The Story of a Plush Bear | Page 2

had been a busy time in the
North Pole workshop of Santa Claus that day, for it was getting near to
Christmas. The little men, like elves, who built the Noah's Arks, the toy
animals, the dolls, and the other playthings, had been as busy as bees.
Then, in the afternoon, just before dark, jolly old Santa Claus himself
entered his shop, the windows of which were made from crystal-clear
sheets of ice.
"What ho, my merry men!" cried Santa Claus, "you have been working
very hard. Stop now, and have lunch, for we must work overtime
to-night so that we may finish a lot of toys to be taken down to Earth.
But now I will give you a little rest, though it is not five o'clock, when
we usually stop."

"Hurray!" cried the merry little men.
They gladly laid down their tools and put aside the half-finished toys
on which they had been working. Half-finished Dolls, Jumping Jacks
that could not yet leap, Jacks in Boxes that could not yet spring out,
trains of cars that could not yet run--all these were laid aside, together
with toys completely made, so that the little men might rest themselves.
"Come to the lunch room and get some hot chocolate and some frosted
cake," said Santa Claus, and away trooped the jolly little men. Just who
had left some of the windows open no one knew. But they were open,
and when the big storm came, in blew the snowflakes.
"I call this real jolly," said the big Plush Bear, who had given the Wax
Doll the bed quilt to keep her feet warm. "I'd like to be out in this storm.
But this is the next best thing. Hi there!" he called to the Flannel Pig,
"look out where you're throwing snowballs! You nearly hit the Wax
Doll."
"Oh, if he did that my complexion would be spoiled!" cried the
beautiful toy, who was not, as yet, quite finished.
"I'll be careful," promised the Flannel Pig. "Don't you want to have fun
in the snowball fight, Mr. Teddy Bear?"
"I am not a Teddy Bear!" roared the big plush creature. "Many people
take me for one; but I am not, though I do look like a Teddy. But I am a
real Plush Bear, and when I am wound up I can move my head and my
paws and I can growl. Listen! I am wound up now!"
There was a whirring sound inside the Plush Bear as the clock work
wheels began to turn, and soon his head moved slowly from side to side,
he raised his paws and lowered them, and out of his red mouth came a
growling voice saying:
"To be sure, I'll join the snowball fight!"
"Hurray!" cried the Woolen Boy Doll. "Now for some fun!" For though

the Plush Bear had spoken with a growl he was not at all cross. That
was just his way. He was really most jolly, though he had a very wise
look on his plush face, as though always thinking of hard examples to
solve and hard words to spell. But though he was wise, and growled
when he talked, the Plush Bear was most delightful.
"Come on! We'll move over to one side where we shall not get any
snow on the toys who don't like it," said the Plush Bear. With his warm
coat, almost like fur, he loved to roll in the snow. So did the Flannel
Pig and the Woolen Boy Doll. But the Wax Doll, who, as yet, had no
shoes, the Celluloid Doll, who was only partly dressed, and some of the
others did not like the cold.
Faster and faster the snow came down, and more and more white flakes
blew in through the open windows of the shop of Santa Claus at the
North Pole. The Plush Bear caught up a paw full of the white crystals
from the bench, made them into a ball, and tossed them at the Flannel
Pig. The Flannel Pig turned quickly and chased after the Woolen Boy
Doll, crying:
"I'll wash your face! I'll wash your face!"
Then such fun as there was! The Wax Doll, covered up now so that her
feet were no longer cold, and in a safe corner where no balls could hit
her, watched the sport.
"I'm glad Santa Claus and his men took a little resting spell," said the
Plush Bear, as he quickly stooped down to get out of the way of a
snowball thrown by a Teddy Bear, almost like himself.
"Yes, if they were here we could have no fun," said the Flannel Pig.
And this was very true.
As I shall explain to you in this book, and as I have told you in other
books