“It is Letty!” exclaimed the twins together in great excitement, and they commenced to nod and smile with all their might.
“Oh, grandfather, mayn’t we go to the platform to speak to her? We haven’t seen her in three whole years!” cried Jane eagerly. “We thought she was lost.”
“Speak to whom?” asked grandfather in great surprise, looking out of the window over the children’s shoulders.
“Why, to Letty. See, there she is. She’s the little girl who saved our lives from the bear. Hurry, before the train starts,” explained Christopher, jumping up from his seat.
He and Jane rushed pell-mell down the aisle to the door, followed by Mr. Baker.
“What is it? What has happened?” asked grandmother in some alarm, looking up from her conversation with Mrs. Hartwell-Jones. “What are they going to see?”
“They say that the little girl is outside who saved their lives from the attack of the mad bear that time at Willow Grove Park.”
“Really?” exclaimed grandmother much interested. “Then I should like to talk to her, too.”
She rose from her seat, but paused to tell the story to Mrs. Hartwell-Jones.
“It happened three years ago. My daughter-in-law had taken the children to some sort of entertainment out at Willow Grove. A trained bear, driven mad by the heat, they supposed, broke loose from its keeper and charged the audience. Jane and Christopher were sitting in the very front row and the bear was almost upon them when this little girl—one of the performers, an acrobat, I think—jumped down from the stage and threw a cover over the bear’s head so that he was blinded and his trainer captured him easily enough.”