But it was something new to hear Bunny calling about a big, black bear. He had never done that before, though one time, when he ate too much bread and jam for supper, he screamed that there was an elephant in his room, and there wasn't at all. He had only dreamed it.
But this time Daddy Brown had plainly heard his little boy say:
"Oh, it's a bear! It's a bear!"
Mr. Brown awakened, and sat up in his cot. He looked over toward Bunny's bed, but could see nothing of the little fellow, for as I have told you, Bunny was covered up under the blankets and quilt. Even his head was covered.
Then Mr. Brown looked toward the entrance, or front door of the tent. And, to his surprise, he saw just what Bunny had seen, a big, shaggy, hairy animal, standing on its hind legs, with its black nose up in the air, sniffing and snuffing.
"Why—why!" exclaimed Mr. Brown, rubbing his eyes to make sure that he was wide awake, and that he was not dreaming, as he thought Bunny might have been. "Why—why! It is a bear!"
"Sniff! Snuff!" went the big, shaggy creature.
"Daddy—Daddy!" cried Bunny, his voice sounding faint and far off, because his head was under the covers. "Daddy, is—is he gone?"
"No, not yet," answered Mr. Brown.
"What is it? What's the matter?" called Mrs. Brown, from behind the curtain, where she slept.