Frances Margaret Fox

“ Then he called his mother and his father.
"What is the trouble with Son Bear?" inquired Father Bear, when Mother Bear led the little fellow downstairs.
"I am hungry!" wailed Little Bear.
"Have you no bread?" asked Father Bear.
"I cannot eat just bread," answered Little Bear, "not when I smell fish. Besides, I am lonesome. I will weed the blackberry patch and the whole garden, and I'll hoe the corn, and I'll work like Sally Beaver, if you'll just let me have fish for my supper, and blackberries, and honey, and milk."
"Very well, Son Bear," agreed Father Bear. ”

“ Papa is coming! Wait, oh, Billy, Billy!"
But the north wind wasn't waiting, and Samone was tiny. Quicker than a flash, Billy, usually so slow, leaped upon the evergreens, snatched Samone, and rolled her down the bank into the water.
When certain braves returned, seeking a lost papoose, they found her playing with Betty's guests; but the great chief, Minnavavana, whose hands were a trifle burned, was still sobbing in his mother's arms. ”

“ Turner, "I know them every one, Sally, just as well as if I had seen their photographs. Hannah is tall and thin; Chinky is red-headed and freckled; Mike is full of mischief; and Johnnie's always getting into trouble; and Stubbins is a terror. Now why do you want such a family turned loose in our pretty village?"
"Don't laugh, Mrs. Turner, because it is dreadful for children not to have better things. They live down by the railroad tracks and the river, in mud and dirt. I think it is worse for them because they have always lived there, and they don't know anything different. ”

“ Around his neck he wore a red and yellow ribbon, and on it was hung something like a flute, and his fingers went straying up and down it as if he wished to be playing.
"I understand that you do not like caterpillars," said this queer fellow to Little Bear. "Men call me the Pied Piper," he went on when he saw that Little Bear was too surprised to speak. "And I know a way to draw after me everything that walks or flies or swims! What will you give me if I rid your playground of caterpillars?"
"I shall give you my porridge bowl," answered Little
Bear, "if you can take away these caterpillars." ”

“ She learned to sew on buttons, and to keep her clothes in order.
"Straight, plain dresses aren't meant for thin little girls," observed Mrs. Randall, "so we'll make over some of Cornelia Mary's old ones for Hannah."
The first Sunday Hannah wore one of the new dresses she blossomed out like a full blown rose.
"Run home and show your mother, child," said Mrs. Randall.
"Well, I never!" exclaimed Mrs. Mulvaney, as the pink blossom joined her family beneath an apple-tree. "If she don't look like a posy with the pink bow on her hair, and such a splendiferous dress. Well, there now! ”

“ Little Bear didn't go too near for fear of scaring the babies, who, with their beady black eyes, looked like balls of down.
29 While Father Deer nibbled the new wheat, Little Bear stayed near the nest where he could see the Bob White children eat their breakfast.
"What would you do if a man should come out here and carry off your babies?" asked Little Bear, who longed to take one of the babies in his own big paw and give it a weenty squeeze.
"Come, children," said Mrs. Bob White, "let us show Little Bear what would happen if a man should try to carry you off. ”

“ You may be a lion-tamer if you want to, but you and your old lion will have to have a show [Pg 37] of your own. I won't stand it any longer, and you can't have my cat for a polar bear, either."
"Why, Bet," was the remonstrance, "what makes you be so cross? I thought you liked to play circus. Do you want to be the lion-tamer this time, Bet? I'll let you take my big dog; do you want to, Betty?"
"No, Billy, I don't want to be anything that's in a circus, so there! I'll play Grace Darling, though; you and Gerald and Hero may be the shipwrecked sailors, and I'll be Grace Darling." ”

“ Bear.
"Certainly," answered Mother Otter. "Every one of them knows that our people have all been famous swimmers for centuries."
"I suppose, then," ventured Mother Bear, "that your children were born swimmers. You probably had trouble in keeping them out of the water when they were babies."
Mother Otter laughed. "The trouble was to get them into the water," she said, "because the silly little things were afraid. All young otters are afraid of the water and have to be put into it by force."
"You do not mean it!" exclaimed Mother Bear, with great amazement in her tones. ”

“ Hodgkins opened a door, allowing the children one brief glimpse of Christmas packages, dolls, books, sleds, and toys of all kinds.
"Oh, oh, oh!" cried the seven.
"They are all for you and every one who comes to the Christmas party," declared the man. "Santa Claus says this house is the place for your party because it's bigger than yours and he brought these presents ahead of time because he is so busy he was afraid he might miss us on Christmas Eve."
"Aw," began Chinky, but checked himself and laughed. "Won't it be jolly," said he, "that is if you don't mind." ”

