That night the Three Bears camped beside the deep, swift river. After Little Bear was cuddled down in his bed of leaves and springy boughs, 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 that he had made the promise, because an honest-looking polecat who came across the stream and went into the woods told Father Bear and Mother Bear that the largest, sweetest blackberries in the forest were ripe on the other shore.
"And now," whispered Mother Bear to Father Bear, "aren't you sorry that you told him that we wouldn't carry him over?"
"Sure enough, I am," agreed Father Bear. And then he laughed at the joke on himself.
"Well," suggested Mother Bear at last, "I shall coax
Little Bear to let you toss him gently into the river, and
I shall catch him if he finds he cannot swim."
"Nonsense!" grumbled Father Bear, and stopped laughing. "While you coax," he said, "I shall go for a walk."
Coaxing did not do any good. When Little Bear saw his father wander away, he told his mother that he did not feel like going into the water that morning. He hoped she would please excuse him. And so she excused him.
Soon Father Bear came back, smiling and happy. "I have found a bridge," said he. "An old log has fallen across the river a little way upstream, where, on the other side, blackberries are almost as big as ducks' eggs. Little Bear can walk across on the log."
"All right, I'll do it," promised Little Bear, and gladly followed his father until the Three Bears reached the bridge.
[Illustration: In a little while he bobbed up]