CHAPTER III
"A-KIT-CHEW"
Ding, dong, ding, dong,
Loudly rings the bell,
Old Grizzly
Bear is in the
woods, --
And he has
much to tell.
"A-kit-chew!" cried
Old Grizzly Bear.
"A-kit-chew!" cried
all the little Bears.
"A-kit-chew!" cried
all the animals in the wood.
Now, what do you suppose was
the matter?
They had all been out in the
rain, and had taken cold. My! how those animals did sneeze!
Old Grizzly went out into
the woods and rang a great bell.
He rang the bell because he
wanted to call all the animals together. Pretty soon the animals came
along,
sniffing and sneezing, and wiping their eyes.
Old Grizzly said: "When
we look for the rainbow end, we all catch cold, so we must stop looking
at
once."
"He wants the gold
himself," said Bushy Tail. "He wants the gold himself."
Old Grizzly said: "If
there had been a pot of gold at the rainbow end it would have been
found long
ago, and why should we get wet looking for it?"
"We will put it to
vote," shouted Bushy Tail. "Put it to a vote!" So they all
voted, and all the animals except Bushy Tail agreed that they would
rather
stay at home when it rained.
Little Bear did not say
anything, and Bushy Tail whispered to him: "We will keep on looking for
the pot of gold, Little Bear!"
Little Bear felt very sad.
He went home with Curly Bear, and he said: "If I don't find a name
pretty
soon, I shall grow up and still be called Little Bear."
Curly Bear kissed him on
both cheeks and said: "I will love you just the same."
The old owl called after
them: "Little Bear, you can find plenty of names, but you cannot be
sure
which is your name."
Little Bear cried, "Boo-hoo!"
Just then Susan Cotton-Tail came
along.
Susan Cotton-Tail was an old
grandmother rabbit, and all the animals loved her.
"You must not cry so
much," she said.
"Why not?" asked
Little Bear.
Susan Cotton-Tail said:
"I have a great-grandchild who cried so much they named her 'Little
Boo-hoo'!
"She would cry about
everything. Nothing seemed to please her. When it rained she would cry
because
she couldn't go out and play.
"When it was fine
weather she would cry because nobody came to play with her. She could
not be
pleased.
"You should take things
as they are and be happy, my Little Bear."
Little Bear laughed then and
said: "May I go home with you, Susan?"
Susan said: "Yes, if
you will carry my market basket."
Little Bear took the basket
and they went merrily down the road.
At last they came to Susan
Cotton-Tail's
home.
They saw a light in the
window, and Susan said:
"Bunny Cotton-Tail is
sitting up late to read. Do you like to read, Little Bear?"
Little Bear said
"Yes," and they went inside.
Bunny Cotton-Tail was
sitting up in bed, reading.
"Whom have we
here?" he asked. Little Bear made a bow.
"What is your
name?" asked Bunny Cotton-Tail. "We are glad you came." Susan
Cotton-Tail frowned at Bunny and filled Little Bear's mouth with candy
so he
could not cry.
Then Susan whispered
something to Bunny and he shook his head.
"I like candy,"
said Little Bear, "and so does Bushy Tail."
"Bushy Tail likes
cookies, too," said Susan. "He takes them without asking."
"I have not seen Bushy
Tail for a long time," said Bunny.
Susan laughed. She said:
"Perhaps he will call to-morrow!"
Bunny Cotton-Tail said:
"My fur and whiskers! where is my little red box?"
Susan looked, but she could
not find the little red box.
Bunny looked all over the
house, and Little Bear was as good as he could be; he never once said:
"What is in the little red box?"
"Ha! ha!" cried
Bunny at last, "here it is!"
He opened the box and took
out three chocolate candies. The candies looked like cigars.
"Have a smoke, Susan,
have a smoke, Little Bear," he cried.
They all took the candy
cigars and ate them.
Little Bear was so happy he
laughed until he cried.
"I am glad I am
here," said Little Bear. "I like this home. I like candy and I like
both of you. I shall come to visit you often."
Grandma Susan Cotton-Tail
Is sad as sad can be,
She has lost
her glasses,
And so she cannot see!
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