They journeyed quite a long way, and finally it became lighter, and the trees grew further apart, until they came to a clearing, and there, right in the very middle, stood the little house, with its three doors, its three windows, its three chimneys, so like the pictures in her book, that Jane almost fell off the bear's back, when she saw it. They stopped in front of one of the doors, and out ran the Baby Bear. When he saw Jane sitting on his father's back, he gave a funny little squeal, and hurried into the house, calling,
"Oh, Mamma, Mamma, put away my chair, and my blue bowl, here's another horrid little girl, come with Pa, and I'm sure she will break them again. She's much bigger than the other one."
Mamma Bear went to the door. She looked just like the pictures too, and had a bonnet with strings tied under her chin.
"Mercy me, Pa," she said, "who have you brought now?"
"It's a little girl," said Mr. Bear, "I found her in the woods, hunting for our house. She's a silly child,"—this very severely—"she believed that we were not real".
Mamma Bear gave a violent roar of rage, and said: "Of course we are real," in her middle-sized voice, which was not so squeaky as the Baby Bear's voice, and not so gruff as Papa Bear's. Jane hastened to apologize again, and begged to be allowed to see the inside of the house, and as Mamma Bear was very good-natured, she took her in.
Jane saw the big chair, that was so hard, the middle-sized chair, that was so soft, and the little chair, that Silverlocks had broken, and it was all mended with string. She wanted to sit in it but the Baby Bear made such a fuss, she gave up the attempt. They showed her the great, big bowl full of very peppery soup, the middle-sized bowl full of very salty soup, and the Baby Bear's bowl, which was mended with glue. He let Jane taste a little of his soup, just a very little, because he was afraid she would take it all, and he would have none.
Then they invited her upstairs, and showed her all the beds, and these she was allowed to try. She had a great deal of trouble getting up on Mr. Bear's bed, it was so high, and when she did succeed she was glad to get down again, for it was just as hard now as when Silverlocks had found it. The middle-sized bed she passed by almost without looking at it, she was so anxious to get to Baby Bears bed, and see where Silverlocks had gone to sleep on that eventful day.
Then they showed the window through which Silverlocks had jumped out, and the Baby Bear hopefully suggested that Jane could do the same, if she liked! When they went downstairs again, Mamma Bear gave Jane some nice little cakes she had baked.
Jane thought she ought to go home, but didn't know how to go. Mr. Bear said he couldn't possibly take her, it was much too far. Mamma said she couldn't possibly take her, because she was much too fat, and Baby Bear said she couldn't possibly stay where she was because he couldn't think of letting her sleep in his bed. So it seemed for a little while as though Jane would never get home. Suddenly Mamma Bear had an idea.