"What a beautiful bear!" said Susan.

"He looks kind," said Bunny.

Old Grizzly read the sign. He did not pa.s.s by as the other animals had done. He went straight up to the front door and knocked.

"Perhaps he can't read," said Bunny, so he shouted, "Scarlet Fever here!"

Old Grizzly nodded his head. He said he had had scarlet fever three times, and he was not afraid to have it again.

So they opened the door and let old Grizzly in. Then they all had a jolly time, and Bunny told why he put up the sign on the house.

"You may have a new kind of scarlet fever," said Old Grizzly, "maybe I shall catch it!" and they all laughed.

Old Grizzly had been in a circus, and had traveled in the East and in the West. He could tell lovely stories, so he stayed a long time and told stories, and Susan Cotton-Tail went out in the kitchen and came back with a mince pie in each hand. (These pies had been hidden away in a tin.)

They all enjoyed the pies, and then Bunny asked old Grizzly to spend the night with them. Old Grizzly said, "No, thank you." The house next door was vacant and he was going to live there.

Susan held the candle at the door and old Grizzly went to his new home.

"I like him, but I am glad he went out for the night," said Bunny.

"Just think!" Susan said, "he has promised to come in every night and tell us a story!"

CHAPTER III

When old Grizzly came next evening he had a book tucked under his arm.

"What have you there?" asked Bunny and Susan together.

It was some time before old Grizzly would tell. Then he coughed and said he had one story that every one liked so well that he had written it down, and drawn pictures for it.

The two rabbits begged so hard to see the pictures that old Grizzly opened the book and showed them all the pictures before he began to read. And this is the story he read:

Once there was a gentleman who wrote stories. He had a fine large cat called Whiskers.

One day Whiskers thought he would see the man write his story, so he sat up on the desk beside him.

The man started to write a story about an elephant. It was to be a long story with big words in it.

Whiskers wanted to be petted just then, and as the man did not notice him, he gave the pen a little slap, and it made a funny mark down the page.

"Never mind," said the man, "that will do for the path along which the elephant walked."

The man's pen was a lovely thing to play with, but Whiskers had a nicer plaything himself. He began to go round and round after his own tail.

Round and round he went, until he upset the ink. Then he was so scared that he ran and hid.

The man only laughed, and said he would draw funny little figures where the blots of ink were.

He called Whiskers back and went on with his story. He was just wondering how he would draw the seats inside the circus tent, when Whiskers put his paw down on the wet page, and the man said:

"Why, Whiskers, you certainly are an artist."

Then he began to wonder how he could show what a big s.p.a.ce the elephant covered when he walked, and just then the cat walked over the paper, to show him!

The man was so pleased then, that he laid down his pen and gave Whiskers a big hug.

"Pooh!" said Whiskers, "that was nothing. I could write a better story than you can, any day!"

You see, Whiskers was not a polite cat.

"Did Whiskers write the story?" asked Bunny.

Susan winked at Bunny and said:

"Old Grizzly, that is the best story of all, and I believe you made it up yourself!"

Then old Grizzly blushed under the fur on his cheeks, and Bunny ran and got a big bouquet and stuck it in his paw!

Old Grizzly went home feeling very happy indeed.

CHAPTER IV

The next evening Susan begged old Grizzly to tell her another story about Whiskers. Grizzly said he knew one, but he kept it in the back of his head and he could not find it. So he told them the story of Carlo, instead.

Carlo was a fine dog. He had but one fault. He liked to suck eggs.

Day after day the cook went out into the hen-house to get eggs, and day after day there were no eggs to be found.

At first she thought it must be a rat that stole her eggs, and she set a trap. A clever old rat came and ate the cheese, but he never got caught.

One day the cook saw Carlo sucking an egg. Whisk! she was after him with a broom, and gave him a sound beating! But this did not cure Carlo of his bad habit. He went into the hen-house and stole eggs whenever he pleased.

The cook said she was not going to allow this, so one day she called the dog to her in a most friendly way, and held out half an egg in her hand.

Carlo thought that the cook had made up her mind to let him eat all the eggs he wanted, so he took the egg in his mouth, and swallowed it quickly.

Then he began to behave very strangely. He yelped with pain, and ran out into the yard and rolled over and over in the snow.

"Good! Now you will steal no more eggs," said the cook.

What do you suppose was the matter with Carlo? The egg the cook had given him was full of red pepper, and his mouth burned as though on fire. There is no telling what the poor dog would have done if a little girl had not come along just then.

The little girl had found out what the cook had done. She crept out of the house and said: