Snubby Nose said, "Thank you for a bowl of milk." The milk stood at his plate. Then he said, "Thank you for cookies and sugar and pie." The cookies and sugar and pie stood by his plate. He had never had so much fun before in all his life. He kept on ordering things and they came before him.

By and by Snubby Nose cleared off the table and washed the dishes, saying over and over,

"I must forget to try to tease, I will say, 'Thank you' and 'If you Please.'"

At this very minute in came the Seventeen Little Bears. They cried,

"Hurrah, hurrah, old Snubby Nose!

What has happened, do you suppose?"

Snubby Nose made a low bow and said, "If you please I should like to know what has happened."

The Seventeen Little Bears stared at Snubby Nose. They had never seen him so polite before.

They said, "We met Bunny and Susan and Grandpa Grumbles and they said we could go up in the garret and get skates and go skating."

No sooner said than done. Up to the garret danced the Seventeen Little Bears. They found seventeen pairs of skates and danced out again.

Snubby Nose was left alone in the house. He forgot to be polite. He cried and he screamed and he howled!

The mirror said,

"If you're polite, as you should be, Perhaps a pair of skates you'll see."

Snubby Nose looked about the house. He looked high and low, but he could not find any skates. He rubbed his eyes and he rubbed his little red nose. He put on his cap and mittens and went to the pond. Tippy Toes came to meet him. He had two pairs of skates and cried,

"Where were you so long, goodness knows, Here are your skates. Come Snubby Nose."

He kissed Snubby Nose on both cheeks.

The Seventeen Little Bears sat on the bank trying to fasten their skates. Their little paws got colder and colder every minute. Snubby Nose helped them fasten their skates and Tippy Toes helped them too.

Then they put on their own skates and went skating away, and away, and away.

By and by Bunny and Susan said,

"'Tis rather sad now to relate, We are too old and stiff to skate.'"

Grandpa Grumbles said,

"Chilly business this sport I think, Let's go roller-skating in a rink."

Bunny and Susan said they must really go home and Grandpa Grumbles said he, too, would go to his own home.

He shouted to the Seventeen Little Bears,

"Don't skate where the ice is thin, You'll make a hole and tumble in."

The Seventeen Little Bears skated on and on, the wind whistling in their ears.

Snubby Nose said to Tippy Toes, "What if the Seventeen Little Bears should fall into the water, what would we do?"

Tippy Toes said, "The wind blows so hard they cannot hear. I hope they know where the ice is thin."

The Seventeen Little Bears formed a circle and skated round. Suddenly the ice gave way. Splash, dash, they all fell into the water!

Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced this way, and they danced that way, and shouted, "Help, help, help! The Seventeen Little Bears have fallen into the water!"

Doctor Cotton-Tail was riding by in his sleigh. He said, "Come, we will pull them out of the water." So they all helped pull the Seventeen Little Bears out of the water.

Doctor Cotton-Tail said, "I will tuck them in my sleigh and take them to Bunny and Susan. They will tuck them up warm in bed."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "I WILL TUCK THEM IN MY SLEIGH"]

Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes hung on to the back of the sleigh and they went whizzing merrily homeward, the wind whistling in their ears. The Seventeen Little Bears sneezed all the way.

Did Bunny and Susan tuck them up warm in bed? Well, I guess they did, and Doctor Cotton-Tail gave them h.o.a.rhound candy.

Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes smacked their lips and said, "If we had fallen in the water we could have had candy too."

Doctor Cotton-Tail said, "You cunning little things, you look as much alike as two peas. You shall each have a stick of lemon candy."

Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced this way, and danced that way, and said,

"Lemon candy is good to eat, We always think it quite a treat."

Susan said, "Hush; be still. Don't wake the Seventeen Little Bears; they are all asleep."

CHAPTER IX

The Seventeen Little Bears took cold when they fell through the ice into the water, so they had to stay in bed all day. They cried, "Tell us a story, please tell us a story."

Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced this way, and that way, before the mirror and cried out together,

"Who is so ugly? n.o.body knows."

The mirror answered,

"Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes."

The Seventeen Little Bears clapped their little paws and cried, "Tell it again, tell it again!"

Then Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced this way, and that way, before the mirror and asked,

"Who took cold when they fell through the ice?"

The mirror would not answer this time.