Little Bear Stories, (IA Littlebearstorie00foxf)

LITTLE BEAR
STORIES
LITTLE BEAR
STORIES
By
FRANCES MARGARET FOX
Author of: The Little Bear Books, The Kinder kins,
Janey, and Ellen Jane
Illustrations by
WALT HARRIS
RAND M9NALLY & COMPANY

CHICAGO NEW YORK
Copyright, 1024, by
Rand M9Nally & Company
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The stories in this book

are reprinted by permission of the
Youth's Companion
Made in U. S. A.
DEC -‘3 i924
©C1A815102
l
To my dear little friend
Virginia ffirane
THE STORIES
PAGE
Forget-me-not Trail. 9
Laughing Time.22
Learning to Swim.29
No Place Like Home.36
The Lost Otter Baby.47
The Nearest Way Home.56
The Wildcat Babies ,.66
The Woodchuck Babies.73
Leading the Procession .81
Little Bear Runs Away.91
A Visit to a School.105
Little Bear’s Wish.114
Father Bear’s Gumdrops.122
When Little Bear Bragged.132
Little Bear’s Task.139
Mother Skunk’s Kindness.150
Little Bear’s Errand.15S
The Surprise Party.167
7
Mother Rabbit said nothing to Little Bear, but just winked
and wrinkled her nose
LITTLE BEAR
STORIES
FORGET-ME-NOT TRAIL
NCE a traveling brown bear
came visiting the Three Bears
in their house in the woods.
He was a kind old fellow,
and wise, but fond of joking.
After Little Bear had gone
off to bed, Father Bear and
Mother Bear were visiting
with the stranger by their cozy fireside.
The brown bear said he was pleased
to see one young bear in the forest
who obeyed and went to bed when
he was told.
“And it pleases me,” said the old
brown bear, “to meet a young bear
9
10 LITTLE BEAR STORIES
who doesn’t think that all the bears

in the woods should bow down to him
because he does a good deed ! Young
bears like that are not common.”
No one spoke; so the old bear went
on: “Today I lost my staff over the
cliff, and your son went down and
brought it back to me.”
“Quite right, sir,” said Father Bear.
“Yes,” agreed the old bear, “but
when I wanted to reward him with a
few honey-dried blackberries, he ran
away. As he ran he called merrily
over his shoulder, ‘ Thank you, sir,
but what I did wasn’t worth being
paid for! Please forget it!’”
The old brown bear rose clumsily
and began to fill the pockets of Little
Bear’s trousers with honey-dried black¬
berries. Soon the pockets were full
and the trousers, which hung on a
chair, were weighted down with the
dried fruit.
FORGET-ME-NOT TRAIL 11
After that, Father Bear, Mother

Bear, and the old brown bear talked
about how young bears should be
brought up. The old bear said he
should like to try to find out how
many of the young bears in the forest
were learning obedience. When he
explained what he wanted to do Father
Bear said, “Good, good!” but Mother
Bear was not so sure. She said she
was afraid that even Little Bear might
not stand the test their guest had in
mind.
The next day Father Bear intro¬
duced the brown bear to all the father
bears in the neighborhood. They were
proud to meet so famous a traveler
and gladly agreed to his plan for test¬
ing the young bears. And so the
next day all the young bears in the
neighborhood were called to meet on
Little Bear’s playground. They all
came and behaved very well. Indeed
they were so polite Little Bear almost

felt as if he were among strangers.
He, too, was very dignified and careful.
No mother bears or father bears were
present.
The old brown bear made a speech.
He said he wished to meet all the
young bears in a spot in the wildwood.
There he would have swings ready for
them, he said, and a pool for them to
splash in, and plenty of good things
to eat. He was planning a game for
their parents, too. He called the
game, “Find Your Child.”
“If you choose,” he went on to
say, “you can have a very good
time, whether you are well-behaved
young bears or not, for you will be
kept safe and well amused. But unless
you wish to grieve your parents, obey
their parting words. When I pass in the
morning each of you must be waiting
at his gate. I shall then whisper in
your ear the name of our secret meet¬

ing place. You must at once set out
for it in a bee line.”
The next morning Little Bear was
waiting at the gate when the traveling
brown bear came by. The brown bear
had already called at the other front
gates in the neighborhood.
“Meet me at Jolly Park Glen,”
whispered the old brown bear. “I
shall be there before you, for I shall
travel by the tunnel route. You go
by the bee line. Now, scoot!”
“ Remember, Son Bear,” Father Bear
called, “to be polite to everybody you
meet! If you do a kind deed, remem¬
ber to forget it!”
“Remember to forget it!” called
Mother Bear in a trembling voice.
Mother Bear did not like this special
adventure.
Little Bear nodded, waved his hand,
and hurried along on his bee-line path.
He had not gone far in the forest

when an old squirrel tumbled from an
oak tree and lost all his nuts. Little
Bear stopped to pick them up for him.
An old squirrel tumbled down from an oak tree and lost the nuts
“You are kind, Little Bear, and I

thank you,’’ said the squirrel.
Little Bear answered politely, “Oh,
that was only a pleasure,’’ and at
once forgot that he had done a kind
deed. Then when he looked over his

shoulder to wave his hand he saw a
strange sight. The squirrel was plant¬
ing a forget-me-not.
On ran Little Bear until he found
a lost baby rabbit who was crying
sadly. “Where do you live?” asked
Little Bear.
“Back under the pink wild-rose
bush,” answered the baby rabbit. “Oh,
do carry me home by the ears!”
Little Bear did so, but the mother
rabbit did not even say, “Thank you.”
She spanked the baby rabbit for run-
ping away. Then she calmly chewed
a dandelion leaf, tip-end first, rabbit
fashion. She said nothing to Little
Bear, but just winked and wrinkled
her nose. For a minute Little Bear felt
cross to think he had gone out of his
way to be a nurse for a baby rabbit.
He felt cross because he had not even
been thanked for it.
Then, “Never mind,’’ he said to

himself, and ran merrily on his way.
He turned round to wave his hand at
Little Bear goes traveling down Forget-me-not Trail
the mother rabbit. But she was busy

planting a forget-me-not and did not
see him.
Little Bear did a great many kind
deeds before he reached Jolly Park
Glen, and forgot them all. He let them
slide right off his mind. But he could
not forget that many wildwood folk
were busy planting that morning. He
wondered why they were all planting

forget-me-nots.
Little Bear ran into the glen, dancing
for joy. He had traveled lightly and
happily all the way. Now when he met
the old brown bear in the glen he was
brimming over with good nature.
“Am I the first one to get here?”
asked Little Bear. He didn’t hear the
other bears playing.
“No,” said the old brown bear,
“your young friends are all here. But
they are tired because they carried
unpleasant thoughts on the way.”
Sure enough, there were the other
little bears, sitting around on stumps,
all feeling much too cross to play.
“What is the trouble?” asked Little
Bear.
“We were badly treated on our
journey,” said one. “All the wild-
wood folk wanted us to work for
them. Then, when we did stop once
in a while to help them we didn’t get

any thanks. When we looked back,
instead of tending their gardens, they
were all planting brambles!”
Just then the forest band began to
play. After an hour or two Father
Bear and Mother Bear came into the
glen. Each of them carried a huge
bouquet of forget-me-nots.
“Do you wish to stay here and
play?” asked Mother Bear. She looked
into her son’s face.
“No, thank you,” answered Little
Bear. “There is no fun here, even if
there are swings and a pool.”
The old brown bear served honey,
berries, and ice cream, and then the
Three Bears went back home happy.
As they left the glen the little bears
who were to wait for their parents set
up a howl.
“How did you find me so quickly? ”
asked Little Bear.
“We followed the forget-me-not

trail.’’
“The forget-me-not trail!’’ said
Little Bear in surprise.
“Yes, your footsteps along the bee¬
line path were marked by blooming
forget-me-nots, and so we had no
trouble in finding you.”
Little Bear looked thoughtful. Then
he began to skip and sing as usual.
Late that afternoon Father Bear
came in looking worried. “The bears
in the forest are all in tears,” he said,
“because they cannot follow their
children. Brambles have grown up in
the children’s footsteps. They are so
high and so thick no one can get
through.”
“Oh, why didn’t we ask the name
of the place where their children are
waiting!” cried Mother Bear.
“I know the name!” exclaimed
Little Bear. “It is our old picnic
place, Jolly Park Glen! The father

and mother bears can get there easily
and quickly by the tunnel route. Let
me go and tell the fathers and mothers
about it.”
Little Bear raced off, and soon there
was a tramp of footsteps, slip-slop,
slip-slop, slip-slop! through the tunnel
leading to Jolly Park Glen.
The old traveling brown bear heard
the parents coming. “Good night,
children,” he said to the unhappy
little bears. Then he hurried away,
slip-slop, slip-slop, slip-slop! He left
the honey and berries and ice cream
behind. When the father and mother
bears reached the glen not a single
little bear had tasted a mouthful.
The next day came many, many
grateful father bears and mother bears.
They came to thank Little Bear for
his kindness in coming to tell them
where to find their children.
“Oh, that was nothing!” said Little

Bear. “Please forget it.”
Then politely, but with mischief in
his eyes, Little Bear stuck a sprig of
forget-me-not behind his ear and ran
away to play.
LAUGHING TIME
One morning big Father Bear and

Little Bear went for a walk. Middle-
sized Mother Bear stayed at home to
put the porridge over the fire and have
breakfast ready for them when they
came back.
It was a fine summer morning, and
Father Bear and Little Bear were happy.
They were just beginning to have what
Little Bear called a “laughing time.”
Then something dreadful happened.
Father Bear stepped into a trap!
He was walking along looking at
the tree tops instead of at the ground
under his feet. All at once down he
went, down, down into a deep hole!
Little Bear would have stepped into
the hole, too, if he had not been
chasing a butterfly.
22
LAUGHING TIME 23
“Climb a tree quickly, Son Bear,

so no one can get you,” said Father
Bear. “This looks to me like boys’
work. Up you go, and don’t you cry!”
Up a tree went Little Bear quickly,
and he didn’t cry.
“Boys have done this,” Father Bear
went on. “You see, they dug a deep
hole and put branches across it. Then
they piled earth on top of the branches,
and here I am!”
And just then, out from the bushes
dashed six big boys, laughing and
shouting, “We caught him! We caught
him!”
“He must be a good-natured old
fellow,” cried one of the boys. “He
winked at me as if he would like to
tell us a joke!”
Sure enough, Father Bear winked first
at one boy and then at another until
all were standing beside the trap, laugh¬
ing with him and laughing at him.
But that was not Little Bear’s

laughing time.
After the boys had laughed at
Father Bear and poked fun at him,
they started back to camp to tell their
fathers they had caught one of the
Three Bears in a trap.
“You will soon be traveling with
a circus, Mr. Bear!” one boy called
back. “We shall
bring ropes and tie
you hand and foot.”
And that was not
Little Bear’s laughing
time.
“Now, then,” said
Father Bear to Little
■ Bear when the boys \M!>j
were gone, “we must w!f
work quickly, and
mind you don’t cry!
There is no time for
tears when you are in
LAUGHING TIME 25
trouble. Go and ask

