“only three days more until christmas! aren’t you glad, neddie?” asked beckie stubtail, the little girl bear, one morning as she jumped out of her bed in the clean straw of the cave-house where she lived, and ran to the door of her brother’s room. “aren’t you just glad, neddie?”
“glad? well, i guess i am!” answered neddie, as he tickled himself with a clothespin to make himself laugh. “i don’t even want to go to school to-day, i’m so happy.”
“oh, but i s’pose we do have to go,” spoke beckie. “but maybe we’ll get out early.”
just then from the kitchen came a call:
“hurry, neddie—beckie—breakfast is ready! come and get your griddle cakes with honey on!”
then beckie and neddie, the little bear children, hurried downstairs. soon they were eating their breakfast. their papa, mr. stubtail, the 240old bear gentleman, had had his breakfast some time ago and gone to work. uncle wigwag, the gentleman bear, who was always playing tricks and cracking jokes, as a squirrel cracks nuts, was sitting in a corner, trying to think of something new to do to make aunt piffy, the fat lady bear, laugh.
mr. whitewash, the polar bear gentleman, was out in the yard, looking for a fresh cake of ice to sit on while he read the morning paper.
pretty soon neddie and beckie started for their classes. they had on their fur coats, for it was rather cold, you see. and in a little while, when the bear children were almost at school, and had met tommie and joie and kat, the kitten children, in their red mittens and rubber boots, it began to snow.
“oh, how nice!” cried beckie, jumping about.
“it’s just fine!” exclaimed neddie. “i always like it to snow around christmas, for i’m going to get a new sled.”
“and i’m going to have a pair of skates,” said tommie kat. “at least i asked santa claus for them, and i hope he brings them, and also some ice, so i can use them.”
“mr. whitewash will lend you his cake of ice to skate on, if the pond doesn’t freeze,” said neddie.
241and then the school bell rang, and the animal children had to hurry on, so they would not be late.
such fun as they had in school that day! it was so near christmas that the professor-teacher was not very strict, and when the children missed their lessons he gave them another chance.
and the professor let beckie draw a picture of santa claus on the blackboard, with a red cap, and fur on the coat and a big pack on his back—i mean santa claus had all these things on, though of course the blackboard had also, after beckie got through drawing.
well, when school was out, neddie and beckie ran home with the rest of the animal children, but, all of a sudden, as the little bear boy came to the old hollow stump, where bully, the frog, used to give jumping lessons in summer, neddie happened to think that he had left his reading book in school.
“i’ll run back and get it,” he said. “you go on, beckie, and i’ll soon catch up to you.”
but neddie stubtail didn’t come back as soon as he thought he would, for when he got to the school he found that a little mouse boy had taken the reading book down a rat hole to look at the pictures. and by the time neddie got his book back it was quite late, and growing dark.
242“but i’m not afraid,” said neddie as he hurried on toward home, with the book under his paw. on and on he went, through the wood. it became darker and darker. neddie began to whistle, so he could not hear any rustling in the bushes. for when the bushes rustled he imagined it might be the skillery-scalery alligator, or maybe a bad wolf after him.
but nothing like that took place, and soon neddie was almost home. then all of a sudden something did happen. just as he was passing under a big oak tree, with the brown leaves on it shaking in the wind, the little bear boy heard a buzzing sound, and then a crash and a bang, and a rattle, and some one cried:
“oh, dear! now i have gone and done it! oh, my, yes! and some reindeer-lollypops besides! oh, what am i going to do now? and not half my work done!”
neddie crouched down under the bushes. he knew well enough that something had happened up in the oak tree. what it was he could not tell.
“but if it’s a giant, or a bad elephant or a flying eagle trying to get me, they shan’t!” exclaimed neddie.
then he heard the voice crying again:
243“help! help! is there anybody around to help me? i’m stuck in the tree!”
“ha!” exclaimed neddie to himself. “he’s only saying that to fool me. i believe that’s the skillery-scalery alligator sailing around in a balloon, looking for me. but he shan’t find me. i’ll hide here until he goes away.”
so neddie got farther under the bush, and then the voice cried again:
“help! help! please help me!”
then some bells jingled, and neddie heard a song that went something like this:
“won’t you please come to help me.
i am caught fast in a tree.
christmas time will soon be here,
but i’ll sure be late this year,
unless some one comes quickly,
and gets me loose from out this tree.”
hearing that nice song neddie wasn’t afraid any more. he opened his ears as wide as he could and listened. he opened his eyes as wide as he could and looked up. then he saw a strange sight.
caught fast in the tree was an airship—you know what they are—a sort of flying balloon, like a toy circus one, only larger. and in the airship 244was a nice old gentleman, with a red coat and long white whiskers; and beside him in the airship was a big bag just filled to the top with sleds and dolls and rocking horses and cradles, and steam engines and toy motor boats, and skates and jumping-jacks, and, oh! i couldn’t begin to tell you what was in it. neddie knew right away who was in trouble.
“you’re santa claus, aren’t you?” he asked, as he came out from under the bush.
“that’s who i am,” answered the old gentleman. “i was flying down here from the north pole in my airship, when i got caught in the tree. i’m stuck fast and i can’t get out, and i don’t know what to do. can you find some one to help me?”
“i will help you myself,” said neddie bravely and kindly. then, laying down his school books, he climbed the tree sticking in the bark his sharp claws as he had learned to do from george, the tame trained bear, who went around with the professor.
soon neddie was at the top of the tree. then he broke off the branches that held fast santa’s airship, and dear old st. nicholas could travel on again, with his bag of good things for christmas.
off through the air sailed santa claus, and 245as neddie climbed down the tree, after having helped the nice old gentleman, a voice called.
“i’ll see you soon again, neddie. but don’t tell anybody you saw me for it’s a secret.”
“i won’t,” said neddie, and he didn’t. then the little bear boy hurried on home, and he had honey cakes for supper, and he never said a word about santa claus. and on the next page, if the umbrella doesn’t climb up the hat tree and pick off all the breakfast oranges, i’ll tell you about neddie and beckie in the chimney.
