"Isn't he nice?" asked Arthur.
"Yes, pretty nice," agreed Nettie. "But he isn't as nice as my Rag Doll."
"Well, girls like dolls and boys like Plush Bears. That's the best way, I guess," said Arthur.
Then he and his sister played some more with the Plush Bear, winding him up, listening to his pretended growls, and watching him wave his paws and shake his head.
That night after the children had gone to bed and the Plush Bear was in the closet of the playroom with the Rag Doll, the Bear leaned over and whispered to the Doll:
"What sort of place is it here?"
"Oh, very nice!" the Rag Doll answered. "Two better children than Nettie and Arthur you could not wish for! And every Summer they go to the seashore."
"The seashore? Where is that?" asked the Plush Bear. "Is it near the North Pole?"
"Oh, my, no!" answered the Rag Doll. "It is so long since I was at the North Pole, where I once lived in the shop of Santa Claus, that I have almost forgotten about it. But the seashore is quite different. I have been there with Nettie for two summers. And, now that you belong to Arthur, I suppose he will take you there. It is very jolly down on the warm sand near the sparkling waves."
"I should very much like to see it," said the Plush Bear.