Friend Blue Jay to
call all our neighbors.
And then you, Son
Bear, begin at once to
roll stones and lumps
of earth into this hole
for me to stand on.”
Little Bear went
and did as his father
told him. At once
Friend Blue Jay
spread the news that
Father Bear was in a
bear trap and needed
help. When it was all
over Father Bear said
he didn t know he had
so many friends till
he was in trouble.
The friends al 1
came running from
every direction to help
Little Bear roll stones into the hole

and to throw lumps of earth into it.
All the time Father Bear had to keep
dancing and dodging to keep them from
hitting his feet and head.
But that was not Little Bear’s
laughing time.
Soon so much had been thrown into
the pit that the top of Father Bear’s
head could be seen. Then Little Bear,
Bob and Maria Wildcat, the Beaver
family, the Otters, the Squirrels, the
Chipmunks, and all the other wild-
wood friends worked harder than ever.
Pretty soon they had so many stones
and so much earth in the bottom of
the hole Father Bear said he knew he
could climb out if some of them would
reach down and help him. They
reached down and took hold of him
and pulled hard—and out he came.
At that very moment back came
the men and boys with a rope to
LAUGHING TIME 27
capture big Father Bear and tie him

hand and foot. But when they saw
Father Bear had scrambled out of the
hole and all his friends and neighbors
were walking around him shaking hands,
they ran away. Every boy and man
turned and ran as fast as he could.
The tallest man went flying through the
woods so fast he looked like a straight
line. The fat man hustled along so fast
he might have been taken for a rubber
ball. The boys! They scattered like
autumn leaves before the north wind.
That was Little Bear’s laughing time!
“It was the funniest sight I ever
saw,” he said, when the Three Bears
at last sat down to breakfast.
Ever afterward, when Little Bear
thought of how funny the tall man, the
fat man, and the boys looked running
away from good-natured Father Bear
and their kind neighbors, that was
another laughing time.
All at once the log began to move. Then
LEARNING TO SWIM
Last summer Little Bear went on

a long journey with Father Bear and
Mother Bear. The Three Bears had
a beautiful time walking through the
big forest until they came to the banks
of a deep, swift river. Then there was
trouble, for Little Bear could not
swim, nor did he wish to learn how to
swim. He said he was afraid of the
water.
“Anyway, Father Bear can just as
well carry me over the river,” Little
Bear said.
“Nonsense!” replied big Father
Bear in gruff tones. “Nonsense, my
son ! You are old enough and strong
enough to learn to swim. I will not
carry you across the stream. Neither
shall your mother.”
29
Just then Father Otter came by,

swimming like a seal, and twisting
and turning in the water like a fish.
“Perhaps the good Otter will teach
Little Bear how to swim,” Mother
Bear said, and called to him.
“ It is the easiest thing in the world
to teach a little bear how to swim,”
answered Father Otter. “Just throw
him in ! ” And away he went, laughing
over his shoulder.
“He must be joking,” Mother Bear
said quickly. She was afraid Father
Bear would toss Little Bear into the
river, and she did not like the idea.
At that moment Mother Otter came
swimming down the river with her
children. One of them climbed upon
her shoulders and stared round-eyed
at Little Bear on the river bank.
“Good morning! ” said Mother Bear.
“Good morning!” answered Mother
Otter.
LEARNING TO SWIM 31
“Your children are fine swimmers,”

added Mother Bear.
“Certainly,” replied Mother Otter.
“Every one of them knows that our
people have been famous swimmers,
for ages.”
“ I suppose, then,” said Mother
Bear, “all your children were born
swimmers. You probably had trouble
in keeping them out of the water
when they were babies.”
Mother Otter laughed merrily. Then
she said, “The trouble was to get
them into the water. The silly little
things were afraid. All young otters
are afraid of the water, and you
have to push them into it.”
“You don’t mean it!” exclaimed
Mother Bear, in great surprise.
“ Indeed I do,” replied Mother
Otter. “We had to push every one of
our children into the water. Does
Little Bear know how to swim?”
“No,” answered Mother Bear, shak¬

ing her head. “He is afraid to try.”
“Duck him,” advised Mother Otter.
“Duck him. There is no other way
to teach a little bear to swim.”
And away she went, hurrying down
the stream, to overtake Father Otter.
The little Otters kept looking back,
hoping to see Father Bear toss Little
Bear into the river. But Mother Bear
begged him not to teach Little Bear
to swim that day, so the little Otters
missed the fun.
That night the Three Bears camped
beside the deep, swift river. Little
Bear was soon fast asleep cuddled
down in his bed of leaves and springy
boughs. Then Mother Bear made
Father Bear promise not to toss Little
Bear into the river unless Little Bear
said he wanted him to.
The next morning Father Bear was
sorry he . had made the promise to
LEARNING TO SWIM 33
Mother Bear. He was sorry because

an honest-looking polecat who came
across the stream told Father Bear and
Mother Bear that across on the other
shore the largest, sweetest blackberries
in the forest were ripe.
“But,” whispered Mother Bear to
Father Bear, “aren’t you sorry now
you told him we wouldn’t carry him
over? ”
“Sure enough, I am,” agreed Father
Bear. And then he laughed at the
joke on himself.
“Well,” said Mother Bear at last, “ I
shall coax Little Bear to let you toss
him gently into the river. I shall be
ready to catch him if he cannot swim.”
“ Nonsense! ” grumbled Father Bear.
Then he stopped laughing and said,
“While you coax, I shall go for a
walk.”
But coaxing did not do any good.
When Little Bear saw his father
wander away he told his mother he did

not feel like going into the water that
morning. He hoped she would please
excuse him. So Mother Bear excused
him.
Soon Father Bear came back, smil¬
ing and happy. “I’ve found a bridge
for Little Bear,’’ said he. “An old log
has fallen across the river a little way
upstream. In the woods on the other
side of the stream the blackberries are
almost as big as duck’s eggs. Little
Bear can walk across on the log.”
“All right, I’ll do it,” promised
Little Bear. He followed his father
gladly until the Three Bears reached
the bridge.
Then Little Bear ran ahead and
began skipping joyfully over the log.
He was trying to reach the opposite
bank before his father and mother
could swim across. All at once the
log began to move. Then over it rolled,
LEARNING TO SWIM 35
and sent Little Bear with a great splash

into the river. He knew enough to keep
his mouth shut, and in a little while

up he bobbed, shaking his head to get
the water out of his eyes and his ears
and paddling like a duck. That was
all there was to it. Ever after that,
Little Bear could swim.
Mother Bear believes to this day
that Father Bear knew the log would
roll over. She believes it for, whenever
any one asks him, he says nothing,
but just laughs.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
One morning Mother Bear looked

up from her work just in time to see a
merry-looking young black bear walk¬
ing up the garden path from the river.
He carried a stick over his shoulder, and
a bundle swung from the end of it.
“Who can he be?” asked Father
Bear, in big big-bear tones. As he
.spoke he left his work to look through
the open window.
“Who can he be?” asked Mother
Bear, in middle-sized-bear tones.
“Who can he be?” piped in Little
Bear, in his shrill baby-bear voice. As
the stranger came up the path he sang:
Tra-la-la,
Tra-la-la,
Tra-la-la-la-la.
Oh, let me live in the greenwood,
The greenwood, the greenwood!
36
NO PLACE LIKE HOME 37
Then, with a hop and a skip and a

jump, the merry-looking young bear
came to knock at the Bears’ back door.
Cousin Blueberry Bear out for himself
“Why, Blueberry Bear!” exclaimed

Mother Bear, as the stranger lifted his
cap and walked in. “I didn’t know
you! How you have grown! Why,
Father Bear, this is Cousin Black Bear’s
eldest son! How are you, child?

Come, Little Bear, this is your Cousin
Blueberry! How you have grown,
child! ”
Blueberry shook hands all round.
Then he stood, smiling from ear to ear,
until he was asked to be seated.
“I have left home to look out for
myself,” he said, as he sat down on the
wash bench and laid his bundle beside
him. “ My father told me I had better
camp near you, so I should have some
one to tell me what to do.”
“You shall live right here with us,”
said Mother Bear.
But Blueberry shook his head, say¬
ing, “Father says I am big enough to
begin looking out for myself. I must
be off now to build myself a camp.”
The Three Bears then helped young
Blueberry build himself a camp half a
mile from their house down on the
river trail. When they left him that
afternoon he was gathering sticks for

his camp fire, and singing as he worked:
Tra-la-la,
Tra-la-la,
Tra-la-la-la-la.
Little Bear walked backward until a

bend in the road hid Blueberry’s camp
from sight. Even then he stood still
to listen a little longer to that merry
voice.
“When I get as big as he is, I am
going to look out for myself,’’ he said.
Then he, too, began to sing:
Tra-la-la,
Tra-la-la,
Tra-la-la-la-la.
Every day after that the Three

Bears went to see Blueberry, and every
day Blueberry came to see them. He
used to thump Little Bear on the head

and -say, “How are you, old man?”
But he never played with him. No
swinging in grapevine swings for him,
no running races, no playing skipping
games. He used to push his cap to
the back of his head and talk with
Father Bear about fishing and hunt¬
ing. He talked as if he were old enough
to be the grandfather of the whole
family.
Little Bear liked to have Blueberry
thump him hard on the head and say,
“How are you, old man?” He used
to wish and wish he were tall enough
to thump back. But Little Bear could
not reach the top of Blueberry’s head
without standing on a stump
After Blueberry came to camp in
the forest, Little Bear began to talk
about leaving home and looking out
for himself. He talked about it from
morning until night. As he talked he
walked round with a stick over his

shoulder, singing his loudest:
Tra-la-la,
Tra-la-la,
Tra-la-la-la-la.
Blueberry laughed when he heard
about it. One day, after talking with
Father Bear, he thumped Little Bear
on the head and said:
“Old man, why don’t you live
with me, and learn to look out for
yourself? ”
“For always?’’ asked Little Bear.
‘‘ Surely,’’ was the answer. “You are
big enough. Pack up and come along.”
“Shall I run away? Do you mean
that?”
“Certainly not! Never run away
from home. Ask your father and your
kind mother. Then start out like a
brave young bear.”
Little Bear was surprised when Father

Bear said, “You may go, my son,” and
Mother Bear said, “Yes, you may go.”
So he went, with a stick over his
shoulder and a bundle swinging from
the end of it. And as he went down
the trail he sang the same old song
of the greenwood.
Blueberry Bear welcomed Little
Bear with open arms. All that first
day Little Bear had a merry time.
By night he was so tired that he went
to sleep before the Man in the Moon
looked down upon the camp.
The next day the Two Bears came
visiting. They found Little Bear
getting sticks for the camp fire and
having a merry time. Mother Bear,
when she went home, walked backward
until she reached the bend in the river
road. Even then she stood still for a
moment listening to Little Bear sing¬
ing in his shrill, happy voice.
That night at bedtime Blueberry

said to Little Bear, “Old man, I may
get up after moonrise and go fishing.
Do not worry about me if you wake
up and find I am not here.”
Little Bear did wake up in the
moonlight. Blueberry was not in his
bed. Little Bear did not worry about
him, but he did want his mother. He
wanted her so much that he stepped
lightly out into the moonlight and
started on the jump for home. When
halfway there he ran bump into a big,
soft somebody. It was his mother!
“O Mother Bear!” cried Little
Bear, with both arms around her big
soft neck. “How did you ever know
I wanted you?”
“I didn’t know you wanted me,”
was her answer. “But I wanted you
so much I was coming after you.”
Then the two laughed so merrily
that Blueberry heard them and came
running, for he was near by, fishing

in the river.
At once Little Bear jumped upon
a stump and thumped Blueberry hard
on the shoulder. “Old man,’’ said he,
“I am going home with my mother.
She needs me, and I need her. We
can’t get along without each other.
I don’t care if you do laugh.”
“I’m not laughing,” said Blueberry.
“Do you think I should be so far
from home if I had a mother? No,
sir-ree! But I have no mother. If
I had, big as I am and grown up, I
should toss my fish pole over the
moon and start for home this minute.”
“Come with us tonight. Blueberry,”
said Mother Bear gently, “and sleep on
the couch at our house. It will be
pleasanter going back to camp in the
sunshine than by moonlight.”
So that night Blueberry slept on
the couch in the Three Bears’ house.
In the morning sunshine he went back

to camp, singing merrily:
Tra-la-la,
Tra-la-la,
Tra-la-la-la-la.
As for Little Bear, he danced all
that day and sang the old-home tune
with Father Bear and Mother Bear:
Ta-de-dum,
Ta-de-dum,
Ta-de-dum-dum-dum!
Little Bear had learned there is no
olace like home.
THE LOST OTTER BABY
One morning, while Little Bear

was out camping with his father and
mother, he went into the woods to
pick daisies and bluebells. His hands
were full of flowers, and he was ready
to go back with them to his mother,
when he heard a baby crying. Little
Bear stood still and listened. Then
he knew that the crying child was an
Otter baby. He had heard Otter
babies cry before.
“What is the matter, baby?’’ called
Little Bear. “What are you crying
about, and where are you? Did you
bump your nose?”
“I’m lost! Come and find me!”
answered Baby Otter.
“ I see you hiding behind the oak
stump!” exclaimed Little Bear, as he
47
scrambled through the thicket and

fairly pounced upon Baby Otter. “I
spy!” he shouted.
“It isn’t a game!” whimpered the
Otter baby. ‘‘I tell you I’m lost! I
don’t know where my mother went,
and I can’t find my father! I want
to go home, I do! Oh, boo-hoo-hoo!”
“There, there, don’t cry,” said Little
Bear. “Tell me where your home is,
and I’ll take you there just as fast
as we can go.”
“But we do not live here !” whined
the lost Otter baby. “Our home is
Brookside, a long way off across
country. We are only camping out,
and I do not know where our camp
is ! Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo ! ”
“Come, come, cheer up!” said Little
Bear, using the very words his father
often used in speaking to him. “ I
tell you I will take you home. If it
is too far away I’ll ask my father to
THE LOST OTTER BABY 49
go. We are camping out, ourselves,

down the river a little way. Now tell
me how you got lost.”
So the Otter baby told him that
the Otter family had gone out walking
that morning, after breakfast. While
they were laughing and chatting Baby
Otter had strayed away from the path
to pick flowers. The next thing he
knew he was alone, and, not knowing
what else to do, he had sat down and
cried.
“Well, wipe your eyes now, and
give me your paw!” said Little Bear
in big, grown-up tones. “My father
showed me an otter camp only yester¬
day. If you are one of the campers
you live only a little way from here.
I can take you home.”
Of course Baby Otter wiped his
eyes and walked happily behind Little
Bear. He traveled in single file, otter
fashion.
4
Now Father Bear had been teaching

Little Bear how to follow the woods
round stumps and under logs. Besides,

their legs were so short and their
bodies so heavy they always left well-
worn trails behind them.
At last Little Bear reached the end
of the crooked path. There, without
so much as saying “Thank you!’’ to
Little Bear, Baby Otter ran to the
cave by the river bank where his family

was camping out.
“Some people always forget their
manners,” said Little Bear to himself,
as he ran home to tell his father and
mother what he had done.
“ I am glad you were good to the
baby,” said Little Bear’s mother. She
took the bluebells and daisies he had
brought and put them into a hollow
stump beside the cave door. She had
filled the stump with water from the
spring while Little Bear was gone.
“The flowers are lovely!” said
Mother Bear. “Now please run into
the woods for some green leaves and
vines to put with them.”
Before Little Bear could do as she
told him, Uncle John Kingfisher came
flying to invite the Three Bears to a
party. “The Otters,” said he, “request
your presence at a fish dinner. Come
now.”
“We thank you for your kindness.

