TROUBLE FOR LITTLE WHITE BEAR
"Come on," cried Little White Bear, almost standing on his head in his
eagerness to be at play with this new friend.
"Let's go exploring," said Little Black Bear. "That's the most fun of
all!"
"All right," shouted Little White Bear, turning a handspring. And away
they went,--two little bears out to see what they could find in the
great, white world.
They went down by the lakes and saw where Widgeon had made her nests in
the warm summer time; they wandered over the hills and said "Woof
Woof!" in the doorway to Little Mrs. White Fox's home; they went here
and there, but at last they came upon something really very strange.
"What can it be?" said Little White Bear, standing on one foot and
looking very wise.
"What _can_ it be!" said Little Black Bear, scratching his head. And
what indeed could it be? It was right down at the foot of the mountain.
There was a big, black, square thing right in the snow, and in the
middle of that there was another little square that was brown. Did any
one in the wide world ever hear of finding such a strange thing in a
great white wilderness? There wasn't a square thing anywhere else on the
whole tundra. Things were round and crooked and made of little angles,
but who ever saw a square thing in real tundra land?
The two little Bears walked round and round it and tried to think what
it could be. At last Little Black Bear put one foot on it very timidly.
"There!" he said bravely, "I stepped on it! Do you dare?"
"Of course I do!" said Little White Bear, walking right out on the big
square. "See me!" he shouted and went racing right across the thing.
That is, he started across, but just when he was on the little brown
square, he felt his feet begin to sink. There was a rip--ripping of
something, and down he went, till he struck kerwhack! on something far
below. He jumped to his feet very quickly. Where was he? There were
brown walls all about him, like the walls of the cave where his home
was. And look as he might, Little White Bear could see no way to get out
except to climb back up through the hole he had made when he fell in.
And that was far, far above his head. He could never get out that way.
And what was worst of all, as he began to look around, he was more and
more sure of one dreadful thing. And that was that he was in the house
of Omnok the hunter. My! That was a terrible thought. But it was true!
They had been playing on Omnok's roof, and Little White Bear had fallen
right through the window in the roof. Omnok had made a curtain out of
the coats of many eider ducks, and this was the brown square that Little
White Bear had started to run across.
Well, there wasn't a thing he could do. He just wandered round and
round, but he couldn't find the least little place where he could get
out. "What a strange place to live!" he thought to himself. "How does he
ever get into it himself?"
But Little White Bear wasn't the least bit doubtful that Omnok would be
able to get into his house when he came home. And you may be very sure
he wasn't a bit happy. He just went way over in the corner under Omnok's
bed and sucked his thumb while he wished he was at home in his own dear
cave. All of a sudden he heard a noise. Omnok was coming! Little White
Bear heard his voice, very big and very angry, outside! "Who has stolen
my 'pooksack'?" Omnok growled. "Who has broken my window?"
How poor Little White Bear trembled. He crouched down under the bed just
as far as he could. Now he could hear Omnok come closer to his house.
And then he saw Omnok's face at the side of the wall. Ah! Yes! There was
a little curtain there! Why had he not seen it! But suddenly a happy
thought came to Little White Bear. Just when Omnok was standing up, with
his terrible gun in his hand, Little White Bear rushed right at him and
tumbled against his feet so hard that Omnok went sprawling to the floor,
and his terrible gun went clattering after.
Little White Bear bounded out of the little door. But there was just a
little alley and then another room with a window high up in the wall. He
looked quickly, and saw a little shelf, like Omnok's bed, only higher
up, right under the window! Little White Bear jumped up but tumbled
back. He tried it again and fell back. But the third time he found
himself on the shelf, and in another minute he was out in the fine old
world, running as fast as ever he could for home. And you may be very
sure he was glad to be with his mother safe in their cave that night.