instead of showing fear when buster approached the bed, the little girl held out a hand, and when he was near enough she took one of his shaggy paws and patted it. this seemed natural enough to buster, for he could not understand why any one should be afraid of him, and chiquita had done the same thing many times; but to most little girls perhaps it would seem like a brave and fearless thing. this little girl like little red riding-hood was not afraid of bears or wolves until they tried to eat her up.
“i’m glad to see you, buster,” she said with quaint gravity. “but how did you ever get here?”
buster grinned and turned his head toward the open window. the little girl followed his gaze, and instantly understood.
“oh, you came through the window,” she added. “that makes it so much more interesting. fairies and elves always come through open windows. won’t you sit down?”
[104]buster was quite tired after his hard run, and was very glad to accept this invitation. the foot of the bed seemed a very inviting seat, and he sat on the white coverlet.
but almost immediately he sprang up in alarm. the springs creaked under his great weight, and for a moment it looked as if the whole bed would collapse. he jumped to his feet with a queer expression on his face. in fact, he wasn’t sure but this was some sort of a trap set for him.
but the little girl laughed merrily at the accident, and clapped both hands. he could not believe she was attempting to deceive him, and he grinned like a foolish boy who had discovered a bent pin in his chair.
“oh, buster,” she cried, “i guess this isn’t a bear-bed. you’re too heavy for it. maybe the chair will hold you.”
buster turned and looked at the chair. he seemed a little doubtful, but he wanted to be polite. he tried it carefully, but when it began to crack and groan under his weight he was wise enough not to go any further. he shook his head, and put the chair back in its place.
he didn’t mind the floor as a seat
the little girl shrieked with laughter again. it was very amusing to her, and buster, not wishing to offend her, grinned and nodded his[105] head. he liked children, and this one was anxious to play with him. after a while she grew serious again, and looked around at every article in the room.
“i don’t know, buster,” she said slowly, “but you’ll have to sit on the floor. i don’t think anything else is strong enough to hold you. it’s not very polite to ask visitors to sit on the floor, but what else can i do, unless you prefer to stand?”
buster didn’t prefer to stand. he was very tired, and he didn’t mind the floor as a seat at all. in fact, it was more suitable to him than a bed or chair. so he squatted down on his haunches, and smiled. even then his head towered above the little girl’s.
“are you comfortable there?” she asked.
buster nodded. “then,” she added, “you must tell me where you came from, and how you escaped those cruel men. i want to hear the whole story. it’s better than a story from a book, and i love story books about bears. did you ever hear the story of goldy locks or the three little bears? no. then i’ll tell you.”
but she didn’t have time. just then there was a great commotion outside. men were shouting and calling, dogs barking, and a great hullabaloo going on under the open window.
[106]“what’s that!” exclaimed the little girl, hopping out of the bed, and running to the window in her bare feet.
buster could have told her what the noise meant, and for a moment he thought it was his duty to give himself up to keep the little girl from being harmed. suppose the crowd searching for him should hurt her! he got up, and tried to pull her away from the window, but she pushed him back quickly.
“go back, buster!” she cried. “they’re looking for you, but they won’t have you. they mustn’t see you!”
the dogs below were barking. they had tracked buster to the woodshed, and were now holding their nose up in the air baying loudly. as plain as words they were saying the bear had climbed to the roof of the shed.
the men saw the open window, and immediately a hoarse cry rose. “he’s gone in that window! he’s eating up little nell! oh! oh!”
you could imagine buster’s emotions when he heard this outcry. to be accused of eating up little nell was enough to make any self-respecting bear angry. he growled savagely, and started for the window again. but the little girl restrained him once more.
[107]“no, no, buster, you mustn’t let them see you!” she cried. “now let me think! what ought i to do? they’ll be here soon. yes,” glancing out of the window, “they’re climbing up the shed. oh, buster, hide under the bed!”
buster obeyed, but he might just as well have tried to crawl through the key-hole of the lock on the door. he couldn’t possibly squeeze under the bed without upsetting it.
“dear me,” added nell, biting her lips, “where can i hide you?”
she looked at the closet filled with her pretty clothes. she ran to it and looked in. it was such a small closet that buster couldn’t possibly crowd in it.
“i don’t know, buster,” she added, “what i can do.” she looked at her trunk. no, of course, not; she couldn’t get buster in that. the bureau next, and then the wash-stand. not one of them was big enough to hold one of buster’s hind legs.
they could hear the men climbing to the roof of the shed now. in a few moments they would appear at the open window with their shot-guns and pitchforks. the little girl was more excited than buster. suddenly an idea came to her, and she gasped with delight.
[108]“here, buster,” she called sharply, seizing him by a paw. “you must lie down on the floor at the foot of the bed. get way down! no, no, not that way! this way! pull your legs up like a cat cuddling up before the fire. there, that’s right. now don’t you move or make a sound. you hear me?”
she shook a finger warningly at him. she had made buster curl up on the floor at the foot of the bed in the smallest space he had ever before occupied. it was not a comfortable position for him, but for the little girl’s sake he was satisfied to stay there.
then nell pulled the clothes down, and threw them over the foot-board of the bed and spread them out on the floor until buster was completely covered. she laid the pillows on top just as if they had been put there to air. she had been taught to do this every morning after rising, and then open the window for the fresh air to blow in.
the men appeared at the window just as she had finished. without waiting for an invitation they climbed in.
“where is he?” they asked. “where’s the bear? we thought he was in here eating you up, nell.”
they were glancing all around the room, and if buster hadn’t been so well concealed[109] they would have seen him. nell turned to them with dignity, and said in her high little voice:
“what an idea! is there a bear around here? oh, i’d dearly like to see him! i know he wouldn’t hurt me! where did he come from? is he outside?”
she ran to the window and looked out. satisfied now that buster was not in the room, the men climbed out, but they closed the window after them, and said: “keep that shut, nell!”
in the next story buster is discovered in the house.
