Another Canadian folk tale from the author of The Talking Cat (1952) has all the dry quips and dabs of humor needed to verify its incredibility. For it is of a bear who glibly goes off and helps the French win a victory over the Iroquois. Palmed off as the long lost brother of the woodsman who raised him, Alphonse ""that bearded one"", is conscripted, given spy duty and succeeds beautifully.