at exactly three o'clock
the furry people came –
grizzly bear, and bushy tail,
and others i could name!
little bear woke up early next morning and went down-stairs.
why do you suppose he got up so early?
he thought that he would look for susan cotton-tail's glasses!
little bear looked all over the house for the glasses.
susan cotton-tail got up, and called: "who is down-stairs in my house?"
patter, patter, patter, went little bear's feet.
he came to the foot of the stairs and then he set up a shout.
what do you suppose made little bear shout?
there stood susan cotton-tail with her glasses pushed up on her nightcap!
little bear crept up-stairs and pulled susan's glasses over her eyes, and kissed her.
susan was so pleased to be able to see again that she said:
"you are really a very handsome little bear. it is a pity you haven't any name!"
bunny cotton-tail gave little bear a hug, and they all made merry because susan cotton-tail's glasses were found.
bunny cotton-tail made a big sign. he wrote these words on the sign: "wanted, a name for little bear!" bunny tacked the sign up on the outside of the house.
"what did you do that for?" asked susan. "the animals will read about it in the paper."
bunny did not answer -- how could he? for his mouth was full of tacks. at exactly three o'clock in the afternoon a great procession of animals began to come, and all of them brought names for little bear.
there were so many animals that the house was full, and the yard was full, and still more animals came.
the old owl sat up in a tree, and the animals began to shout names, one after the other.
"adolphus -- henry -- james -- marcus -- augustus," and so they went on all afternoon.
when it was sun-down, the old owl got ready to speak.
the old owl was very wise. he said: "my dear friends, we can find a great many names, but how can we be sure any one of them belongs to little bear?"
then little bear set up a great cry, and bunny cotton-tail began to feed him a banana and susan cotton-tail gave him a cookie, but still he cried.
just then the sixteen little bears came down the road, two and two, and little bear was so happy to see them that he forgot he didn't have any name and he shouted: "good-by, bunny; good-by, susan."
then he ran down the road as fast as his little legs could carry him.
the sixteen little bears kissed him and hugged him and the eldest brother bear carried him part-way home.
they met bushy tail as they went along. he switched his tail in a very proud way and said:
"dollars don't grow on bushes, but papa bear has plenty of dollars to spare!"
all the little bears turned and chased bushy tail, but he was a sly old fox. he was too quick for them, and he soon disappeared in the woods. little bear suddenly gave a shout, then all the bears began to shout. there, in the road, was something round and shining.
little bear picked it up; it was the silver dollar that papa bear had given bushy tail for the newspaper!
"give it to me," said the first little bear.
"give it to me," said the second little bear.
then each of the little bears shouted: "i want the dollar! i want the dollar!" little bear walked very fast. he held the silver dollar very tightly in his paw. he was afraid he might lose it.
little bear said: "i will give the dollar back to papa bear."
"i wish i had found it," said the first little bear.
"i wish i had found it," said the second little bear.
curly bear said: "little bear is right. he must give the dollar back to papa bear."
little bear kissed curly bear, and they went on home.