Johnny calmly said, "Excuse me, Brother Bear," and crawled back out.

On another time, in the late summer, Johnny was resting at the end of the day. He had built a fire to heat up some cornmeal in his kettle hat. Suddenly, Johnny noticed that the air was full of flying sparks. The sparks headed toward the fire instead of shooting up from it as actual sparks would do. He looked closer and saw the sparks were tiny, buzzing insects. The insects were blinded by the flames and flew into the fire, where they burned.

Johnny jumped up and put out his fire, even though the cornmeal had not yet cooked. It was better to eat cold food, thought Johnny, than to have any living thing die because of his fire.

There are many tales about Johnny's traveling through the forests without any fear of wild animals. One of the stories people tell is about Johnny and a wolf.

One day Johnny was busy gathering certain plants, called herbs, which were useful in curing sick people and animals. He was picking some wild ginger, when he heard a long, whimpering howl.

Johnny turned and saw a large black wolf. The wolf saw Johnny, too, and snarled, but it did not move. Johnny walked toward the animal, saying, "I am a friend, Brother Wolf."

The wolf snarled again, and then Johnny saw that its foot was caught in a steel trap.

"Poor beast," Johnny said. He bent down and worked open the jaws of the trap. "Now you are free," he told the wolf.

The wolf hopped back a step and then fell. The leg, which had been caught in the trap, was bleeding.

Johnny reached out and stroked the wolf's dark, sharp ears. The wolf showed its teeth.