“Oh, how black your paws are!” exclaimed Aunt Piffy, the fat lady bear.
“Yes, it comes off the stovepipe,” said Mr. Whitewash. “Please bring the stepladder.”
So Aunt Piffy and Mrs. Stubtail went for the ladder, but in bringing it through the kitchen door it slipped and caught on Mrs. Stubtail’s paws, so that she fell down, and so did the fat lady; and Aunt Piffy lost her breath.
Aunt Piffy could hardly get her breath back again, either, but she caught it just as it was slipping out of the door and then she was all right again—at least for a while.
“Now I guess I’ll fix this pipe!” cried Mr. Whitewash, as he stood upon the ladder. Carefully he shoved the stovepipe into the chimney hole, but still it stuck.
“It must go in!” cried the polar bear gentleman, “or else we can’t have a fire in the stove to cook dinner.”
Then he gave a big push on the pipe. But something slipped. Part of what slipped was the stepladder and the other part of what slipped was Mr. Whitewash and the third part of it was the stovepipe.
Down they fell in a heap together on the floor.
“Oh!” screamed Aunt Piffy.
“Oh, me! Oh, my!” cried Mrs. Stubtail. “Shall I get the doctor?”