Uncle John Kingfisher,” said Father
Bear. “We shall start at once. Come,
Little Bear, wash your hands and face
and get ready.”
That is how it came about that
the Three Bears dined with the Otters
that day on trout, salmon, and eels.
They were served with only one bite
from each fish, and that bite taken
from the meat just behind the head.
Mother Bear thought the Otters chose
only one dainty morsel from each fish
just because they had invited company
for dinner. But Father Bear told her
she was mistaken. The Otters always
serve fish in that way when fish are
plentiful.
After dinner the Otters and their
guests rested for a while. Then Father
Otter invited the children to come
out and play with him and Mother
Otter. Much surprised, the Three Bears
followed the Otters to their playground.

And the next Father Bear and Mother
Bear knew, Little Bear was sliding
down the Otters’ toboggan slide and
shouting with glee. All the Otters

went lickety-split down that slide, one
behind the other, landing splashety-
splash ! in the river below.
And it was a wonderful sight to see
them swimming about in the stream.
The Otters are beautiful swimmers.
But what Father and Mother Bear
liked best was watching Little Bear.

He ran up the roundabout path to the
top of the bank and went down the
slide three times as fast as the Otter
children and their parents. The Otters
were more at home in the water than
Little Bear, but they could not run on
land as he could.
Their next game they played with
sticks. One Otter took the end of a
stick in his mouth and another Otter
took the other end, then they pulled
and pulled to see which was the
stronger. Little Bear did not like
that game so well as he did the
toboggan slide.
At last it was time to go home.
“We have had a lovely time at your
party,” said Mother Bear to Mother
Otter, “and we thank you for invit¬
ing us over. If you ever wander into
our home woods, be sure and come to
our house and have porridge with us.”
“We shall be glad to do so,” said

Mother Otter. “And we shall always
think kindly of Little Bear because he
brought our baby home when he was
lost. If we do go to visit you, you
must let us make Little Bear a tobog¬
gan slide.”
“Ask them to come as soon as we
get home!” Little Bear whispered to
his mother. But he whispered so loud
the Otter children heard what he said
and laughed.
And that night Little Bear dreamed
of taking home a baby Otter and of
being invited to slide down that baby
Otter’s toboggan slide all the afternoon.
THE NEAREST WAY HOME
One day Little Bear was playing

alone in a sunny clearing in the old
forest. He was wishing a wish with his
eyes shut. “This is the wish I wish,”
said he. “ I wish some one would come
and play with me.”
Then Little Bear opened his eyes,
and his wish came true.
Into the sunny clearing came four
little Deer children. At first they
stepped timidly into Little Bear’s
playground. But when they saw he
was alone, and heard him sing, they
knew they had nothing to fear. They
knew he wished them to come.
“What is your name?” Little Bear
asked the tallest Deer child.
“My name is Lightfoot,” was the
answer, “because I can run fast.”
56
THE NEAREST WAY HOME 57
“My name is Fleetfoot,” said the

next Deer in size, “because I can run
fast, too.”
“ Swimmy is my name,” piped up the
third Deer child, “because I like to swim.”
Now the fourth little Deer, the
baby one, had stayed behind. His three
cousins looked back to see what he was
doing. They saw him on his knees
smelling white violets that grew in a
mossy bed.
“What is the name of the baby
one? ” asked Little Bear.
“His name is Wonder,” Lightfoot
replied, “because he always wonders
about everything, and then we laugh.”
At that very moment Baby Wonder
ran across the clearing as lightly as a
soap bubble. Just in front of Little
Bear he stopped suddenly and smiled.
“I’d like to hug you, Baby Deer,”
said Little Bear, “for your eyes are so
soft and brown, and I love you!”
“I wonder what your name is?”

were the first words that Baby Deer
said to Little Bear. Then Lightfoot,
Fleetfoot, Swimmy, and Little Bear
all laughed.
“My name is Little Bear,” was the
answer. ‘‘This is my playground.”
“I wonder if you know about us?”
was Baby Deer’s next question. And
then he began to dance lightly, hoppity-
skip, hoppity-skip, round a fairy ring.
‘‘No, I do not, but I hope you
will all play with me,” Little Bear
cried. And he began dancing, hoppity-
skip, hoppity-skip, round another fairy
ring.
‘‘We are campers,” said Lightfoot,
‘‘and for a few days we’re camping a
little way from your house.” And he,
too, found a fairy ring and danced,
hoppity-skip, hoppity-skip, around it.
There were merry doings after that
all the afternoon. When Little Bear
said, “Let us play ‘Ring around a

Rosy,’” that was the game. Then
Fleetfoot wanted to play “London
Bridge,” and then “London Bridge”
was the game. So all the afternoon
they played one game after another,
until Lightfoot said he would like to
run races.
Now Little Bear did not want to
run races with the Deer children. He
knew he could not run fast enough to
keep up even with Baby Wonder. But
at once he picked up a stick and drew
a line in the soft earth.
“All stand in a row!” rang out his
happy voice. “ All stand in a row until
I say ‘Go.’ One, two, three, go!”
Off they went. Little Bear did his
best to run fast, but soon Lightfoot,
Fleetfoot, Swimmy, and Wonder left
him far behind. At last Little Bear was
quite out of breath. Then the Deer
children hurried back to the goal and
CO LITTLE BEAR STORIES
\
waited for him to rest. Then off they
all ran, calling joyfully, “Can’t catch
me! Can’t catch me!”
Little Bear could not catch one of
the Deer children. But he tried hard
to catch them, and ran on and on,
not knowing where they were going.
Several times they crossed the river
on stepping-stones and on bridges of
fallen trees.
At last they came to a place where
the river was deep and wide. Little
Bear would go no farther. The sun
was fast sinking behind the distant
hills, and he knew he was lost. When
Little Bear would not follow, the Deer
children came back, because Baby
Wonder wished to know why Little
Bear stopped playing.
“We are lost, and we must find
ourselves, ” said Little Bear.
“Let us try the river,” said Swimmy.
“Can you swim, Little Bear?”
THE NEAREST WAY HOME Cl
“ I can swim in a good swimming

place,” answered Little Bear. “But
I’m afraid to — to try it here.”
Then to Little Bear’s great dismay,
the Deer children began to whimper
and cry, “We’re lost! We’re lost!
We cannot find ourselves! We’re lost
and cannot find ourselves!”
“Don’t cry! Stop this minute!”
cried Little Bear. “My father says
when you are in trouble you must be
brave so you can think. So please
stop crying, so I can think!”
The Deer children at once stopped
crying so Little Bear could think.
“ Now, I wonder what you’ve thought
of? ” little Wonder asked at last, and
all the others laughed.
“I’ve thought that I’ll climb this
tall tree and look around to see if I can
find a short way home,” answered Little
Bear. Then up he went. He knew
that Deer children cannot climb trees.
LITTLE BEAR STORIES
When
Little Bear
reached the
top of the
tree, he put up his paw
to shade his eyes and
looked across the river.
Just across the river; a
little to the east, he saw
his house in plain sight.
And just beyond that he
saw the Deer’s camping
ground with the fire
burning brightly.
Little Bear was
afraid to try to swim
across that wide, deep
place in the river. He
did not like to go all by
himself the long way
home through the woods
to the nearest bridge.
If he told all the truth,
he knew the Deer children would swim

straight across the river and expect
him to follow. If he kept still, he
could lead them home safely and have
company himself.
Just then Baby Wonder said, “I
wonder if you know what a good Little
Bear you are! ”
“Oh, dear me!” murmured Little
Bear. Then he told the Deer children
their camp was just across the river.
Before he could even tell them which
way to go on the other side, they
slipped into the river and swam across
to the farther shore.
“Come along, Little Bear, corne
along!” They called so loud they
didn’t hear him shouting to them
which way to go. They must not go
toward the sunset, for that was the
trail to Farmlands.
Then Little Bear made a horn of his
hands and shouted after the children
to come back. But he leaned too far

over and fell with a great splash into
the deep pool. The next thing he knew
he was swimming toward the bank.
He had not known he could swim that
easily.
“Now I suppose I must run after
the Deer children and try to call them
back,’’ he thought. Just then he saw
them standing still, waiting for him.
“Come along! Come along!” they
shouted. “We’ll give you a good
start! ”
Then how Little Bear laughed!
He pointed the way home, and the
race began with Little Bear far, far
ahead. On came the four Deer children,
jumping over rocks and brambles and
stumps. But Little Bear reached his
own gate first and won the race.
That night Baby Wonder came to
the Three Bears’ home with a basket
in his hands.
“My mother,” said he, “sent the

sweetest blackberries she could find in
the woods for Little Bear’s supper.

I wonder why?”
Mother Bear also wondered why.
But when she gave Baby Wonder
four honey cakes to take home she
kissed him. And she kissed Little
Bear, too.
5
THE WILDCAT BABIES
One time the Wildcat babies ran

away. It was late in the afternoon
when Little Bear found them crying
beside the brook. They were not far
from home, but they were on the
wrong side of the brook.
“Swim across!” cried the Beavers.
But the baby Wildcats were afraid of
the water and would not try to swim.
“Wade in, wade in!” said Father
Deer. The baby Wildcats would not
wade into the water. They shook
their front paws. They did not like
to get wet.
“Slide right in and paddle over!”
called out Mrs. Otter. But the baby
Wildcats would not slide in and paddle
over. They were afraid of the water.
They did not like to get wet.
66
THE WILDCAT BABIES 67
“Float over, float over!” said the

Ducks. But the baby Wildcats would
not even try to float.
“Jump on a log and spread your
tails wide and sail across!” said the
Red Squirrel. But the Wildcat babies
did not dare jump on a log. They
were afraid the log would roll over
and dump them into the water.
By the time Little Bear came along,
the baby Wildcats were spilling big
tears into the brook and crying at the
top of their voices. Little Bear could
not help laughing at them. But he
felt sorry for his little neighbors, and
made up his mind to help them. He
thought and thought and thought and
thought. At last he asked the baby
Wildcats how they came to be so near
home and yet on the wrong side of
the brook.
“Mother went away and didn’t
come back,” Yowler said, “and I said
we ought to stay home and be good,

but—”
“He did not!” cried Billy Wildcat.
“He said, ‘Ma will never know if we
go walking just a little way,’ didn’t
he, Mewey?”
“Yes, he did,” answered Mewey.
“And we walked and we walked
until we were lost—and Yowler was
the worst one of us. Why, why,
Yowler! Yes, you were!”
“Now don’t quarrel,” said Little
Bear. “ I want to know how you
came to be on the wrong side of
the brook.”
“Yowler, he made us cross the
away-off-seven-mile bridge,” was
Owley’s answer.
“ If you don’t stop quarreling, I
shall leave you,” scolded Little Bear.
“And now I know what to do. If
you will be good, we will build a
bridge. I’ll carry big stones and drop
them into the brook, and every one

of you shall bring little stones.”
So at once Little Bear began build¬
ing a bridge of stones. It was hard
work, but he tugged at rocks and
rolled stones and lifted stones. He
splashed and worked and worked and
splashed until at last there was a fair
bridge of stones across the singing
brook. The baby Wildcats did not
help much because they were too busy
quarreling and crying.
“Now step over,” said Little Bear,
“and be careful you do not slip.”
One by one the little “’fraid cats,”
stepping high, and careful not to slip,
crossed the brook safely. At last
Little Bear left them at their own
door, just as Mother Wildcat came
home.
“You naughty children!” she cried.
“ I have hunted over the woods far
and near for you! There is a circus
man wandering round here, and it is

a wonder he didn’t find you! Scoot
into the house this minute!”
“Little Bear is good!” piped up
the shrill voice of little sister Mewey.
“ He made a stone bridge for us and
brought us home!” Little Bear loved
her for owning up like that.
“Well,” said Mrs. Wildcat, “if he
knows what is good for him, he’ll be
glad to have me take him home. If
I don’t the circus man may get him.”
Little Bear did know what was
good for him, so he gladly put his
little wet paw into Mrs. Wildcat’s paw
and trotted off by her side. Mrs.
Maria Wildcat was cross but she
meant well, and he knew it. Some
folks are always cross when they are
worried. Anyway, she took Little
Bear home. Great was Little Bear’s
surprise when, on reaching his own
gate, Mrs. Wildcat stopped and said,
“Mer—rrow! Mer—rrow!” in her most

impolite fashion.
Father Bear and Mother Bear came
running down the path from the house
to see what was the matter. At that
very moment up jumped the circus
man from beside the gate, where he
had been hiding, and ran away. He
ran as fast as he could go, flying
down the road so fast he looked like
a straight line.
For the first time in his life Little
Bear kissed Mrs. Maria Wildcat good
night without being told. And all
that evening until bedtime he and
Father Bear played a merry game of
Mrs. Maria Wildcat scaring a circus
man — “Mer—rrow! Mer—rrow!
Mer — rrow!”
THE WOODCHUCK BABIES
Little Bear loved the old Ground

