When they came near they saw Mrs. Blackwell waiting for them on the porch.
“Oh, Mother!” Florence called. “Jo got the bear all right! You just ought to see him. He’s huge!”
“He must’ve been the old granddaddy of all the bears in this part of the country,” Peggy added impressively.
Mrs. Blackwell smiled. “Well, I’m relieved to hear that. I’ve been worried every time you girls’ve been out of sight.”
Every now and then the rest of the day the girls’ conversation would drift back to the subject of the bear.
The next morning, when they were eating breakfast, Jo Ann suggested that they go down to the cave and see how the family was getting along.
“That’s a good idea,” agreed Florence. “I hope they haven’t let Pepito eat too much of that bear meat.”
“We’ll get to see Carlitos again, and the father, José,” Jo Ann added. “I have lots of questions that I want to ask José. I believe he can tell us more about Carlitos than María could. I want to find out more about that big mean man that she kept referring to.”
“Well, I’m going without fail this time,” put in Peggy. “I want to see that wonderful blue-eyed boy.”
“We’ll hardly have time to go this morning—we got up so late. Let’s have lunch a little earlier so we’ll have a long time this afternoon to stay with the cave family,” suggested Florence.