“ I am Mother Hubbard, and I will help you. Hush—don't speak my name. I am traveling through the Enchanted Land as plain Mrs. Hubbard, in order not to attract attention. My dog knew you. There, now you are free. You need not thank me. ”

“ Never before had Mother Bear heard Little Bear speak like that. So she took him by the hand and led him into the house, where Father Bear sat in his big chair.
"Father Bear," she said, "Little Bear will not work." Then behind Little Bear's back she made motions that meant, "But please do not spank him!"
"Ah-hum! Ah-hum!" began Father Bear, gazing hard at Little Bear. "Do I understand that you will not pull weeds, Son Bear?"
"It is too hard work," explained Little Bear. "I am not big enough to pull weeds in the blackberry patch." ”

“ She didn't know that that sunbright clearing was Little Bear's playground; neither did Mother Goldilocks know it, nor Father Goldilocks.
"This is a long way from our camp," objected Mother Goldilocks.
"But morning walks are lovely," added Goldilocks.
"So they are," agreed Father Goldilocks. "Suppose we tap these trees and come after our buckets of sap early in the morning when the birds are singing. This once we will make a long journey for the first sap of the season. Tomorrow we shall begin tapping the trees in our own camp, and soon you shall have maple sugar." ”

“ Every ship, you know, should carry a set of these signal-flags, so let's play we're all boats. I'll be a yacht, I guess, because yachts are beautiful."
"I'm a steam-tug—choo—choo—choo!—and my name's the tug Billy. Choo—choo choo—"
"Good, Bill!" exclaimed Gerald. "You're built just right for a tug. I guess I'll be the schooner Gerald of the White Star Line. Lumber's my cargo."
"Dear me, I can't be just a yacht, sailing around for the fun of it," remarked Betty. "I must be part of the merchant marine myself." ”

“ Mulvaney, Cornelia Mary, and Sally remembered the stories they had heard, stories that had kept the house empty so many years.
"It must—must be imagination," declared Cornelia Mary, whose lower teeth seemed trying to break her upper teeth.
"We've all got ears," remonstrated Chinky.
"It's Stubbins," insisted Mrs. Mulvaney, "and I'll give it to him for being so smart and not answering Hannah."
Upstairs went Mrs. Mulvaney, but she came down faster than she went up. "It beats all," she declared, "there ain't nobody in the house but us—and do you hear that noise again? ”

“ One morning, when the Three Bears were floating downstream on their raft, they saw a farmhouse in the distance.
"Perhaps we shall never be so near a farmhouse again," said Mother Bear to Father Bear, "so I think we should buy some eggs of the farmer's wife."
"Do be sensible!" exclaimed Father Bear. "Remember that we have no money and that farmers do not love bears."
"That does not matter," said Mother Bear gently. "To-night, when we build our camp fire for the evening, we must have hens' eggs to roast for supper, and how can we have hens' eggs unless we buy them at the farmhouse?" ”

“ WELCOME HODGKINS CHOOSES THE CHRISTMAS TREE
It isn't so easy as you might think to choose a Christmas tree. Many a day early as November the seven little Mulvaneys trooped forth in search of one. The woods belonged to Mr. Hodgkins, who by this time had become their much loved ideal. Even Cornelia Mary had changed her mind about the man.
"He doesn't seem half so queer when you really get acquainted with him," she often remarked to her mother. Mrs. Brown and Sally were delighted by the many acts of kindness he showered upon the Mulvaneys, and their friends the Turners began to like him. ”

“ Antoine laughed long and loud before saying: "Beely, you think your aunt like one bear story?"
"Why, yes, but what are you laughing at, Antoine?"
[Pg 85]
"Oh, I'm think I'm tell one, two, three, four bear story until your aunt go home, and ole Antoine she laugh."
"How are you going to begin, Aunt Florence?" asked Betty, as Antoine and Billy came toward them hand in hand. "They say he won't promise not to drink; he just will spend every cent he can get when he wants to. Now what are you going to say?" ”

“ These Three Bears who lived in the forest were so fond of blackberries they had planted a patch of blackberry bushes in their own garden. Father Bear then bought three hoes—a big, big hoe for himself; a middle-sized hoe for the middle-sized Mother Bear, and a wee, wee hoe for the wee, wee Baby Bear. ”

