Little Bear at Work and at Play

by Frances Margaret Fox

"Come," said Mother Bear, "I believe we better go home now before we meet any more strangers!"

When the Three Bears reached home, there was Little Bear's bowl on the doorstep, and the Pied Piper's pipe was heard playing softly far away.

After Father Bear told Little Bear the story of Hamelin town he was more glad than ever that he had kept his promise. So was his mother. So was his father.

[Illustration: There was Little Bear's bowl on the doorstep]

Little Bear did not like to hear any talk about Sleepy Cave, which was the name of the Three Bears' winter home, the year Jack Frost came late. There were three beds in Sleepy Cave, ready and waiting for the Three Bears-a big, big bed of 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.

There were also feathery moss blankets taken from fallen logs in the forest—one for huge Father Bear, one for Mother Bear, and the softest, warmest moss blanket of all for Little Bear.

Sleepy Cave was big and warm and dry. There was no chance for snow to drift in the doorway because it was sheltered by a broad overhanging rock, and its back was toward the wind. There was blackberry jam put away in that cave, and combs of honey and other good things to eat in case the family should wake up and feel hungry before spring.

But Little Bear did not like to hear a word about Sleepy Cave. It was the same old story with him, beginning, "I don't want to sleep all winter! Mrs. Maria Wildcat, she said, "Young cub, you won't be anything but a Baby Bear, eating porridge out of a little 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—"

"There, there," Mother Bear interrupted, "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," wailed Little Bear. "I want to stay in our own little house in the woods and see the snow in the evergreens. 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 do not 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—"