"_Real bears?_" roared Mr. Bear, in a voice of thunder, "of course we're real bears. What an insulting question! I ought to punish you well for that. _Real bears_, indeed!" and he roared louder than ever. Poor Jane was frightened to death. She sat down on the ground, and screamed, "Oh, Mr. Bear, I'm so sorry. I will be good, oh, I will be good. Please don't eat me up!" [Illustration: "JANE AND BABY BEAR PLAYED GAMES"] Mr. Bear grew more gentle when he saw how penitent she was, and told her if she would climb on his back, he would take her to Mrs. Bear and the Baby Bear who were waiting for him. Jane was a little doubtful about accepting the invitation, he was such a large bear, and she was such a little girl, a nice, fat morsel, too,--she had been told so before by her Papa,--still the temptation was very great, so she climbed on his broad back, settled herself comfortably, and off they started. They journeyed quite a long way, and finally it became lighter, and the trees grew further apart, until they came to a clearing, and there, right in the very middle, stood the little house, with its three doors, its three windows, its three chimneys, so like the pictures in her book, that Jane almost fell off the bear's back, when she saw it. They stopped in front of one of the doors, and out ran the Baby Bear. When he saw Jane sitting on his father's back, he gave a funny little squeal, and hurried into the house, calling, "Oh, Mamma, Mamma, put away my chair, and my blue bowl, here's another horrid little girl, come with Pa, and I'm sure she will break them again. She's much bigger than the other one." Mamma Bear went to the door. She looked just like the pictures too, and had a bonnet with strings tied under her chin. "Mercy me, Pa," she said, "who have you brought now?" "It's a little girl," said Mr. Bear, "I found her in the woods, hunting for our house. She's a silly child,"--this very severely--"she believed that we were not real". Mamma Bear gave a violent roar of rage, and said: "Of course we are real," in her middle-sized voice, which was not so squeaky as the Baby Bear's voice, and not so gruff as Papa Bear's. Jane hastened to apologize again, and begged to be allowed to see the inside of the house, and as Mamma Bear was very good-natured, she took her in. Jane saw the big chair, that was so hard, the middle-sized chair, that was so soft, and the little chair, that Silverlocks had broken, and it was all mended with string. She wanted to sit in it but the Baby Bear made such a fuss, she gave up the attempt. They showed her the great, big bowl full of very peppery soup, the middle-sized bowl full of very salty soup, and the Baby Bear's bowl, which was mended with glue. He let Jane taste a little of his soup, just a _very_ little, because he was afraid she would take it all, and he would have none.