CHAPTER VII

RED RIDING HOOD

Mama Bear was so glad to see Lit­tle Bear again that she gave him a great hug.

Then Little Bear handed Papa Bear the silver dollar.

Papa Bear was so pleased! He said: "You may have a party."

Then all the Bears clapped their paws and danced up and down.

Just then there came a great peal of thunder, and another and another. Then all the little Bears began to howl:

"Oh, ow! oh, ow! We are afraid of thunder! We are afraid of lightning!"

Mama Bear said: "Off to bed, every one of you."

Little Bear jumped up into Mama Bear's lap, and the other Bears all went to bed.

The Bears looked so cunning in their little beds.

Pretty soon the storm was over and there came a beautiful rainbow in the sky.

"See the rainbow," whispered Little Bear. "Do you suppose we could find the pot of gold?"

Then Mama Bear and Papa Bear and Little Bear all went into the yard. One end of the rainbow seemed to come near their garden.

Now, what do you suppose those funny Bears did? They all began to dig. They were looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Soon the other little Bears woke up and they all came out to see what was the matter.

They had sixteen little shovels and  they all began to dig as fast as they could.

Pretty soon they had the whole gar­den bed spaded up.

Then it began to rain patter, pat­ter, patter, and splash, splash, splash. The Bears all ran for the house. My! but they were wet!

Papa Bear built a great fire, and Mama Bear came with a big towel, and they took turns rubbing off one an­other's wet fur.

Just then a great crash was heard!

"Oh, ow! oh, ow!" cried all the little Bears. "We are afraid of thunder! We are afraid of lightning."

"Do be still!" cried Mama Bear. "We must go and see what is the matter." What do you suppose was the mat­ter?

Bushy Tail had jumped through the front parlor window, and there was broken glass all over the floor!

"Who is going to pay for this win­dow?" cried Papa Bear.

Bushy Tail did not answer.

"I want my dollar back!" he roared. "I want my dollar back!"

Bushy Tail lashed his tail in a ter­rible way.

The little Bears were so afraid that they crept under the sofa and hid.

I don't know what would have hap­pened, I am sure, if some one had not knocked at the door just then.

Papa Bear opened the door. There stood Little Red Riding Hood.

Little Red Riding Hood wore a red cap and a red cape, and she carried a basket on her arm.

"Good-by, I'll call again," shouted Bushy Tail, and bounded through the window and was off and away.

Bushy Tail was always very shy with strangers.

Little Red Riding Hood said: "I will give you my basket of cookies if I may stay with you all night."

Little Red Riding Hood had lost her way.

The little Bears came out from un­der the sofa one by one, and Little Bear was last of all to come out.

"I have seen you before," said Little Red Riding Hood. "What is your name, Little Bear?"

Then Little Bear began to cry so hard that the others offered him somecookies, but he cried still harder, and they were afraid he would never stop. Little Red Riding Hood whispered something to him, and then he stopped crying.

I wonder what Little Red Riding Hood said!

Little Bear let Little Red Riding Hood sleep in his bed. He curled up on a rug, on the floor.

Little Bear liked to sleep on the rug. The rug was close to the fire.

Red Riding Hood said: "Are you going to sleep, Little Bear?"

Little Bear said: "I am going to roast some apples first."

So Little Bear sat before the fire, roasting apples. He ate one apple and gave one to Red Riding Hood.

Red Riding Hood said: "You are a very nice little bear. Thank you for the apple."

Little Bear roasted another apple. Then he went into the hall. His soft little feet went pitter, patter in the hall.

His soft little voice called: "Curly Bear, come and get your apple."

Curly Bear came down, rubbing his eyes.

"Be quiet," said Little Bear. "Don't wake the rest. I cannot sit up all night roasting apples! I must darn my stockings."

Curly Bear sat on the stairs and ate his apple; then he went back to bed.