dido, the dancing bear, looked about him as he stepped down out of the railroad car. the train had stopped at a small country station, and when some men and boys, who were waiting on the platform, saw the bear they crowded up close to have a better look at him.
“say, he’s a big fellow!” said one boy, not coming too close.
“will he bite?” asked another.
“no, dido is a good bear. he will not bite,” the keeper answered. “he can do many tricks.”
dido felt proud and happy when he heard this, for he was now able to understand much that his master said. and dido was really growing to be a big bear. he was not a little bear cub any longer, but quite fat. for he had good things to eat, and he did not have to travel over the mountain to get them.
“please make your bear do some tricks,” said a man to the keeper, whose name, i have forgotten to tell you, was george. “make the bear do some funny tricks.”
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“will you give me pennies if i do?” george asked. “i need the pennies to buy things for dido and me to eat.”
“go ahead and have the bear do tricks, and we’ll give you pennies,” another man said with a smile.
so george, the dancing bear’s trainer, led dido back of the railroad station, where there was a nice, shady, grassy spot. dido looked all around and he saw that they were indeed in the country. there were only a few houses here and there, and afar off he could see woods and mountains, almost like those in his own land. dido sniffed the air. it was pure and sweet, much nicer than the air in new york, or in any city, dido thought.
“i am going to like it in the country, i’m sure,” said the bear to himself. “but i wish my adventures would begin so they could be put in a book. i wonder who will do it?”
of course dido had had some adventures, though perhaps he did not know it, and he was going to have more, and i have put them in this book, though i don’t believe dido knows me. i have often seen him, however, and fed him buns.
“come now, dido, get ready to do some tricks!” called george. “you are going to dance for the people. dance nice now!”
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then the man played a tooting tune on his brass horn.
“toodle-de-doodle-de-do!” played the man, and when dido heard that music he knew it was the kind to which he danced. so he stood up on his hind legs, held his fore paws limply out in front of him, and began to lift first one foot and then the other, going around and around, just like a person waltzing.
“that’s it, dido! that’s the way to do it!” cried his keeper. “dance for the people!” and he played a faster tune on the brass horn, so that dido got quite dizzy from going around so fast. but the man did not make him do this very long.
“good! good!” cried the people who stood in a ring around dido as he danced. “that was fine!”
“did you like it?” asked george. “i am glad, and dido is glad, too; aren’t you, dido?” and reaching in the bag which he carried over his shoulder the man gave dido a sweet bun.
dido was glad to get that, whether or not he was glad to dance. but i think he liked dancing, too, for bears seem to be fond of going about doing their little tricks.
“can your bear do anything else?” asked a lady in the crowd.
“many more things,” answered george. “he will now play he is a soldier. hi, dido!
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march like a soldier! here is your gun!” and he tossed dido the stick which was carried along, just to be used in this trick.
dido stood up as straight as he could, and held the stick in his paw, up over his shoulder.
“good, dido!” cried george. “now what do you do when you meet an officer?”
dido raised his other paw and touched his head, making what is called a salute, which soldiers always give their officers when they meet.
“now march, dido!” cried george, and as he played a marching tune on the brass horn dido marched around, carrying the stick for a gun.
the people clapped their hands at that, and when the keeper passed around his hat many cents and some dimes jingled into it, to buy more buns for dido, and other things for the keeper to eat.
“make him do some more tricks, please,” begged a boy in the crowd. “i have another penny.”
“ha! very good!” cried george. “dido, shall we do some more tricks for the little boy who has a penny?” then george made believe whisper that question in dido’s ear, and next the man pretended to put his ear down to dido’s mouth as if to listen for an answer.
“yes, dido says he will do another trick for you,” said the man, laughing.
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of course dido did not really speak to his trainer, for though a bear, a dog or other animals can understand much that is said to them they can not answer back. but the man just pretended dido did answer so as to make a little fun, and the people laughed.
“now, dido, do your somersault trick,” said george. “all ready!”
he blew a sharp blast on the horn, and dido leaned down, put his head on the ground, kicked his hind legs up in the air, and over he went, turning a somersault just as some fat little boy might do it on the soft, green grass.
“another, dido! turn another somersault!” cried george, and over went dido again, while the people laughed. then dido stood up straight once more, and saluted like a soldier.
“did you like that trick, little boy?” asked george.
“very much,” the little boy answered. “and here is my penny,” and he tossed it into the man’s hat.
“now for a last trick, and then we will travel on farther into the country,” said dido’s master. “do the tree-climbing trick, dido. only instead of a tree you will climb a telegraph pole.”
there was a pole near the railroad depot, and soon dido was going up this, sticking his sharp claws in the wood. up and up he went, nearly
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to the top, as far as his chain would let him, the man holding the end of it.
“that’s far enough—come on down, dido!” called the man, and dido came down. he was given another bun to eat, and after this he drank some water from a fountain near the depot.
dido and george traveled on into the green country. a few boys followed them a little way, for some of them had never seen a bear before. but soon the boys grew tired, and dido and his master were left to themselves.
“we will go to a quiet place in the woods and sleep,” said george, and dido was glad of this, for he wanted to cool off and get quiet after his ride in the train and doing his tricks.
in the afternoon, when they had had a good sleep, the dancing bear and his keeper traveled on again. soon they came to another town, and there dido did his tricks over once more, and the man gathered money in his hat. and here dido’s master met a man from his own country, far over the sea. the two men were glad to see one another, and talked much in their own language.
“will you not come along with dido and me?” asked george of this man, whose name was tom. “we can travel together, and you can blow the horn while i make dido do tricks. come, travel about the country with us.”
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“yes, i will do that,” tom said, and so all three started off together. dido liked tom very much, for tom gave the dancing bear some sweet popcorn balls, of which dido was very fond.
for a week or more dido traveled about with george and tom, doing tricks, sometimes in little country towns, and again in cities. and one day, when they were out in the country, dido had a little adventure.
they were marching along the road, when dido saw, coming toward them an automobile, with a man on the front seat steering, while in back were a boy and a girl, and two dogs.
all at once there was a loud banging noise, like a gun. but it was not a gun. one of the automobile tires had burst. then the man jumped out to fix a new tire on the wheels, and the boy and girl, with the two dogs, got out to rest in the shade.
tom blew a little music on the horn, and this made the boy and girl look down the road.
“oh, look!” cried the girl, whose name was alice. “what is that? a bear! i’m afraid!”
“don’t be afraid,” said the boy, whose name was bob. “it is only a tame, trained bear.”
the two dogs barked at the bear, and then dido, who, with the two men, had come closer to the automobile, said:
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“don’t be afraid of me, doggies. i won’t hurt any one. i am only going to do some tricks.”
“can your bear do tricks?” asked the boy of george.
“he surely can,” answered dido’s keeper, and dido turned somersaults, marched around like a soldier, and climbed a telegraph pole.
“it certainly is a good trick,” said one dog. “i can do some myself, but i can’t climb telegraph poles. what is your name, dancing bear?” he asked.
“my name is dido. what’s yours?”
“my name is don,” said the dog, “and this is my friend rex,” and he waved his tail at the other dog.
“what! is your name don?” cried dido in surprise. “why i have heard about you!”
“who from?” asked don.
“from tum tum.”
“what! that jolly elephant in the circus?” asked don, himself quite excited now.
“that’s the one,” answered dido. “i was in the circus a little while when it showed in madison square garden, in new york, and there i met tum tum. he spoke about you, and said you had had many adventures.”
“so i have,” don said. “i am a runaway dog, that is, i once was, and there is a book telling all about me,” he added, proudly.
