Mrs. Bear pointed to the floor.
"What do you call those?" she asked.
"Chestnut-shells," Cuffy replied, hanging his head. There was a great heap of shells on the floor where Cuffy had sat.
"Pick them all up—every one of them," his mother ordered. "And when you have finished you may take a nap—both of you."
Cuffy yawned.
"What do you say?" Mrs. Bear asked severely.
"Excuse me!" Cuffy said hastily.
"That's better!" said Mrs. Bear. "Now do as I say. You'll be asleep before you know it. And I don't intend to have those chestnut shells lying on the floor all winter."
You may think that that was a queer thing for Mrs. Bear to say. But when you see what happened, you'll understand what Mrs. Bear meant.
As Cuffy and Silkie sat down on the floor and began gathering up the chestnut-shells they both yawned and yawned. And since Mrs. Bear had left the room they didn't bother to say "Excuse me!" They were so sleepy! And before little Silkie had finished picking up her shells she just rolled herself up into a round ball and fell fast asleep. As for Cuffy, being a little older, he managed to stay awake just long enough to get the floor all nice and clean. And then he rolled himself into a ball and he went to sleep, right there on the floor.