The Story of a Plush Bear | Page 8

under his fur coat and set the toy down on a shelf of ice in the igloo,
where the rays from the oil lamp fell upon it. "See what I have!" and
his father and mother and his brothers and sisters leaned forward to
look at the strange object.

There was not much room in the igloo, and the Eskimo family was
rather crowded. But they did not mind this, as it was much warmer than
if they had lived in a big room. In fact, except in the center, one could
not stand up in the igloo. The roof was too low.
"Where did you get that?" asked Ski's father, as he looked at the Plush
Bear.
"He was in the big igloo, far over the snow, near the big ice mountain,"
answered the Eskimo boy. "I saw him through a window, and I wanted
him. When all in the igloo were asleep I breathed on the ice pane,
opened the window, and took this Bear. Now he is mine!"
"Yes, I know that big igloo," said Ski's father. "There was none like it
where we came from. I do not know what it is."
Ski's family had just moved to North Pole Land, and they had never
heard of Santa Claus, though the other Eskimos of this country were
well acquainted with Saint Nicholas. To Ski and his family the
workshop of Santa Claus was just a big "igloo."
"Is not this Bear nice?" asked Ski, of his brothers and sisters.
"But he is not like the bears here," said Kiki, one of the Eskimo girls.
"He is brown, like the seals. The North Bears are white."
"There was a white Bear in the big igloo, but I would rather have this
one," said Ski. "I will always keep him."
During this time the Plush Bear, of course, had not dared to say a word
or move by himself. He was being watched too closely. But he could
hear what was said, and he wondered what was going to happen to him.
"I shall be dreadfully lonesome if I have to stay here," thought the
Plush Bear. "There is not another toy in the whole place!"
There was another toy, but the Plush Bear did not know it. This toy was
a rudely carved Wooden Doll, owned by Kiki. She had wrapped this

Wooden Doll in a bit of sealskin and put it in her bed to keep it warm.
For to Kiki the piece of wood, which looked something like a Doll, was
as much alive as your Doll is to you girls.
"That is a wonderful thing, Ski," said the Eskimo boy's father. "Never
have I seen such a thing in all my life!"
Ski's father leaned forward and touched the Plush Bear. And he
happened to touch the very spring that set the toy animal in motion. For
the Plush Bear was all wound up when Ski reached through the window
and took him, and all that was needed was a touch to send him off.
Immediately the Plush Bear began to move his head from side to side,
growls came out of his red mouth, and his paws waved to and fro. He
behaved almost like a small, live bear.
"Wow!" cried Ski, leaping back when he saw the Plush Bear beginning
to move.
"Wow!" cried Ski's father, mother and sisters and brothers, and they,
too, leaped back.
"Gurr-r-r-r! Gurr-r-r-r!" growled the Plush Bear, and he moved his
paws and head faster than ever. He was not doing this himself, you
understand. He was not making believe come to life. He was only
doing as all the other spring toys do--moving when the wheels within
him moved.
"Wow!" cried Ski's father again. "This is magic! This bear is bewitched!
It will bring us bad luck! It must not stay in my igloo!"
"Oh, please let me keep it!" begged Ski, as his father caught up the
Plush Bear.
"No! No! It would be dangerous! It would bring us bad luck! There is a
witch in that bear!" murmured Ski's mother.
"Never have I seen such a thing!" went on Ski's father in awe and

wonder. "We must not keep it! If we allowed it to stay in this igloo we
should freeze, I should never catch any seals, and our blubber fat would
become so hard we could not eat it. I must take this magic bear that
moves back to the big igloo!"
So, though Ski begged his father to be allowed to keep the toy, the
Eskimo man thrust the bear under his fur coat and crawled out of the
igloo into the glow of the Northern Lights.
"I must take it back to the big igloo," murmured Ski's father. "Then will
the bad magic