Hog, whose other name is Woodchuck.
The reason he loved him was that
every year, on the second day of
February, Mr. Ground Hog wakes
from his long winter’s sleep, comes out
of his hole, and goes out for a walk.
If he sees his shadow, back to bed he
goes, to sleep six weeks more. If he
doesn’t see his shadow, he travels
joyfully about, telling the world spring
has come.
Little Bear liked to get up early
in the year, while there was still snow
on the ground. That’s another reason
why he loved the old Ground Hog.
In the fall old Ground Hog used to
wink at Little Bear and promise,
“Yes, yes, Little Bear, I’ll call your
73
father early, if I do not have to go back

to bed myself for another long nap.”
Little Bear loved the Woodchuck
babies. Sometimes the babies played
in the woods with him all day long.
But he always wondered why they
laughed when he would say, “Little
Woodchucks, my mother is calling
me. It is time now to run home to
your mother.”
At last the gayly dressed Blue Jay
told Little Bear that Woodchuck
babies have to take care of themselves
as soon as they are a few weeks old.
Little Bear was wondering about this
and feeling sorry, when Father Ground
Hog came along and told him it had
always been that way in the Wood¬
chuck family. He said no harm comes
to little Woodchucks if they mind
their parents and stay in the woods.
If they visit farmers’ gardens and eat
the farmers’ beans and peas they’re
THE WOODCHUCK BABIES 75
often shot or caught in traps or killed

by dogs.
“ So long, Little Bear, as our children
stay in the woods or in the meadows,
and eat grass and clover,” he said,
“they are safe and happy. You never
saw a little Woodchuck crying!”
Little Bear laughed and said no,
he never had seen a baby Woodchuck
crying.
“I’ll take care of the Woodchuck
babies,” he promised their father, “if
you will tell me what traps are like,
so I can look for them.”
“Very well,” said Father Wood¬
chuck. “ I will tell you how a steel
trap works. It lies on the ground like
an open book, only it is hidden by
grass and leaves. In the middle of
the trap is a little pan, and on that
pan lies something good to eat. When
the little Woodchuck sees the good
thing to eat he tries to get it, and in
trying to get it steps on the pan or

presses it down with his nose. Snap!
the spring shuts quickly, and the little
fellow is caught fast in the trap. He
can’t get away by pulling the trap
with him, for it is fastened by a chain
to a log or an old stump.”
The old Woodchuck then walked
away slowly, chuckling to himself.
He was really laughing at Little Bear,
for he didn’t believe there was a steel
trap in all the old woods.
Little Bear had told his father and
mother about his talk with their old
friend. Then he asked, “What shall
I do if I find a trap? ”
Father Bear didn’t think for a
moment that Little Bear would ever
find a trap in the forest. So he laughed
and said, “Take a long thick stick,
Little Bear, and let the stick step on the
pan and get caught. Then for a while
the trap cannot catch anything else.”
“I’ll do it,” promised Little Bear.

“I’ll look and look and look for
traps. Then the baby Woodchucks
will always be safe.”
“If you ever should find a trap,”
said Mother Bear, “be careful to
stand a long way off from it when
you poke the stick on the pan. Do
it this way.” And Mother Bear did
her best with a broom to show Little
Bear how to spring a trap.
She looked so funny, leaning over,
thumping the floor with a broom, that
Little Bear laughed and forgot to feel
sorry for the young Woodchucks.
Father Bear laughed, too, and when
he laughed of course Mother Bear
laughed. Then right away the three
had a jolly dance.
The next time Little Bear took the
baby Woodchucks to play in his play¬
ground he looked and looked and
looked for a trap. Sure enough, he
Little Bear finds a trap lying in
found one. It was lying in the grass,

a tempting bit of honeycomb, just
dripping with honey. For a moment
he thought of nothing except the
honey, and was about to tell the baby
Woodchucks to help themselves. Then
he thought, “What if there should be
a trap under it to catch them!” So
he cried out, “Wait a moment!” and
held back the baby Woodchucks.
Sure enough, when he poked away
the leaves and grass, there was the
trap, and there was the chain fastened
to a stump! It was such a big trap
Little Bear did not dare spring it with
a stick. So home he ran for his father
and mother to come and show him how
to do it.
When Father Bear saw the trap he
looked carefully into the bushes, and
then, before Little Bear had time to
wink, away Father Bear went, rushing
through the bushes! The next thing
Little Bear knew he saw four big boys

running like deer through the woods!
Father Bear came running back,
out of breath and laughing. Then
he put the end of his cane on the
spring and—clang! went the big trap.
“Little Bear,’’ said Father Bear
quietly, “it is a good thing for you
and for all of us that you took such
good care of the little Woodchucks.
That is a bear trap, and those boys
were trying to catch you. But I
frightened them badly, and they will
never, never come to your playground
again.’’
Sure enough, the boys never did.
As for the baby Woodchucks, they
thanked Little Bear for showing them
how to look out for traps, and for a
long time they all lived happily
together.
LEADING THE PROCESSION
Little Bear was not always good.

Once he was very, very selfish in his
heart. It was the time the Oak Tree
Squirrel families at North Bend lost
their winter store of nuts. During a
terrible storm in the forest, all the
trees at North Bend were blown to
the ground and the old oak tree was
swept away down the river, nuts
and all.
There were no lives lost. But what
were the squirrels to eat that winter
now all their nuts were gone? The
old oak tree had a big hollow trunk.
In the bottom was a storeroom for
nuts. When the old oak was swept
away not a nut was saved. Bushels
and bushels and bushels of nuts went
with it. The work of many busy
6 81
squirrels during a long autumn was

lost.
Father Bear and Mother Bear were
sorry to hear of the trouble that had
come to the merry-hearted squirrels.
So were all the friends and neighbors.
At last Nimby Chipmunk—Nimby is
short for Nimble—made a speech. He
asked if all the nut gatherers would
not give a share of their own nuts to
the squirrels, to help them through the
long winter. Squirrels up the river and
squirrels down the river, squirrels who
lived in holes in the ground, chipmunks
from far and near, even the blue jays,
gladly promised to share their acorns.
“ Now,” said Nimby Chipmunk, “ let
us ask the forest band to play. Then
we will march to North Bend with
our gifts.”
The leader of the forest band at
once promised that the band should
furnish music for the procession.
LEADING THE PROCESSION 83
In a short time after that news of the

plan to help the Oak Tree Squirrels
was the talk of the forest.
Then said Father Bear, “Let us all
have a share in this good work. Let
all the friends and neighbors of the
forest gather nuts for the North Bend
Squirrels. I shall be glad to carry
them a big basket full.”
“ I shall be glad to carry my middle-
sized basket full.” said Mother Bear.
“I shall be glad to carry my wee,
wee basket full,” piped up Little Bear.
Then he was selfish in his heart.
He wished he might lead the procession.
Little Bear wanted to be first when
all the friends and neighbors marched
through the greenwood with banners
waving, with bugles blowing, and with
silver trumpets sounding. Yes, he
would be first!
The great day came at last. The
friends and neighbors met in the forest
to form in procession for the march

to North Bend. Father Bear was there
with a big, big basket of big nuts.
Mother Bear was there with a middle-
sized basket of middle-sized nuts.
Little Bear was there with a wee, wee
basket of nuts, and a selfish feeling
in his heart. He would be first!
There was much talking and laugh¬
ing and bowing and smiling. All the
musicians who belonged to the band
were tuning their instruments, making
wonderful music. It sounded like
raindrops falling on forest leaves, like
soft winds blowing at sunset, like the
whispering of tree tops after a storm.
Sweet sounds were calling, calling, up
the scale and down the scale.
Little Bear felt more selfish every
minute as he danced about and
listened. He would be first!
Truth to tell, Little Bear did not
know how to be first. He knew better
than to push and crowd and quarrel,

like the Wildcat babies, to get what
he wanted. He knew better than to
say to his father or his mother, “ I
want to be first!”
Nimby Chipmunk and his family
were in charge that day. So Little
Bear didn’t stay beside his father and
mother, but followed Nimby Chip¬
munk now here, now there, until what
he hoped might happen did happen.
When Nimby Chipmunk said at
last, “Now, who shall lead the proces¬
sion?” there before him stood Little
Bear, carrying a wee, wee basket of nuts
and looking ever so sweet and happy.
“Little Bear shall lead the proces¬
sion,” said Nimby Chipmunk. “Little
Bear shall be first.” Then to Little
Bear he said, “You will know where
to turn, because the way is lined with
crowds of people waiting to see the
procession go by.”
So Little Bear was first. Yet he was

a wee bit disappointed. He had thought
the band would lead the way, the band
that was even then beginning to play.
Three hundred grasshoppers and
three hundred crickets were all playing:
Fiddle-dee-dee! Fiddle-dee-dee!
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee, dee-dee-dee!
as they stood in their green carriage.
Frogs were playing their banjos:
Kerplunk-plunk-plunk! Kerplunk-plunk-plunk!
Plunkety, plunkety, plunk, plunk, plunk!
The partridge drummers were there,
beating their drums:
Whir-whir-whir!
Whir-whir-whir!
Boom, boom, boom-boom-boom!
The beavers kept time with their
tails:
Kersplash, bump-bump!
Kersplash, bump-bump!
Bump, bump, bump-bump-bump!
The katydids were there, playing:

Katydid-did-did! Katydid-did-did!
She did, she didn’t, she did!
But Little Bear was first, and he

had to march ahead of the band and
the procession. All he could hear after
a few minutes was the soft footfalls of
those marching behind him:
Pitpat! Pitpat-pat!
Pitpat! Pitpat-pat!
He felt sober and grown up. He

dared not look either to the right or to
the left. He dared not take little skip¬
ping steps. But it was fine to be first!
He held his head high, marching soberly
to the tune of the falling feet behind him:
Pitpat! Pitpat-pat!
Pitpat! Pitpat-pat!
Soon he was lonely. Then he was

very, very lonely. At last Little Bear
stepped back, and Father Rabbit took
his place, hopping, hopping, hippity¬

hopping! Then Little Bear stepped
back again, and changed places with
Uncle John Reynard. Then he kept
dropping back and back, until he was
behind the band, prancing and dancing
and having a perfectly beautiful time.
Soon Little Bear found he couldn’t
see all he wished to see and still walk
fast enough to keep up with the band.
“Step along, Little Bear, step
along,” called the people, watching
from the bushes.
But Little Bear did not step along
fast enough to keep up with the band.
There was so much fun going on to
the right and to the left, and so much
to see, and so many little skipping
steps to take, that he dropped back
and back. At last he was at the end
of the procession. There he found
Father Bear marching with his big,
big basket of big nuts, and Mother
Bear marching with her middle-sized

basket of middle-sized nuts.
“It is no fun to be first,” Little Bear
said, as he marched behind Mother
Bear. He swung his wee basket of nuts,
and danced along as he could not do
at the head of the procession.
All that long, happy afternoon at
North Bend, the grateful Squirrels
looked for Little Bear to shake hands
with him and to tease him. They
wanted to laugh at him because he
fell back and back until he was last in
the procession. But Little Bear said to
all, “It’s no fun to be first!”
LITTLE BEAR RUNS AWAY
The Three Bears had never visited

