customer was Squire Grizzly. Because Papa was the best carpenter in Beartown, Squire and Lady Grizzly wouldn’t let anyone else take care of the woodwork at Grizzly Mansion.
    Over the years Papa had probably done more work for the Grizzlys than for all his other customers put together. That was partly because Grizzly Mansion had so much woodwork. The mansion had dozens of rooms, and in every room there was woodwork on the walls and ceiling. There were also lots of stairways in Grizzly Mansion. Each stairway had wooden steps that sometimes needed repair and also finely carved banisters that had to be cleaned and refinished from time to time. Papa had even replaced damaged banisters on several of the stairways.
    But an even bigger job than Grizzly Mansion’s woodwork was its furniture. Lady Grizzly was a collector of fine old furniture. Every room of the mansion was filled with priceless antiques she had bought over the years. Each time she bought one, she gave it to Papa Bear to take apart, clean, put back together, and refinish. If it was damaged in any way, Papa would repair it with the utmost care.

    There were two reasons Papa took such great care with the antiques from Grizzly Mansion. First, he always took pride in his work. And second, he knew how much Lady Grizzly loved her antiques. The squire spoke often of