The grandmother all this time was wondering very much where her Toto was. “What can have become of the boy?” she said to herself for the twentieth time. “He is always punctual at supper-time; and now it is more than an hour past. It must be quite dark, too, in the wood. Where can he be?” And she went to the door and listened, as she had been listening ever since six o’clock. “Toto!” she said aloud. “Toto, do you hear me?” But no sound came in reply, save the distant hoot of an owl; and reluctantly the good woman closed the door again, and went back to her knitting. She felt very anxious, very much troubled; but what could she do? Blind and alone, she was quite helpless. Suppose the boy should have wandered off into some distant part of the forest, and lost his way? Suppose 184 he should have encountered some fierce wild beast, unlike the friendly creatures with whom he played every day? Suppose—But here the current of her anxious thoughts was interrupted by a sound; a curious sound,—a soft thud against the door, followed by a scratching noise, and a sound of heavy breathing.

The poor grandmother turned cold with fear; she did not dare to move for some minutes; but the thud was repeated several times, as if somebody were trying to knock. She tottered towards the door, and said in a tremulous voice, “Who is there?”

“Only Bruin, ma’am,” was the reply, in a meek growl.

Oh, how relieved the grandmother was! With hands that still trembled she unfastened the door. “Oh, Mr. Bruin!” she cried. “Dear Mr. Bruin, I am so glad you have come! Can you tell me anything about Toto? He has not come home, and I am very anxious indeed. I fear he may have met some wild creature, and—”

“Well, ma’am,” said the bear slowly, “as for being wild—well, yes; perhaps you would call her wild. And I don’t say she was amiable, and she was certainly very free in the matter of claws; very free, indeed, she was!”

“What do you mean, Mr. Bruin?” cried the poor old lady. “Claws? Oh! then I know he has been attacked, and you know all about it, and have come to break it to me. My boy! my boy! Tell me quickly where he is, and what has happened to him!”

“Don’t be alarmed, ma’am,” said Bruin. “Pray don’t be alarmed! there are no bones broken, I assure you; and as for her, you need have no further anxiety. I—I saw to the matter myself, and I have no reason to think—no, I really have no reason to think that you will have any further trouble with her.”

“Her!” said the bewildered old grandmother. “I don’t—I can’t understand you, Mr. Bruin. I want to know what has become of Toto, my boy.”

“Certainly, certainly,” said the bear hastily. “Very natural, I’m sure; don’t mention it, I beg of you. As for a little blood, you know,” he added apologetically, “that couldn’t be helped, you see. I didn’t come up quite soon enough; but we know the blood is there, after all; and a little of it outside instead of inside,—why, what difference does it make? He has plenty left, you know.”

“Bruin, Bruin!” cried a faint voice, “do stop! You will frighten her to death with your explanations. Here I am, Granny dear, safe and sound, barring a few scratches.” And Toto, who had been gradually recovering his senses during the last few minutes, raised himself from the doorstep on which the bear had laid him, and flung his arms round his grandmother’s neck.

The poor old woman gave a cry of joy, and then burst into tears, being quite overcome by the sudden change from grief and anxiety to security and delight.

At the sight of her tears, the worthy Bruin uttered a remorseful growl, and boxed his own 187 ears several times very severely, assuring himself that he was quite the most stupid beast that ever lived, and that he was always making a mess of it. “I didn’t mean to frighten you, ma’am,” he said, “I didn’t indeed; but I am such a stupid! And now,” he added, “I think I must be going. Good-night, ma’am.”

“What!” cried Toto, turning from his grandmother, and throwing his arms in turn round the bear’s huge shaggy neck. “Going, before we have thanked you? Going off without a word, after saving my life? Oh, you unnatural old Bruin! you shall not stir! Do you know, Granny, that he has saved my life from the owls, and that if it had not been for him you would have no Toto at all, but only a hundred little bits of him?” And he told the whole story in glowing words, while Bruin hung his head and shuffled from one foot to another, much abashed at hearing his own praises.

And when the grandmother had heard all about it, what did she do? Why, she too put her arms round the huge shaggy neck; and if ever a bear 188 came near being hugged to death, it was that bear.

“And now,” said the grandmother, when she had recovered her composure, and had thanked and blessed Bruin till he did not know whether he had one head or seven, “it is very late, and I am sure you must be tired. Why will you not stay and spend the night with us? There is a beautiful fire in the kitchen, and a nice soft rug in front of it, on which you could sleep very comfortably. Do stay!”

The bear rubbed his nose and looked helplessly at Toto. “I don’t think—” he began.

“Of course he will stay,” said Toto decidedly. “There isn’t any ‘thinking’ about it. He will stay. Walk in, old fellow, and sit down in front of the fire, and Granny will give us both some supper. Oh! my Granny dear, if you knew how hungry I am!”