Blueberry Plains in blueberry season.
Little Bear couldn’t understand why.
He had teased and teased to go
while the berries were ripe. The Plains
were not very far from home. The
Three Bears had often gone away on
much longer journeys just for a picnic.
“ I could start in the morning and
get there before sunset walking just
like this!” bragged Little Bear, march¬
ing slowly down to the gate and back,
and looking as if nothing ever could
make him hurry.
Father Bear and Mother Bear
laughed. But, even so, Father Bear
said severely, “This family is never
going to Blueberry Plains on a pleasure
trip during blueberry season. Now I
91
do not wish to hear another word

about it!”
“Try to get Blueberry Plains out
of your mind,” said Mother Bear.
“You see, pickers are there when the
berries are ripe, and it is no place for
a little bear. Go roll downhill in a
barrel, and forget all about it.”
Usually Little Bear liked the fun of
rolling downhill in a barrel, but today
he felt all out of sorts and cross.
So he sat on a big stone with his chin
in his paws. He sat still and did
nothing but think how he longed to
visit Blueberry Plains, where the berries
grew so thick the land looked all sky-
blue. He had heard robins tell great
tales of their doings at Blueberry Plains
when berries were ripe.
At last Little Bear made up his
mind and whispered softly to himself,
“ I shall run away some day and visit
Blueberry Plains.”
LITTLE BEAR RUNS AWAY 93
Next he said a bit louder, “ I shall

run away some day and visit Blue¬
berry Plains.”
Little Bear thought those words
Auntie Cinnamon's twins came to play with Little Bear
sounded very brave, so he walked to

the grapevine tangle and shouted, “ I
shall run away some day and visit
Blueberry Plains.”
Early the next morning Auntie
Cinnamon’s twins came to play with
him. Just for fun, when the twins
were starting toward home, Little Bear

said to them, “ I am going to run
away some day and visit Blueberry
Plains.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” exclaimed
the twins together.
“I would too,” contradicted Little
Bear.
“Our folks never go there when
berries are ripe,” said one of the twins.
“Theil pickers are thicker there than
berries.”
But Little Bear laughed and said,
“Who’s afraid of pickers!”
Next day Little Bear sneaked out
of bed in the early, early morning and
ran away. He met Yowler Wildcat on
his way to the spring for a drink of
water.
“Yowler,” said Little Bear, “I wish
just about noon you would go tell
my folks I’ve run away to Blueberry
Plains. Maybe I’ll never come home.
I don’t want my folks to cry and feel

badly. So you tell them, if you please,
where I am.”
“But, Little Bear,” Yowler put in,
‘‘the plains are full of pickers! The
pickers will get you!”
‘‘Who’s afraid of pickers!” Little
Bear shouted back over his shoulder
as he ran on.
Yowler waited until noon, then did
as he was told. He wasn’t a bit
surprised when Mother Bear began to
weep. He started home and had gone
only as far as the grapevine tangle
when he saw Father Bear traveling by
like the wind in November. Yowler
noticed he carried a stick with some¬
thing dangling from the end of it.
Now, just think how Little Bear
felt that afternoon when he looked back
and saw Father Bear racing along the
highway like the wind in November!
Little Bear suddenly felt too weak to
9G LITTLE BEAR STORIES
stand, so he sat down on a log and

began taking “pickers”—as he called
them-—out of his little suit. Not
knowing exactly what to do when his
father came up, he spoke first.
“The pickers are getting thick
already,” he said, without looking up.
Then he kept on picking sweet brier
thorns and wild-rose prickers from his
coat. “ You see, Father Bear, I’m
not a speck afraid of pickers, but I
s’pose I’ve got to go straight back
home with you.”
“Oh, no,” answered Father Bear
cheerfully. “ If you want to run away,
why, run along. I came to bring your
bundle and stick. All runaways carry
a bundle at the end of a stick.”
Little Bear was surprised and greatly
disappointed. He was homesick already
and tired enough to cry. There were
sharp prickers in his feet. He did wish
his father would make him go home.
“Well, we’d better be jogging on,’’

Father Bear said after he had whistled
a tune cheerfully and rested a bit.
“Well, wed better be jogging on,” said Father Bear
So on they jogged. Father Bear took

such long steps Little Bear had to run
to keep up. And how tired he was!
Afterward Little Bear told his mother
that he and Father Bear galloped and
galloped for miles and miles along
the highway. At last at sunset they

reached the hilltop overlooking Blue¬
berry Plains. There Father Bear turned
back, saying he had to see some Grizzly
relatives on business. He said he hoped
Little Bear would always remember
the day he ran away. He begged him
not to forget the old folks. He must
be surg to come back to see them
some time. That was all. '
Little Bear couldn’t speak. His
eyes were full of tears and he could
scarcely wink them back when his
father said, “Good-by,” and started
away, humming a cheerful little tune.
When he was out of sight Little
Bear sat down and cried because he
was homesick and lonely. He hadn’t
expected to be alone. He had thought
many of his friends would be there to
keep him company. His feet were sore
from prickers, his head ached, and he
was hungry.
As Little Bear looked about un¬

happily he saw blueberry bushes on
the hilltop stretching out as far as he
Little Bear sat down and cried because he was lonely
could see. The ground looked all

sky-blue with the berries. They were
almost as big as cherries.
Little Bear began to eat blueberries.
He ate and ate and ate, crawling along
on the ground as he picked the berries
by the pawful. He crawled on and on
until he reached the top of the hill.
There below him, beyond the hill,

stretched the wonderful Blueberry
Plains, but all around them stood the
white tents of berry pickers. At last
Little Bear understood what his mother
and the Cinnamon twins and Yowler
meant when they spoke of “pickers.”

They had meant berry pickers.
From camp to camp the pickers
shouted to one another and laughed
and sang. Little Bear heard dogs bark¬
ing and saw men carrying guns. He
saw two little bears tied to stakes in
front of one of the tents. Then he
knew why Blueberry Plains was no

place for him when the berries were
ripe.
Badly frightened, back and back and
back Little Bear crawled, until the
pickers could not possibly see him from
the Plains. Then he hunted for a
hiding place and found a wee cave just
the right size for a badly frightened,
homesick, blueberry-sick little bear.
When he cuddled down in the cave
Little Bear didn’t mean to go to sleep.
Indeed not, in such a dangerous place!
He was only going to rest until he
stopped trembling, and then start for
home like a March wind chasing winter
away.
But when the Man in the Moon
looked in a bit later he saw Little
Bear sound asleep. Soon after that,
along came Father Bear with the
Grizzly relatives. They peeped into the
tiny cave, and laughed. Father Bear
had been watching from hiding places

every minute to protect Little Bear
from harm.
“ He will sleep until broad daylight,”
Father Bear whispered, “and then he’ll
make tracks for home. He will come
limping along safely enough soon after
I get there, even if I don’t start until
noon.”
But that was one time Father
Bear made a mistake. Before the moon
went to bed Little Bear awoke. Feeling
better, up he jumped and started for
home, running as fast as he could run.
Little Bear never forgot that night.
He ran softly because he didn’t wish
to waken strangers. When he reached
home the sun was high in the sky.
His mother was glad to see him.
She forgave him for running away.
Then she gave him a warm bath and
some bread and milk, and did every¬
thing to make him feel better before
she put him to bed. Little Bear slept

long and soundly.
At suppertime Father Bear came
home, hungry and cheerful. “Do not
look so sad, Mother Bear,” said he.
“Cheer up, Little Bear will come jog¬
ging home safe and sound one of these
days.” Then he told her all about
Little Bear’s adventures.
Mother Bear didn’t tell Father Bear
all she knew. She was ever so quiet,
and she tried hard not to look cheer¬
ful. But when Father Bear turned
his back and acted fidgety as he
looked out the window she winked
one eye slyly and smiled a little.
When darkness fell, Mother Bear said,
“Let’s go to bed.”
“No, oh, no,” said Father Bear.
“Let’s sit up and keep a light in the
window.”
“ I don’t see any sense in sitting
up and keeping a light in the window,”
said Mother Bear. “But if we must

sit up, please go upstairs and light
the candle and bring it down.”
So Father Bear tramped heavily
upstairs and lighted the candle. Then
he saw something humpy in Little
Bear’s bed. Yes, it was Little Bear!
Mother Bear had come upstairs
softly after Father Bear, and she
laughed at her joke on him. He
laughed, too. They made so much
noise they woke Little Bear. He half
opened his eyes and said sleepily,
“I’m sorry I ran away—glad I’m
home—going to be a good Little Bear
now for always and always!”
After that Little Bear never liked
to hear anything said about Blueberry
Plains.
A VISIT TO A SCHOOL
It was midsummer, and wild roses

were blooming along the river bank
behind the Three Bears’ house in the
forest, and wild birds were singing
from every thicket. Just the time for
a pleasure trip, thought Father Bear,
so he built a raft and took his family
floating downstream. The raft was
made of logs firmly fastened together.
It was big and strong, and had three
rustic chairs on it—a big, big chair
for big Father Bear, a middle-sized
chair for middle-sized Mother Bear,
and a wee, wee chair for wee Little
Bear. There were also poles for them
to keep the raft from bumping against
the river bank. There was a long,
rather heavy pole made for huge Father
Bear to use, a middle-sized pole for
105
middle-sized Mother Bear, and a long,

light pole for wee Little Bear.
„ r *
The Three Bears saw a little log house on a hillside
It was afternoon, and they were far

from home, when they came to a
bend in the river. As the raft came
swishing and tumbling round the bend
the Three Bears saw a little log house
A VISIT TO A SCHOOL 107
on a hillside and children play.ing out¬

side the door.
At that very moment, bump ! went
the raft into the bank, and there it
stuck fast among the willows!
“Oh, please do not push the raft
into the stream for a few minutes!”
whispered Little Bear. “Let us watch
the children!”
“Yes, let us watch the children,”
added Mother Bear.
So Father Bear, willing to please
his family, seated himself in his huge
chair, and Mother Bear seated her¬
self in her middle-sized chair. But
Little Bear stood up on his tippytoes
in his wee little chair, so he could see
better.
“Oh, I wish those children would
let me play with them!” cried Little
Bear, as the youngsters joined hands
and danced round and round in a
circle.
Plainly, the log building was a

schoolhouse, for a moment later out
the schoolmistress stepped and began
to ring a bell.
The children at once formed in
line, boys first, girls behind. Then
they all marched into the schoolroom.
As they marched they were saying,
“Left foot, right foot, left foot, right
foot,” and their feet made a merry
stamping.
After the children were all in the
schoolhouse and the door was closed,
a song came floating through the open
windows.
When the singing was over, the
only sounds the bears heard were the
songs of birds, and the lapping of
water, and the humming of bees.
Little Bear said to his father and
mother, “I see a little path leading
from the river to the schoolhouse,
and I see bushes beside one of the
windows. If I go softly, softly, and

climb softly, softly into the bushes,
may I go and peep into the schoolhouse
and see the children?”
‘‘Oh, I do not know about that!”
began Mother Bear.
But Father Bear said, “Oh, let him
go! Only, Son Bear,” he added, “if
one of the children should happen to see
you, and should say ‘bear,’ you run
straight down to the raft. We shall
be ready to push into the stream and
get away.”
So Little Bear crept softly up the
path on the hillside, climbed softly
into the bushes, and peeped slyly into
the schoolroom. All the children were
in their seats with their heads bent
over books and slates.
Then the teacher said sternly,
“Primer class! Come forward!”
Two little girls and one little boy
went to a spot in front of the teacher’s
desk and stood with their toes on

a crack in the floor. They had blue-
covered books in their hands. The
little girls edged away from the boy
as far as they could while the mistress
looked at them. Little Bear was so
interested that he climbed closer to
the window.
“Open your books,” said the school¬
mistress.
The three children opened their
blue-covered books.
“Joan, you may read the lesson
first, if you please.”
So Joan read, “I — see — a—cat.”
“Good!” said the mistress. “Mary,
you may read.”
“I—see — a—cat,” read Mary. She
knew every word of that lesson.
“Now, Simon,” spoke the mistress
to the boy, “let us hear you read.”
Little Bear was sure that Simon
did not know his lesson. He was sure
of it because Simon acted so foolish and

looked so unhappy. He stood on one
foot and then on the other, and twisted
and squirmed until the girls giggled.
“Come, Simon,” urged the mistress,
“we are waiting.”
Little Bear felt so sorry for Simon
that he forgot all about himself. He
leaned forward until his paws rested
on the window sill. No one saw him,
because bushes grew close round that
window and he had moved quietly
and made no sound.
“Simon,” the mistress said sternly
at last, “read the lesson!”
“I—see,” began Simon, “I—see—
a—” Then he looked up, but instead
of saying “cat,” as the primer said,
Simon, with eyes as large and round
as saucers, dropped his book and cried,
“Bear! I see a bear!”
Sure enough, Simon did. So did
all the children. So did the mistress,
Simon dropped his book and cried, “Bear! I see a Bear/”
because Little Bear was right up in

the window, trying to tell Simon the
word “cat”!
Down the hill ran Little Bear as
fast as ever he could go, and scram¬
bled on board the raft. Father Bear
and Mother Bear used their poles and
quickly pushed the raft into the mid¬
dle of the stream. Then away went
all three of them, laughing.
But Little Bear did not wish to
visit school again that day—or that
summer.
8
LITTLE BEAR’S WISH
One morning, when the Three Bears

were floating downstream on their raft,
they saw a farmhouse in the distance.
“Perhaps we shall never be so near
a farmhouse again,’’ said Mother Bear
to Father Bear. “ I think we should buy
some eggs of the farmer’s wife.”
“Do be sensible!” exclaimed Father
Bear. “ We have no money, and farmers
do not love bears.”
“ That does not matter,” said Mother
Bear gently. “Tonight, when we build
our camp fire for the evening, we must
have hens’ eggs to roast for supper.
And how can we have hens’ eggs unless
we buy them at the farmhouse?”
Father Bear made no answer. He
knew Mother Bear would have her way.
So he wasted no time trying to argue
114
LITTLE BEAR'S WISH 115
about the matter but pushed the raft

against the bank and tied it to the
willows with a rope of wild grapevine.
“Now, then!” was all Father Bear
said after that, as he sat back in his
huge chair and folded his arms to watch
the fun.
“‘Now, then,’ is what I say, too,”
added Mother Bear, laughing. “ Honey
Cub,” she said to Little Bear, who was
wondering what would happen next,
“jump off the raft to the bank. Then
gather and bring me many long, slim
leaves of the cat-tails growing over
there. I will weave two baskets, one
for the money, one for the eggs.”
Little Bear hurried to obey. But
when he returned with his arms full of
cat-tail leaves, he said, “Mother Bear,
I have made a wish. Please let us have
the eggs for dinner, and let us have
them scrambled. Father Bear and I
like scrambled eggs better than roasted
eggs.” And Little Bear winked at

