The children were rather frightened that night, and would not go far from the porch to play in the moonlight, which they usually did before going to bed.
Of course Bert and Harry were not as frightened as were Flossie and Freddie, but they looked nervously over their shoulders at the dark places under the bushes as they passed them.
Freddie, true to his promise, got out his toy fire engine, and filled the tank with water, winding up the spring that worked the pump and sent out the stream from the little rubber hose.
"Now I'm ready for a lion or a tiger or a bear," he said.
"Well, don't dream of them," said his mother. "Now it's time for bed."
Whether the talk of the circus animals had made Freddie nervous, or whether he did dream of them, he could not clearly tell afterward. All he knew was that he did not sleep well, and, some time after going to bed he awakened with a start.
There was no light in his room, but the moon shone in. He could look across to where Flossie was asleep in her crib.
Then Freddie heard a noise. It came from outside and sounded like:
"Wuff!"
"Oh! Oh!" whispered Freddie to himself. "That's him! That's one of the wild animals! It's a bear! That's how bears go—'wuff!' Oh, it's come, and what shall I do!"
He sat up in bed listening. He heard the noise again!