"Oh, Big Dog, Big Dog," he said, "we cannot go to see the king."
"Why not?" asked Big Dog. "Has he gone away from home?"
"I know nothing about that," answered Little Dog, who was almost out of breath, "but a little farther on there is a great river, and we can never get across."
But Big Dog would not turn back. "I must see this great river," he said, and he walked on as quietly as before. Little Dog followed him, and when they came to the river Big Dog jumped in, splish! splash! and began to swim.
"Wait, wait," cried Little Dog, but Big Dog only answered, "Don't be afraid."
So in jumped Little Dog, splish! splash! too, for he did not want to be left behind. He was terribly frightened, but he paddled himself along with his four feet just as he saw Big Dog doing, and when he was safe across the river, which was not half so wide as he had thought, he barked at it as if he had never been afraid at all.
"Bow-wow-wow-wow! You cannot keep us from the king," he said, and he was off and away before Big Dog had shaken the water from his coat. But in less time than it takes to tell it, Big Dog spied him running back with his tail hanging down and his ears drooping.
"Oh, Big Dog, Big Dog!" he cried. "We cannot go to see the king, for in the wood yonder there is a bear, and she will eat us both for her supper. I heard her say so myself."
Then Big Dog made haste to the wood, barking loudly:—
"Bow-wow! Bow-wow! I am not afraid! I am not afraid!" and when the bear heard him she ran to her home as fast as she could.