Father Bear and Father Bear winked
back.
“No,” said Mother Bear, “we shall
not make camp at noon so near a farm¬
house, and the eggs shall be roasted.
Now run along and get me some long
grasses, Honey Cub. I want to weave
them, with the slim cat-tail leaves,
into the baskets.”
Little Bear obeyed his mother, but he
neither danced nor sang as he gathered
the grasses. “Noon is the time for
dinner,” he told a big green frog, “and
I wish for scrambled eggs at noon.”
“Ker-plunk!” said the frog.
Quickly Mother Bear made two
pretty green baskets. “One is for wild
strawberries,” she explained. “We will
fill it to the brim and leave it for the
farmer’s wife, instead of money. She
will find it in a nest when she goes to
gather the eggs.”
LITTLE BEAR’S WISH 117
“I’ll gladly pick the berries,” said

Little Bear, “and I’ll go with you to
find a hen’s nest that has eggs in it to
scramble.”
“You will stay with your father
while I go for the eggs,” answered his
mother.
So after Little Bear had filled one
green basket with delicious wild straw¬
berries, he stayed with his father while
Mother Bear went for the eggs.
“ Noon is the time for dinner,” Little
Bear said crossly. “And roasted eggs
are not so good as scrambled ones.”
“Son Bear,” said Father Bear sternly,
“Mother Bear is always right!”
Soon back came Mother Bear, walk¬
ing fast. When Little Bear saw the
eggs in her green basket, he was so much
pleased he forgot to be cross, but he did
not forget his wish. While Father Bear
untied the grapevine rope Little Bear
helped Mother Bear cover the eggs with
big green leaves to keep them cool. As

he worked he danced and sang for joy.
“ Now we are off for a morning’s good
fishing!” cried Father Bear, as he pushed
the raft into the middle of the stream.
Then, giving a wee fish pole to Little Bear
and a middle-sized fish pole to Mother
Bear, he at once began fishing with his
own huge pole and long line.
The Three Bears fished all the morn¬
ing and caught no fish. At noon, with¬
out warning, there was a great splashing
in the river, and Father Bear cried out,
“I have a bite!”
Well, he pulled, and pulled, and
pulled, but could not land his fish.
There was great excitement on the
raft, then suddenly Father Bear almost
caught the fish. Up came the line, up
bobbed the fish—a big fish, almost the
biggest fish Father Bear had ever caught.
But back fell Father Bear, bumping into
Mother Bear, who bumped into Little
Little Bear sat right down in the
Bear. Then, because the three were

standing one right behind the other,
Little Bear sat down in the basket of
eggs! At that the fish flopped back,
splash! into the water—and the Three
Bears were hungry!
“Something has happened to the
eggs!” exclaimed Little Bear. “I am
afraid they are all squashed.”
Sure enough! When Mother Bear
took the leaves off the basket of eggs,
what a sight those eggs were! Every
shell was broken. Then said Father
Bear, laughing: “ Roasted eggs are not so
good as scrambled eggs, and noon is the
time for dinner! Come, Mother Bear,
let us go ashore and make camp. We
are a long way from the farmhouse.”
“Father Bear is always right,” said
Mother Bear cheerfully. She emptied
the broken eggs into the frying pan and
began picking out pieces of shell and
tossing them into the water.
LITTLE BEAR’S WISH 121
That is how it came about that the

Three Bears built a camp fire at noon
and had scrambled eggs for dinner.
They had a jolly time eating their
dinner in the woods and talking
about the big, big fish Father Bear had
almost pulled out of the stream.
But after dinner Little Bear laughed
and sang:
I had my wish!
Because Daddy lost his fish!
Ta-de-dum,
Ta-de-dum,
Ta-de-dum-dum-dum!
until at last the Three Bears joined

hands and danced round the camp fire,
singing together:
Little Bear had his wish
When Father Bear lost his fish!
Ta-de-dum,
Ta-de-dum,
Ta-de-dum-dum-dum!
FATHER BEAR’S GUMDROPS
One time all the neighbors in the

old, old forest where the Three Bears
lived went on a picnic. Th^y started
early because Father Deer promised to
take them to Spruce Valley, and that
was a long way off. The air was cool
and sweet with the perfume from bloom¬
ing flowers, and traveling was pleasant
and easy.
Little Bear skipped merrily along,
joking with Sally Beaver, laughing at
the Wildcat babies, and running races
with Mother Fox’s children. He helped
the Porcupine twins and the Otter
children over fallen logs, and was kind
to the baby Deer. He raced with Auntie
Cinnamon’s youngsters, and tried to
leap as high as Father Deer’s eldest
son. Such jovful traveling made the
122
FATHER BEAR’S GUMDROPS 123
way seem short. Before any one even

thought of feeling tired, Father Deer
said, “Here we are!’’
Then in the shade of the tall spruce
trees the picnic fun began. Everyone
was busy and happy when Little Bear
saw Father Bear cross the brook and
go up the hill. He carried an empty
sack over his shoulder.
“Where are you going, Father Bear? ”
Little Bear called, hurrying after him.
“And what are you going to do?”
“ I am going after spruce gumdrops
to fill my sack,” said Father Bear.
“You had better stay and play with
the children.”
So Little Bear stayed and played
with the children, but he kept wonder¬
ing about gumdrops. At last he stopped
playing long enough to ask Mother
Bear, “What are gumdrops? Why is
Father Bear going for them, and where
do they grow?”
Mother Bear laughed. “Spruce

gumdrops,” she answered, “are drops
of spruce gum dried hard. Father Bear
learned that Goldilocks and all her
family, and the hunters who come from
cities, almost always chew gum. So
Father Bear decided to gather a sack¬
ful of spruce gumdrops today and trade
them at the fair next week for butter
and eggs.”
“Oh, we must not let Father Bear
go to the fair!” cried Little Bear.
“ Indeed not! ” his mother answered.
“ He isn’t going to the fair. He expects
to send the gumdrops by Mother
Hubbard’s dog. But gumdrops do not
grow, Little Bear. They are the dried
sap of the spruce tree. When the sap
comes through the bark in drops, it
hardens into gum, which men and
women like to chew.”
“I want to chew gum!” said Little
Bear.
FATHER BEAR’S GUM DROPS 125
“We want to chew gum!” cried all

the other children, who had been stand¬
ing round listening to what Mother
Bear was saying.
“ We all want to chew gum! ” added
Mrs. Maria Wildcat. And when she
played she was chewing gum, all the
others laughed.
“Maria has watched the farmer and
his hired men chew gum,” explained
Mr. Bob Wildcat.
“ I tried it once,” said Mother Bear.
“ The gum stuck my teeth together, and
it was five minutes before I could open
my mouth enough to talk. We’ll ask
Father Bear to pass the gum, and then
we shall have some fun.”
Just then a stranger appeared. He
was a tall, kindly faced brown bear.
He carried a staff and fairly galloped
through the valley. In his haste he
knocked Grandmother Beaver flat on
her back. It was plainly an accident,
The stranger, a tall, kindly brown bear, carrie
v
FATHER BEAR’S GUM DROPS 127
but the stranger did not stop to say,

“I beg your pardon!” Grandmother
Beaver was not at all hurt by the fall,
but just the same she didn’t like it.
When Little Bear said, “I wish
Father Bear would come back,” every¬
one at the picnic seemed to feel the
same way. That was why they were
all looking up the hill and saw him
the minute he came in sight.
“Come here, and come quickly!”
called Father Bear. “Bring the lunch
baskets!”
Up the hill scrambled all the pic¬
nickers, carrying the baskets. Father
Bear counted, to be sure all were there.
“Please all sit down and make your¬
selves comfortable,” said he, “while I
pass the gumdrops.”
When Father Bear had begun to
pass the gumdrops as fast as he could,
with Mother Bear’s help and Little
Bear’s help, he said, “ I met a big
brown bear a few minutes ago. He is

a performing bear who has escaped
from a circus. After you begin to
chew gum I’ll tell you what he said.
The picnickers put the hard lumps
of spruce gum into their mouths
moss, stickg, and all — and began to
chew. When everyone was chewing —
Mother Bear and Little Bear, as well
as the other picnickers — Father Bear
said, “ Is there any one here who would
like to ask a question?”
All of them wished very much to
ask questions, but try as hard as they
would they couldn’t speak. Gum was
stuck fast in their short teeth and in
their long teeth, in their upper teeth
and in their lower teeth.
When they found they couldn’t
talk, the picnickers all began to
prance round wildly and wave their
arms. Of course they laughed and
laughed.
“This is not a dancing time,’’ said

Father Bear. “And I’m glad you
can’t talk or screech or scream. If
you’ll sit down again and stop making
motions, I’ll tell you what the brown
bear said.”
After a minute of waiting, Father
Bear began softly, “Dad Fox is wig¬
gling his ear, and Bob Wildcat is
waving his tail. You must not make
the least bit of a noise, boys. Passing
strangers might hear and look up, for
the brown bear told me all the circus
animals had escaped. They are now
following him straight through this
valley on their way to the highroad.
It is seventy-nine miles from here in
a straight line.”
Mother Bear was quite sure it was
only seventy-seven miles from there to
the highroad. She tried to tell Father
Bear so, but the spruce gum held her
mouth shut tight.
9
“I’ll do the talking this time,”

Father Bear said to her gently. And,
frightened though the picnickers were,
a smile went round.
Then all at once came the sound
of many feet pounding the earth. It
came nearer and nearer until elephants
and tigers and lions, and one huge
hippopotamus after another, and an¬
other, and another, and another, and
one rhinoceros after another, and an¬
other, and another, and another, came
crashing through the valley. Camels
and wild horses, zebras, giraffes, all
kinds of wild animals, crowded and
pushed and hurried through the valley.
But not even one glanced toward the
spot where the frightened picnickers
sat speechless on the hillside.
When the last circus animal had
passed out of sight, Father Deer was
able to say, as well as any deer could
say anything with gum still holding
his teeth together, “Father Bear, you

saved our lives!”
Father Bear did not know what to
Each one said politely, “No, I thank you ”
reply to this. So, for fun, he again

passed the gumdrops.
By that time grown-ups, children,
and all could talk. And as Father
Bear came round with the gumdrops
they said, very politely indeed, each
for himself, “No, I thank you.”
WHEN LITTLE BEAR BRAGGED
One rainy day the Three Bears

were sitting by the fire in their cosy
house in the woods, telling stories.
First Father Bear would tell a story.
Then Mother Bear would tell a story.
Then Father Bear would have a turn
again. Between times, Little Bear
asked questions.
The three were happy and merry
until Mother Bear told the story
about the race between the hare and
the tortoise. She told how the slow-
going tortoise was the first to reach
the goal because the hare took a nap
and did not wake up until after the
tortoise had passed him and had won
the race.
“You see,” Mother Bear explained,
“ the hare was so sure he could win
132
WHEN LITTLE BEAR BRAGGED 133
that he did not even try to reach the

goal quickly. He was so swift-footed
that he thought he could go to sleep
if he chose and still come out ahead
of the slow tortoise.”
“Wasn’t he silly!” exclaimed Littie
Bear. “If I were going to run a
race with Grandpa Tortoise, I should
go this way until I reached the goal.”
Little Bear pranced up and down the
room until he made even the porridge
bowls rattle in the cupboard. “ I guess
I should know enough to know that
Grandpa Tortoise would keep stepping
ahead and stepping ahead and get to
the goal in time*! You would not
catch me taking any naps if I started
out to run a race with anyone! No,
sir-ree!”
Mother Bear laughed heartily at this,
but Father Bear looked solemn. He
did not like to hear Little Bear brag
at all.
“So you think, Son Bear,” said he,

