THE SUNDAY. OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, JANUARY 19, 1908.
h '. !'
How an Accident
Found an Uncle
(Copyright, 1908, by Seymour Eaton.)
- : no. ix.
One bright, warm day the Teddy Bears,
Who wero tired of work and household cares,
Tramped far in the woods some nuts to find,
And left their home and work behind.
They had gathered nuts and were feeding squirrels, ,
And talking kindly of boys and girls
Like Billy Blink, who understood
Detective work, and Red Riding Hood
and little Bo-Peep and the Cinderella queen,
And many more whom they had seen,
When all at once there came a rush
Of something smashing through the brush.
' Verses by Seymour Eaton
Drawings by C. H. Twelvetrees
(Ct-cvright, 1908, by American and Examiner.)
But at last I found the tiny bed,
The very place to lay my head;
I went to sleep, and the dream I had
"Was about a mother with a daughter bad
But when I awoke some folks downstairs
Were tajking about the soup and chairs,
And founding the floor and scolding hard
Because their door bad not been barred.
At last -they climbed the funny stairs,
, Three fierce and savage grizzly bears;
The biggest two each with a club,
And following them a Tittle cub. . .
They saw the beds all in a muss,
They both jumped up from where they sat,
And the squirrels climbed to' a higher flat.
"My gracious me!" said TEDDY-B,
".What in the world can that rumpus be?"
They listened long and all was still ;
Then heard a call both loud and shrill,
Like the cry of some one in distress;
But where to look they couldn't guess, '
Till a little squirrel up on a tree, .
Out on a limb where he could sec,. "
Made motions to the bears below : (
Of- what he saw and where to go.
The bears ran over through the trees . ' ,
And found a girl down on her knees,
Where she had fallen with awful crash, . ,
And crying as if her heart would smash;
For the limbs arid brush had made a groove,
Which held her tight; she couldn't move;
And when the Teddy Bears came near
She cried and shrieked again with fear.
"Don't be alarmed," said TEDDY-G;
"Give me your hand; I'll set you free;"
And TEDDY-B assured her, ioo,
Of the kindly things thnt they would do;
"For here before you now," said he, V .
"The famous Teddy Bears you see."
When this she heard she laughed with' joy,
And said right off, "I'll you erdtyoy ,
To go with me to a house near by '
And punish the bears that made me cry.";
. '
"Tell us the story," said TEDDY-B,
As they sat on some stones beside a tree
With moss for cushions and nuts to eat,
And a dozen squirrels playing round their feet.
"My name is .Goldenlocks," she said;
"My mother farms and my father's dead.
And I'm her only child, you see,
And do the work of two or three;
But I was bad and cross today;
The work was hard, and I ran away;
I walked for miles in this Jonely wood.
Till all at once before me" stood
The funniest house I ever saw,
Made of big logs and roofed with straw.
The door was open and in I went,
But I am sure no harm was meant,
Though when I saw the table set
With things to eat I did forget ,
And tried the soup ; the biggest bowl
Was hot with pepper like a red-hot coal,
And the second bowl had another fault ;
I took a taste;, it was salty salt;
But the little bowl was sugar sweet;
I ate it all; 'twas such a treat;
For I was as hungry as I could be ;
And then I jumped and danced with glee,
. An'd upset three chairs and one I broke ;
The littlest one; 'twas made of oak,
And bad a cushion which tumbled out,
.And scattered the feathers all about;
But I didn't mean to be so bad;
The chair just broke, I was so glad." ,
"That funny house I'd like to see;
There must be a child there," 6aid TEDDY-G.
.''That broken chair won't make us vexed,
So tell us, please, what happened next."
"Oh, then I climbed the queerest stairs,"
Said Goldenlocks to the Teddy Bears,
"And found three beds all in a row,
With pillows' and quilts as white as snow.
The big bed was hard; I tried it first,
And of the three this was the worst ;
Then next I tried the middle size,
But in it, I sank right to my eyes;
"The bears ran over through the trees.'
And began at once to make a fuss,
When the tiny bear caught sight of me ' "
And called out quick, 'There! There is she!- '-
I jumped for the window and tumbled through
And fell on flower beds planted new,
And off I. Tan and yelled, yon see,
Thinking those bears were chasing me."
"Let us go at once," said TEDDY-G,
"This funny house and these bears to see."
' Then the Teddy Bears and Goldenlocks
Climbed over trees and -brush and rocks,
Backlo. the house where lived the bears
That made the fuss about soup and chairs
The door was closed when they got there,
And when they rapped a great big- bear
Opened the door, with club in paw,
To make intruders obey the law.
TEDDY-G and Goldenlocks were scared ,
When at the hree this big bear glared.' .
"Good. morning, uncle," said TEDDY-B;
"I'm afraid you don't remember me;
We left our home some years ago
To travel round the "world, you know,
And now we're famous everywheres,
And children call us Teddy Bears."
' V.
, The old bear grinned and shook each paw,
And turning round he called for" maw"
To come at once a sight to see, ' '
t Their nephews smart, TEDDIES-B and G.
'- They introduced their little pet
As "the only cousin you have yet,"
And apologized to Goldenlocks ;
For chasing her o'er brush and rocks.
But the things that happened there that day
Would fill a fiook or make a play.
They talked for hours, then TEDDY-B
Taught his wee cousin iris ABC; .
Then each gave Goldenlocks a gift,
All tied together, too big to lift;
But the uncle bear took' up the load
And walked along- to show the road
.And to show her, too, that an uncle bear
Is sometimes sweet and good,and square.