The bad creature who had gone to all this trouble to catch Beckie got up out of the ice cream. He was a funny looking sight, all splattered up and plastered with dried leaves.
“This was all your fault!” he cried to the fox. “Be off before I bite you!” And the sly fox was glad enough to go.
So that’s how Beckie got away from the bear by means of the slippery ice cream. She told her mamma what had happened, and Mrs. Stubtail sent Uncle Wigwag to the store for more ice cream for Neddie. So the little bear, who was stung by the bees, had some, after all, and everybody was happy except the bad bear.
And in the following story, if the chocolate drop doesn’t fall out of the window and get all squashed flat on the postman’s umbrella, I’ll tell you about Neddie and the trained bear.
STORY V
NEDDIE AND THE TRAINED BEAR
“Come on out and have some fun!” called Tommie Kat, the little kitten boy, to Neddie Stubtail, the little bear chap, one afternoon when all the animal children had come home from school. “Come on out, Neddie!”
Neddie had just entered the cave-house, where he lived with his mamma and papa and the rest of the bear folk. Neddie tossed his books into one corner, his hat into another and then he called out:
“Oh, I’m hungry, I want something to eat!”
“Never mind about eating,” said Tommie Kat, “come on have some fun.”
“No, I must eat!” cried Neddie, and he rushed out toward the kitchen.