“if you should run a race with Grandpa
Tortoise you would be wiser than our
old friend, Peter Hare? Is that what
you mean? ”
“I know I should,” bragged Little
Bear. “I’d say, ‘Good-by, Grandpa
Tortoise!’ and off I’d start, and I
should beat him before he had time to
think. Then, afterward, if I were sleepy
and wanted to, I should take a nap.”
“Very well,” said Father Bear. “I
shall see Grandpa Tortoise. If he is
willing to run a race with a silly little
fellow like you, you shall have your
chance. And Peter Hare shall be the
judge.”
So when the rain was over, the
friends of the Three Bears and of the
Hare and the Tortoise met in the woods
to see the fun.
Before the race began, Little Bear
noticed that the Hare and the Tortoise
were laughing about something. But

he did not even wonder what it was.
He had nothing to worry about.
At last the word was given: “One,

two, three, go!”
Away went the Tortoise, slow and
easy. Off started Little Bear, running
so fast that he was out of breath
long before he had passed the first
oak tree. He was glad to stop for a
second and have a drink of dew from
an acorn cup that Friend Tree Toad

offered him.
“Thank you,” said Little Bear, as
he gave back the cup. “But that was
not enough. I shall have to step over
to the spring.”
“Remember, Little Bear, how the
Hare lost the race!” Friend Tree Toad
warned him.
“Oh, I shall not go to sleep,”
answered Little Bear, tossing his head.
“Really, Grandpa Tortoise walks even
slower than I thought he did.”
Beside the spring a number of
Little Bear’s old friends, dressed in
green satin coats, were playing leap¬
frog. They asked Little Bear to play
with them, and soon he was showing
the frogs what long leaps he could
make. Then, in a little while, many
baby rabbits came and joined in the
fun. The next Little Bear knew, he
was chasing baby rabbits over the
rocks, and catching nuts the squirrels

threw to him from the tree tops, and
having a joyful playtime.
An hour passed quickly. Then
suddenly Little Bear remembered he
had started out to run a race.
Back he ran to the path, and away
he flew toward the goal, while the
baby rabbits laughed and danced and
danced and laughed. Father Bear had
sent them to play with Little Bear,
but they did not know why he had
sent them until that minute.
Stepping along, stepping along,
slowly but surely, Grandpa Tortoise
had reached the goal, just as he had in
the long-ago day when he ran the race
with the Hare. As Little Bear came
near the goal, he heard the neighbors
shouting: “Hurrah for the champion!
Hurrah for the champion! Hurrah
for Grandpa Tortoise!’’ Even Father
Bear was shouting.
Little Bear remembered his man¬

ners. His father had told him what to
do if he lost the race, so he straight¬
way walked up and shook hands with
Grandpa Tortoise. And the Hare,
although he must have been laughing
in his sleeve, remembered his manners,
too, and did not let any one see him
laugh.
After that the old friends and
neighbors went home with the Three
Bears to eat blackberries and honey
and tell stories round the fire. Grandpa
Tortoise went, too. He had traveled
so slowly that he was not even tired.
That afternoon when the stories
were told Little Bear asked a few
questions, as usual. But he did not
brag! And when Peter Hare winked
at him once or twice, he laughed.
LITTLE BEAR’S TASK
“What are you thinking about so

hard, Son Bear?” asked Father Bear
one sunshiny morning. Little Bear
was sitting on the doorstep, his head
resting on his paws, saying nothing.
“I was thinking,” was the answer,
“that I wish some one would help
the Otters.”
“I never knew the Otters needed
any help,” said Father Bear, as he
began making a new basket of reeds.
“Well, I wish some one would make
their crooked paths straight,” Little
Bear went on soberly. “I’ve liked the
Otters ever since we got to know them
so well that time we were camping.
You remember, don’t you, Father
Bear, how I found that little lost
baby Otter and took him to his people ?
139
And don’t you remember how we

slid downhill with them all the after¬
noon? I’ve liked the Otters ever since
then. It is too bad they have such
short legs and such heavy bodies.
“Father Otter told me about their
cross-country journey every fall. The
worst part is through our little jungle
from Brookside, where they live, to
Sunset Rock on our river bank. The
path goes round little hilly places and
stumps. It goes under logs and logs
and logs, this way and that way, such
a long, crooked path to the river. ’
Little Bear could not sit still as he
talked about the troubles of his Otter
friends. Father Bear could not keep
from laughing as he watched Little
Bear prancing around
“Some one should make a straight
path for them,’’ went on Little Bear.
“Will you and Mother Bear do it?
I do wish you would!'5
LITTLE BEAR’S TASK 141
Father Bear was so surprised that

for a minute he did not know what to
say to his son.
“Well, if you are too busy, who
will make them a straight path?’’
Little Bear went on, without waiting
for his father to answer.
“Why not talk it over with Sally
Beaver?” Father Bear asked. “Her
family are great workers. Besides,
they live near the Otters.”
Straight went Little Bear to his
friend Sally Beaver. He told her how
every fall the Otter family go travel¬
ing. He told her that the baby Otters,
and the others, too, have short, short
legs and heavy bodies. And he told her
how hard it is for them to go trailing
through the forest, round little hills and
stumps, under logs, this way and that
way, making such long, crooked paths.
“Let them stay at home, then,
like other folks,” was Sally Beaver’s
answer. But her tone was cheerful

and pleasant even if her words were
not. “It is plain,’’ she said, “that the
Otters go traveling just for fun. We
Beavers are too busy to help such
gadabouts. Besides, why don’t they
stay in the water where they belong?”
The next friend Little Bear asked
to straighten the crooked path of the
Otters was Father Deer. How he
laughed at the notion ! Uncle Brown
Bear was cross about it. And Robert
Wildcat grinned unpleasantly and
rubbed his hands, saying, “No, not I,
Little Bear, not I!” Nor would any
of the neighbors in the old forest
promise to make straight the crooked
path of the Otters.
At last one morning Little Bear
took his wee stone hatchet and started
out for Sunset Rock.
“Where are you going to play
today?” asked Mother Bear.
“I am not going to play in the

woods today,” was Little Bear’s answer
in a big, big, grown-up voice. “I shall
go to Sunset Rock and make straight
the crooked path the Otters use every
fall!”
“Oh,” cried Mother Bear, “ that is
an elephant’s task, Son Bear ! A little
fellow like you must not try what big
bears could not do. Run and play,
Little Bear. Do not—”
“Let him try the elephant’s task,”
spoke up Father Bear. “Let him try,
and let him grow strong trying to do
an elephant’s task in helping others.
Run along, Son Bear, run along!”
So Little Bear ran along through
the forest until he came to Sunset
Rock by the river. Then he began
work — whackety — whackety — whack-
ety—whack — whack — whack! cutting
down slender trees and clearing away
brush with his wee stone hatchet.
WAwITT HARRIS
Little Bear began cutting down slender trees with, his wee stone hatchet
LITTLE BEAR'S TASK 145
And whackety — whackety—whack! he

worked for three days, until all the
neighbors began to laugh. Even Sally
Beaver could not see that he had done
anything with all of his whackety-
whacking. But all the next day she
helped him clear away the little
willows that grew close by the river, and
Father Beaver cut down some trees for
him. Much cheered, Little Bear kept
at work, whackety—whackety—whack!
day after day. Day after day, he kept
trying to make a straight path for the
Otters. It was hard work. Mother
Bear felt ready to cry.
“Because,” said she, “it is an
elephant’s task! Such a little fellow
with such a little hatchet cannot do
an elephant’s task!”
Then, one morning, a wonderful
thing happened. Little Bear was
working away as usual — whackety —
whackety—whack — whack! thinking
10
pleasant thoughts about his friends, the

Otters. But he was not cutting down
many trees nor moving many logs as
he worked, when an elephant heard
him.
He was a friendly elephant, who
had run away from a circus. Little
Bear had never seen an elephant
before. But when the great beast
came crashing through the jungle and
asked, “What is going on here?” he
was not afraid, because the elephant
had such a kind face.
Little Bear told him at once, and
when the elephant heard the story, and
saw the wee stone hatchet, he laughed
and laughed and laughed. It seemed
as if he would never stop laughing.
But after a while he stopped long
enough to pat Little Bear gently on
the head and say, “Bravely done,
Son! Now I shall help you finish
your task.”
And he did ! With his strong trunk

he pulled up trees and bushes by the
roots and moved logs. He trampled
The elephant led the grand march with Liltle Bear on his hack
down a straight elephant-wide path all

the way from Sunset Rock to Brook-
side. The neighbors, hearing a great
noise, all came running to see what
was going on. When the path was
finished, elephant-wide, they formed a
procession. Then they joined in a
grand march all the way from Sunset

Rock by the river to Brookside, and
back again.
The grand march was led by the
elephant, with Little Bear on his back.
Then came Father Bear and Mother
Bear close behind. And after them,
two by two, came all the neighbors,
and the joyful Otter family with their
babies, all singing happily with the
Three Bears:
Ta-de-dum, dum, dum !
Ta-de-dum,
Ta-de-dum,
After swinging Little Bear to the

ground the friendly elephant went
away, saying, “Thus may all good
works end.”
As for Little Bear, he was glad the
neighbors decided to have a picnic
dinner in the woods that day, and to
play games and be jolly. He was so

happy, for at last the Otters had a
short, straight path instead of a long,
crooked one through the jungle.
happy, too. They were happy because
they had such a kind-hearted, stout¬
hearted son.
MOTHER SKUNK’S KINDNESS
Once upon a time Little Bear went

for a long walk along the river path.
He was alone, so he did not know he
had gone so far away from home
until Father Kingfisher saw him and
called:
“It is time for you to turn round
and go back, Little Bear! It will soon
be dark in the woods, and you might
get lost. Remember, you have no
wings to fly home quickly.”
Little Bear looked for the sun.
Sure enough, there it was sinking
behind the trees and leaving a long,
shining trail on the river. It was time
to go home.
“Thank you, Father Kingfisher,”
answered Little Bear. “I was having
such a good time I forgot I was far
150
MOTHER SKUNK’S KINDNESS 151
from our little house. But I shall run

back fast now. So good night!”
Away he ran. But before he had
passed more than three bends in the
river he saw a man fishing. In the
woods near by was a tent, with a
bright camp fire burning, and beside
the camp fire was a man cleaning
a gun.
Little Bear was so frightened he
sat down and cried. Mother Skunk
heard him crying, for she and her
six children were out hunting beetles
for their supper.
“Why are you crying?” Mother
Skunk asked. “What is the matter,
Little Bear?”
Little Bear told her about the two
men, one on either side of his path.
“And I am afraid to go by them!”
he whimpered.
“Come, come, child, dry your eyes,”
said Mother Skunk. “You have been
MOTHER SKUNK'S KINDNESS 153
kind to my children, and now I shall

take care of you. Stop crying, and
follow me.”
“But won’t the men catch you?”
asked Little Bear.
“Oh, no,” answered Mother Skunk.
“They will not touch us. You follow
me. Come, children.”
On walked Mother Skunk, slowly
and comfortably, with her six pretty
children and Little Bear following one
behind another, as she had told them
to do.
When the man who was fishing saw
Mother Skunk walking by with her
children and Little Bear, he sat just
as still as a mouse. All he did was
to wink.
The man by the fire stopped clean¬
ing his gun when he saw Mother Skunk
walking by with her children and Little
Bear. He, too, sat just as still as
a mouse. All he did was to wink.
“Now, Little Bear,” said Mother

Skunk, when they had gone a few steps
more, “the children and I will stay
Mother Bear tucked Little Bear into his wee bed
here a while and catch beetles, but

you must run along home. The men
will not hurt you while we are in
their path, never fear.”
* ‘ Thank you, Mother Skunk! ” Little
Bear called over his shoulder, as he
pit-patted for home as fast as he could
run.
MOTHER SKUNK’S KINDNESS 155
When he reached home he told

all about what had happened to him
coming home the river path. Then he
walked up and down in front of the
fireplace to show Father Bear and
Mother Bear how Mother Skunk, with
her six pretty children and Little Bear
one behind the other, had walked past
the two big men, as if she were not
afraid of any one in the woods.
How the Three Bears laughed!
But when Mother Bear tucked Little
Bear into his wee bed that night, she
kissed him and said:
“Let us always be thankful for
good, kind friends!”
LITTLE BEAR’S ERRAND

planning to go to Sherwood Forest,
and Little Bear wished to go, too. It
seemed to him that he could not give
it up and stay at home. Little Bear
did not mind staying at home alone,
but it was autumn and he longed to
tramp all day through the woods to
Sherwood Forest, and then home again.
But Father Bear said that, if he and
Mother Bear wanted to get back home
by twilight of the same day they
started, they must go without Little
Bear.
“Why, Son Bear,” said Father Bear,
the afternoon before the day they
planned to start to Sherwood Forest,
“you walk too slowly to go on such a
long trip with Mother Bear and me.”
156
LITTLE BEAR’S ERRAND 157
The three were comfortably seated

on a pile of logs at the top of their
hill, and Father Bear tried to make
Little Bear see why he should stay at
home. “Son Bear, it’s like this: It
would take a week, at least, to go to
Sherwood Forest if you went along.
Mother Bear and I know how to
tramp straight ahead these cool days
and get where we’re going quickly.
But you, Son, would have to stop
to look into every bird’s nest and
wonder who lived in it in the summer.
You would have to stop and speak
to every toad and ask him where he
is going to pass the winter.”
It was early autumn and the world
was lovely. Mother Bear did not like
Father Bear to tease Little Bear that
way, so she cut him short. “Do look
at those white clouds, Father Bear,”
she said. “See how wonderful the
colors are from our hill!”
“Yes, so they are,” agreed Father

Bear. “And that reminds me that
Sonny, here, would have to stop to
hunt for nuts and gather thorn apples
and red and yellow autumn leaves.
And at every bush we passed he would
surely stop to find the last black¬
berries. He would have to play a
game with the chipmunks and be
shown the squirrels’ winter stores.
He would be obliged to talk with
every one of Sally Beaver’s aunts and
uncles we met! O Son Bear! Son
Bear! We know your way of going
through the woods! Home is the very
best place for you tomorrow.”
“I could go straight through the
woods fast like this if I wanted to,”
Little Bear piped up. And to show
them how he could travel without
looking to the right or to the left, he
ran swiftly round and round in a circle
until over he tumbled.
“Yes, and then down you would

go, and we should have to take turns
“/ could go straight through the woods like this ”
carrying you!’’ exclaimed Father Bear.