“ Little Bear did not like that game so well as he did the toboggan slide.
"We have had a delightful time at your party," said Mother Bear to Mother Otter, at last, "and we thank you for inviting us over. If you ever wander into our home woods, come to our little house and have porridge with us."
"We shall be glad to do so," said Mother Otter, "and we shall always think kindly of Little Bear because he brought our baby home when he was lost. If we do go to visit you, you must let us make Little Bear a toboggan slide." ”

“ Sally smiled. "Oh, Mrs. Turner and I went house-hunting only last Saturday. We thought maybe we could find a cheap little house, but we couldn't on account of the new sugar factory. Houses are scarce and rents are high. We found out a few things. That's the way I do my hoping, mamma."
"Would they come?" inquired Cornelia Mary, growing interested.
"Come!" echoed Sally, "they'd come flying!"
"Yes, they would," agreed her mother. "There's no doubt of it. But how could we manage, Cornelia Mary? Where could they get a house, and how could they furnish it?" ”

“ Slowly did the steam-tug venture into deep water; too slowly to suit Antoine, whose fear of the dog was genuine. Gerald had explained that Hero never harmed any one Billy befriended, merely hinting at dark possibilities that might befall the unwary. He also laughingly told Antoine that Hero was not a dog, but a dangerous reef. In a short time the little Frenchman had reason to believe that the reef was volcanic in its nature. ”

“ I think I said this to you once before!"
"But I don't want to sleep all winter," wailed Little Bear. "I want to stay in our own little house in the woods and see the snow in the evergreens. I'd love to play in the snow and go sliding on the ice. I want to stay here and eat porridge out of my little bowl and sit in my little chair and sleep in my little bed! Father Deer's children do not sleep all winter. They make tracks in the snow, and they lie down to rest in the evergreens and watch for their enemies in the middle of the day! ”

“ MINNAVAVANA'S BRAVES
The north wind is no respecter of persons. He wasn't invited to Betty's lawn party, but he came at dawn and stayed until dark the day she chose to entertain her dearest friends. Billy was glad of it. He said that girls' parties were silly, anyway, and he hoped the whole flock would have to stay in the house. He declared that Betty needn't expect to see him at the party: he would rather hide in the cellar all day than be the only boy among so many girls. Aunt Florence smiled, and said she guessed they could get along without him if he felt that way. ”

“ She's about as unpretty as any one you ever saw. She's cross as a bear, too, but who wouldn't be? Just 'magine, Mrs. Turner, if you lived in a horrid little pig-pen house, and you had seven acting children and your Mr. Mulvaney was dead, and you had to take in washing? I do wish they could come out in the country. I wish they could live in this very village. Why, Mrs. Turner, they are the most discouraging children you ever saw. There's Hannah and Chinky and Nora and Dora and Mike and Johnnie and Stubbins, and they all look worse'n they act. ”

“ The men will not trouble you while we are in their path, never fear!" "I thank you, Mother Skunk!" Little Bear called over his shoulder, as he pit- patted for home as fast as he could travel. And when he reached home, he told what had happened to him and walked up and down in front of the fireplace to show Father Bear and Mother Bear how Mother Skunk had walked past the two big men, as if she were not afraid of anyone in the woods. ”

“ One steam-barge, the Wallula, was long unaccounted for. She was the last of the season, as Billy knew. He and Betty watched almost as anxiously as their father for the belated boat. One afternoon there came a blinding snow-storm, and for the first time Billy agreed with Betty in pitying the poor sailors, especially those on the Wallula.
"Just think of being out in such a storm, with the light-ships all gone and the buoys all [Pg 107] taken away!" said the little girl. "I don't see how a boat could help going on the shoals. Don't you ever be a sailor, Billy, will you?" ”

“ It so happened that the reason the seven children were so careful in their choice of a tree, was because Mr. Hodgkins, the Randalls, the Turners, Mrs. Brown, Alfred and Sally [Pg 94] were to share in its joy. The idea of having a Christmas tree was suggested by Mrs. Mulvaney to the unbounded satisfaction of the children.
"Who'll speak the pieces and sing the songs?" demanded Chinky.
"All of us, of course," Hannah replied.
"Catch me speaking a piece to a tree!" sniffed Chinky. "Johnnie and Mike and Stubbins, they can do that."
"Think you're awful smart, don't you?" ”