It would have been a pleasant sight, had there been any one there to enjoy it, to see the trio gathered around the bright wood-fire an hour 189 later. The grandmother sat in her high-backed arm-chair, in snowy cap and kerchief, knitting and smiling, smiling and knitting, as happy and contented as a grandmother could possibly be. On the other side of the hearth sat the bear, blinking comfortably at the fire, while Toto leaned against his shaggy side, and chattered like a magpie.

“How jolly this is!” he said. “It reminds me of Snow-White and Rose-Red, when the bear came and slept in front of the fire. By the way, Bruin, you are not an enchanted prince, are you? The bear in that story was an enchanted prince. What fun if you should be!”

“Not to my knowledge,” replied the bear, shaking his head. “Not—to—my—knowledge. Never heard of such a thing in our branch of the family. I had a cousin once who travelled with a showman, but that is the only thing of the kind that I know of.”

“Tell us about your cousin!” said Toto, eager, as usual, for a story. “How came he to take to the show business?”

“It took him,” said Bruin. “He was taken when he was a little fellow, only a few months old. The man who caught him made a pet of him at first; taught him to dance, and shake paws, and beat the drum. He was a drummer in the 191 army,—the man, I mean. He was very kind, and my cousin grew extremely fond of him.”

“What was your cousin’s name?” asked Toto.

“They called him ‘Grimshaw;’” said Bruin. “His master’s name was Shaw, and he was grim, you know, when he didn’t like people, and so they called him ‘Grimshaw.’ He mostly didn’t like people,” added the bear reflectively. “He certainly didn’t like the showman.”

“Then Shaw was not the showman?” said Toto.

“Oh, dear, no!” said Bruin. “A war broke out, and Shaw’s regiment was ordered off, and he couldn’t take Grimshaw with him. He was very big then, and the other soldiers didn’t like him. He had a way of going into the different tents and taking anything he happened to fancy for supper; and if any one said anything to him, he boxed that one’s ears. They always tumbled down when he boxed their ears, and they made a great fuss about it, and so finally his master was obliged to sell him to the showman. His name was Jinks.

“He taught my cousin several new tricks, and 192 took him all over the country, exhibiting him in the different towns and villages. You see,” said Bruin apologetically, “he—I mean Grimshaw—didn’t know any better. He was so young when he was taken that he didn’t remember much about his family, and didn’t know what an undignified sort of thing it was to be going about in that way. One day, however, Jinks undertook to make him waltz with a piece of meat on his nose, without attempting to eat it. Grimshaw would not do that, because he didn’t think it was reasonable; and I don’t think it was. So then Jinks attempted to beat him, and Grimshaw boxed his ears, and he tumbled down and didn’t get up again. Grimshaw waited a few minutes, and finding that he did not seem inclined to move, he ran away and took to the woods.”

“But why did not the showman get up?” inquired the grandmother innocently.

“I think it highly probable that he was dead, madam,” replied Bruin. “But I cannot say positively, as I was not there.

“After this Grimshaw lived alone for some time, wandering about from one forest to another. One day, as he was roaming up and down, he came suddenly upon a party of soldiers, three or four in number, sitting round a fire, and cooking their dinner. The moment they saw the bear, they dropped everything, and ran for their lives, leaving the good chops to burn, which was a sin. It was a good thing for Grimshaw, however, as he was very hungry; so he sat down by the fire and made a hearty meal. After he had dined comfortably, he began to look about him, and spied a big drum, which the soldiers had left behind in their flight. Seizing the drumsticks, he began to beat a lively tattoo. In a few moments he heard a rustling among the bushes, and saw a man’s head thrust cautiously out. What was his delight to recognize his old master, Sergeant Shaw! He threw down the drumsticks and uttered a peculiar howl. It was answered by a shrill whistle, and in another moment Shaw and Grimshaw were in each other’s arms. When the other soldiers ventured 194 to return, they found the two gravely dancing a hornpipe, with great mutual satisfaction.”

“Oh! how delightful!” exclaimed Toto. “And did they stay together after that?”

“No, that was impossible,” replied the bear. “But they spent a couple of days together, and parted with the utmost good-will.

“After roaming about for some time longer, my cousin met some other bears, who invited him to join them. To their great amazement, one of them turned out to be Grimshaw’s elder brother; he recognized Grimshaw by one of his ears, out of which he had himself bitten a piece in their infancy. This was a very joyful meeting, and led to the restoration of Grimshaw to his parents, who were still alive. He spent the remainder of his life in peace and happiness; and that is all there is to tell about him.

“And now,” continued Bruin, “you ought to have been asleep long ago, Toto, and I have been keeping you awake with my long story. Off with you, now! And good-night to you too, dear madam. I will lie here in front of the fire; and if any creature, human or otherwise, comes to disturb the house during the night, I will attend to that creature!”