Then how the Three Bears laughed!
Just then, scrambling up the hill,
came little Mewey Wildcat. She was
not laughing, poor little thing!
“ Why, what’s the matter, Mewey ? ”

asked Mother Bear. “Do tell us
quickly!”
“My little brother Yowler is cut¬
ting a new tooth. He’s so sick catnip
doesn’t do him a bit ol good,’’ Mewey
answered. “My ma wants some one
to go quickly for my pa. He has
gone to Farmlands on chicken business.
Ma says Friend Blue Jay is going to
Farmlands at three this
afternoon to plant acorns
for a forest, and he’d
take the message to Pa.
Ma wants Pa to come
right straight home. She
wants to know if Father
Bear will go over to Oak
Valley, where Friend
Blue Jay lives, and ask
him to tell Pa to come
home as fast as ever he
Bob Wildcat out , i tr i i >,
on chicken business C3.I1 tr3V61. II tl6 Q06Sn t
she’ll give it to him when

he does come. She’d send
me to Oak Valley, but f-
T 1-
I have to 1..1J \7"_1- .-
hold Yowler’s ^
nose when Ma gives him

the catnip tea so he has to
swallow whether he wants to or not.”
“Let me go and tell Friend Blue
Jay,” said Little Bear. “It’s only half
a mile from here on a straight road
to Oak Valley.”
“Very well,” agreed Father Bear,
“but this is an important errand. You
must not play by the way.”
Mother Bear was about to brush
Little Bear’s hair and freshen him up
a bit, when suddenly something
happened. It even made little Mewey
Wildcat forget her brother Yowler was
cutting teeth, and she laughed until
she could not stand.
Without waiting to put on his cap,
Little Bear had sat down at the top
ii
of the steepest place on the hill, and

down he went, bumpety slide, bumpety
slide. Bumpety-bumpety slide over
slippery pine needles he went, until
he was at the bottom of the hill.
Mother Bear, Father Bear, and
Mewey stood up just in time to see
him flying down the road to Oak
Valley as if a circus man were after
him.
Still laughing, Mewey went back
home, feeling much happier. Father
Bear went out to rake his garden
and get it in order for winter, while
Mother Bear waited on the hilltop for
Little Bear to get back. He was
traveling so fast the last time she saw
him she was sure he would soon be
home again.
Mother Bear waited a long, long
time, but no Little Bear came in sight.
She waited until she was so worried
she went down to the garden where
LITTLE BEARS ERRAND 163
Father Bear was raking to ask him

what he thought was the matter.
Father Bear looked at the sun
before he answered: “It isn’t late
yet. He probably is playing in the

valley beside the brook.’’
Mother Bear tried to feel cheerful,
but as she went into the house to set
the table for supper she didn’t sing as
usual. Her heart was heavy. An hour
passed. Two hours dragged slowly by,
yet Little Bear was not in sight.

When the moon began to shine and
the stars came out, even Father Bear
was frightened.
“Let us walk over to Oak Valley and
ask Mrs. Blue Jay what she knows,” he
said. Off they started, leaving supper
untasted on the table.
Mrs. Blue Jay said she had not seen
Little Bear. Yes, Friend Blue Jay did
go to Farmlands about three o’clock.
“Come, come!” urged Mother Bear.
“ Let us hurry over to Maria’s and
see if she has any news from Bob
Wildcat. It may be Little Bear has
been there all this time.”
Little Bear had not been seen by
Mrs. Maria Wildcat nor by any of the
children, nor was Mr. Bob Wildcat
at home. But Yowler was perfectly
well—cured by catnip tea.
“Let us go home now and think
what is to be done next,” said Father
Bear, as he loaned Mother Bear his

big red handkerchief because she was
crying.
Just think of Father and Mother
Bear’s joy when they found the house
There sat Little Bear, eating porridge
door open! And there, sitting in the

moonlight, they saw Little Bear eating
porridge as if he were starving.
“Where have you been?” asked
Father Bear and Mother Bear, both
speaking at the same time.
“Me? I’ve been to Farmlands Gate

to tell Mr. Bob Wildcat Yowler was
sick. I told him Yowler’s mother said
to come right straight home. Friend
Blue Jay was gone, and you said it
was an important errand.”
“Not to Farmlands Gate, ten miles
there and ten miles back? No!” cried
Mother Bear.
“Pooh! Yes!” answered Little Bear
jauntily.
“Did you walk all that long way
to do an errand for the Wildcats?”
asked Father Bear in cross tones.
“No!” was the quick reply. “I
ran!”
For a minute Mother Bear looked
at Father Bear and Father Bear looked
at Mother Bear. Then the Two Bears
began to laugh. They laughed until
it seemed they never would stop. But
they did, because Father Bear had
to stop laughing to say something.
“Son Bear,” said he, “you are a

good traveler at times. You shall go
to Sherwood Forest tomorrow.”
“Now let us eat supper,” said
Mother Bear, as she filled Little Bear’s
brown mug with blackberry juice.
That was a merry supper, but Little
Bear was glad to go to bed right after '
it was finished, because Father Bear
said they must get an early start for
Sherwood Forest.
THE SURPRISE PARTY
The year Jack Frost came late,

Little Bear did not like to hear any
talk about Sleepy Cave. This was
the name of the Three Bears’ winter
home. There were three beds in Sleepy
Cave, all ready and waiting for the
Three Bears—a big, big bed of fir
boughs and moss for huge Father Bear,
a middle-sized bed of fir boughs and
moss for middle-sized Mother Bear,
and a deep, deep bed of feathery moss
for Little Bear.
For the beds there were feathery
moss blankets taken from fallen logs
in the forest. There was one soft,
warm, moss blanket for huge
Father Bear, one for Mother Bear, and
the softest, warmest moss blanket of
all for Little Bear.
168
THE SURPRISE PARTY 169
Sleepy Cave was big and warm and

dry. There was no chance for snow
to drift into the cave, for the doorway
was under the shelter of a broad over¬

hanging rock, and its back was toward
the cold north wind. There was black¬
berry jam put away in that cave, and
honeycombs and other good things to
eat in case the family should wake up

and feel hungry before spring.
But Little Bear did not want to hear
a word about Sleepy Cave. It was
the same old story with him. He always
began, “I don’t want to sleep all
winter! ‘Young cub,’ Mrs. Maria
Wildcat said, ‘you’ll never be anything
but a Baby Bear, eating porridge out
of a wee, wee bowl, and sitting in a
wee, wee chair, and sleeping in a wee,
wee bed, for another hundred years
if you lie around and sleep all winter!
You’ll never grow up!’ She always
says that! And Mr. Bob Wildcat, he
said — ”
Mother Bear stopped him with,
“There, there, don’t let me hear
another word about Maria Wildcat or
any of the Wildcat family! I think I
said this to you once before!”
“But I don’t want to sleep all
winter,” whined Little Bear. “ I want
to stay in our own little house in the

woods and see the snow in the ever¬
greens. I’d love to play in the snow
and go sliding on the ice. I want to
stay here and eat porridge out of my
little bowl and sit in my little chair
and sleep in my little bed! Father
Deer’s children don’t sleep all winter.
They make tracks in the snow, and
they lie down to rest in the evergreens
and watch for their enemies in the
middle of the day ! Father Deer told
me about it all over again! I want
to stay here and play all winter like
other folks! Sally Beaver’s mother,
she said — ”
“Hush! Hush!’’ said Mother Bear
“You’ve said enough!’’
Mother Bear spoke sternly. But by
and by, when the little fellow went out
and sat on the doorstep to think, she
said to Father Bear, “Suppose we have
a surprise party for Little Bear?”
“A good idea!” agreed Father Bear.

“But there is snow in the air. If there
is to be a party it had better be this
afternoon. Whom do you wish to
invite ? ”
Mother Bear smiled as she answered,
“Let us invite the children of all our
friends who live in caves in the winter.
I think that will be the pleasantest.
We’ll invite Auntie Cinnamon’s chil¬
dren, and Uncle Brown Bear’s family,
and the Porcupine twins, and the
Field Mouse children, and the young
Muskrats. If you will do the invit¬
ing, I will make blackberry jam and
honey cakes and get the house in
order.”
Little Bear didn’t even ask a
question as Father Bear started out,
looking rather proud of his new fur
overcoat.
In the afternoon, as Father Bear
and Mother Bear were happily waiting
Mother Bear took Little Bear to the cupboard to show him the
blackberry sandwiches and honey cakes
for Little Bear’s company, there came

a knock at the door, and in came
Auntie Cinnamon.
“I came to say,” said she, “that
my children cannot come to the party.
They have gone to sleep for the winter.
No, thank you, I cannot stay, but I
am glad to stop in a minute to say
good night until spring.”
“Sleepyheads!” exclaimed Little
Bear when Auntie Cinnamon had gone
on her way.
Next came Uncle Brown Bear. He
was so plump he was out of breath
from walking fast. He had to rest a
minute before he could say, “Our
children are all asleep and cannot
come to the party. But Auntie Brown
sent me over to say thank you, and
good night until spring!” And away
went Uncle Brown Bear.
“The sleepyheads!” Little Bear
exclaimed again, and how he laughed!
“But where is the party, Mother Bear?

Am I invited?”
Just then came another knock at
the door, and Mother Porcupine
walked in to say the twins were
tucked away in bed for the winter.
So they could not come to Little Bear’s
surprise party.
Little Bear was so pleased when he
learned he was to have a surprise
party that he wasn’t disappointed
when the laughing Blue Jay came
with a message from the Field Mouse
mother saying the Field Mouse children
just couldn't keep their eyes open,
they were so sleepy. So of course
they could not come to the party.
“I’ll sit by the window and see
who does come,” said Little Bear,
happy as he could be, thinking of the
party.
Now no one else had been invited
to the party. So Mother Bear took
Little Bear to the cupboard to show

him the blackberry sandwiches and
honey cakes. Then Father Bear
stepped out to ask Friend Blue Jay
please to fly quickly away and invite
the Wildcat children and the young
Squirrels and Chipmunks and Foxes to
come immediately to the party.
The Blue Jay flew joyfully away
to do this errand. And soon dozens
of chattering, noisy wildwood children
came to the party.
But when they reached the house
they found Little Bear sound asleep with
a smile on his face, dreaming of the
party ! The merry children could not
waken him, although they tried their
best, for they wished to share with him
the blackberry jam and honey cakes.
Late that afternoon, when the party
was over and the frolicking children
had gone, Father Bear took Little Bear
in his arms, and Mother Bear closed
the house. Then away went the Three

Bears to Sleepy Cave.
When Little Bear was snugly
tucked in his feathery moss bed,
Mother Bear kissed him and said,
“I’m so glad the little fellow was
happy when he went to sleep.”
And that very night it snowed,
and snowed—and snowed!
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LITTLE BEAR

RAND M9NALLY & COMPANY

The stories in this book

DEC -‘3 i924

who doesn’t think that all the bears

After that, Father Bear, Mother

they were so polite Little Bear almost

your ear the name of our secret meet¬

He had not gone far in the forest

“You are kind, Little Bear, and I

deed. Then when he looked over his

Then, “Never mind,’’ he said to

Little Bear goes traveling down Forget-me-not Trail

the mother rabbit. But she was busy

wondered why they were all planting

in a while to help them we didn’t get

“We followed the forget-me-not

place, Jolly Park Glen! The father

“Oh, that was nothing!” said Little

One morning big Father Bear and

“Climb a tree quickly, Son Bear,

But that was not Little Bear’s

trouble. Go and ask

Little Bear roll stones into the hole

capture big Father Bear and tie him

Last summer Little Bear went on

Just then Father Otter came by,

“Your children are fine swimmers,”

“No,” answered Mother Bear, shak¬

Mother Bear. He was sorry because

wander away he told his mother he did

and sent Little Bear with a great splash

his mouth shut, and in a little while

One morning Mother Bear looked

Then, with a hop and a skip and a

Cousin Blueberry Bear out for himself

“Why, Blueberry Bear!” exclaimed

eldest son! How are you, child?

afternoon he was gathering sticks for

Little Bear walked backward until a

Every day after that the Three

used to thump Little Bear on the head

walked round with a stick over his

Little Bear was surprised when Father

That night at bedtime Blueberry

running, for he was near by, fishing

In the morning sunshine he went back

One morning, while Little Bear

scrambled through the thicket and

go. We are camping out, ourselves,

Now Father Bear had been teaching

round stumps and under logs. Besides,

cave by the river bank where his family

“We thank you for your kindness.

followed the Otters to their playground.

shouting with glee. All the Otters

liked best was watching Little Bear.

“We shall be glad to do so,” said