stopping. They
had a huge tea, especially Fattie.
They had no money, so the innkeeper
made out a huge bill for Mr. Bliss
- the Dorkinses said it was his party.
Very soon the sun began to sink.
The moon was rising when they
came to the edge of the Wood.
Mr. Bliss was behind most, and he
probably would have never come along,
if he had not hated being left alone.
Anyway Mrs. Knight kept on looking
back to see he was following.
The wood got darker and darker
as they went deeper and deeper.
Then the path got wider, and became a road.
So they walked very slow and quiet.
Mr. Bliss sat down and thought
he would wait till they came back.
"I can't see if my hat is black or green."
"I know your face is white without looking,"
said Mrs. Knight, who was only just in front.
"You come along with the rest!"
So Mr. Bliss had to come
along. Not much further.
The dogs went round the corner. Suddenly
they gave the most dreadful howls,
and bolted back with their tails between
their legs and their hair on end.
Mr. Bliss did not wait to
see what they had seen,
but fled after them as fast as
his long legs would carry him.
But in the meanwhile, you would
like to see what the dogs saw
- and the Dorkinses and
Mrs. Knight, and Mr., Day.
They did not turn to run
away until it was too late.
Now, are you surprised that they
all lay down on the ground and
hid their faces - even Albert?
How did the bears do it? That
is their own private secret.
I expect they painted themselves with
something that shines in the dark,
and that they had been expecting
the people to come after them.
I expect that, as soon as they heard
the dogs snuffling outside their house
(which you can see), they popped out.
The people thought they were bogies,
or ghosts, or goblins, or all three.
Then the bears began to
laugh. They did laugh!
They sat on the floor and roared, and when
they got up again they left shiny patches
like enormous glowworms on the ground.
"Now we had better all have supper,"
said Archie, when he got his breath.
Herbert was the first to recover, and
he was cross, because he felt so silly.
But when Fattie heard "supper",
he forgot all his troubles.
The Bears makes very good supper -
cold chicken, ham, lettuces,
beetroot, tomatoes, trifle, cheese,
brown bread, and asparagus,
and the birthday cake (it wasn't
anybody's birthday, really) and the
beer-barrel is very nearly empty.
Dorkinses and Mrs. Knight and old Mr., Day
forgave them altogether when they saw it.
This is at the end of the party when
nearly everything had been eaten,
and after supper all dances and
songs together, like old friends.
It was very late before they finished, and
very late indeed when they had washed up.
Of course it was too late to go home. So
the bears invited them to stay the night.
Imagine staying all night in the Bears' House
- but they all felt quite friendly at
this time, and no one mentioned
either cabbages or bananas,
nor did anyone ask the bears
where they got their excellent food
(the bears were generally supposed not to
pay for anything, but to get it by 'prowling'
- in fact they were rascals, though
they could be very jolly at supper).
Herbert and Egbert slept in the double
spare-bed and everyone found
some sort of bed - except Fattie.
None of the beds would bear him.
So he slept by the fire, on a mattress and
cushions, and snored happily all night.
Perhaps he dreamed he
was a kettle on the hob.
But what happened to Mr. Bliss?
He ran all night without knowing where
he was running to, jumping over hedges,
falling into ditches, tearing
his clothes on barbed wire.
When dawn came he was dead tired, and
he found himself sitting on the top of a hill.
He was looking down into his own village
and could see his own house in the distance.
"There is either a flag flying from my
chimney or else the sweep has got in
- though I never ordered him to come."
He struck the road through the