THE DANCING BEAR DISPLAYS HIS TALENTS
"What are the ears for?" she asked.
"Don't walls have ears where you live?" returned the Bear, as if surprised.
"I've heard they do," she answered, "but I've never seen any before."
At the back of the cave was a little, tinkling waterfall, that splashed into a pool beneath with a sound that was very like music. Near this was a square slab of rock, a little raised above the level of the floor.
"Kindly take a seat, my dear," said the bear, "and I'll try to amuse you, and at the same time prove that I can dance."
So to the music of the waterfall the bear began dancing. He climbed upon the flat stone, made a graceful bow to Twinkle, and then balanced himself first upon one foot and then upon the other, and swung slowly around in a circle, and then back again.
"How do you like it?" he asked.
"I don't care much for it," said Twinkle. "I believe I could do better myself."
"But you are not a bear," he answered. "Girls ought to dance better than bears, you know. But not every bear can dance. If I had a hand-organ to make the music, instead of this waterfall, I might do better."