“Will you not come along with Dido and me?” asked George of this man, whose name was Tom. “We can travel together, and you can blow the horn while I make Dido do tricks. Come, travel about the country with us.”
“Yes, I will do that,” Tom said, and so all three started off together. Dido liked Tom very much, for Tom gave the dancing bear some sweet popcorn balls, of which Dido was very fond.
For a week or more Dido traveled about with George and Tom, doing tricks, sometimes in little country towns, and again in cities. And one day, when they were out in the country, Dido had a little adventure.
They were marching along the road, when Dido saw, coming toward them an automobile, with a man on the front seat steering, while in back were a boy and a girl, and two dogs.
All at once there was a loud banging noise, like a gun. But it was not a gun. One of the automobile tires had burst. Then the man jumped out to fix a new tire on the wheels, and the boy and girl, with the two dogs, got out to rest in the shade.
Tom blew a little music on the horn, and this made the boy and girl look down the road.
“Oh, look!” cried the girl, whose name was Alice. “What is that? A bear! I’m afraid!”
“Don’t be afraid,” said the boy, whose name was Bob. “It is only a tame, trained bear.”
The two dogs barked at the bear, and then Dido, who, with the two men, had come closer to the automobile, said: