# The Bear and the Children - Source: McGuffey's Second Reader (second-reader.gutenberg.org), Public domain, William Holmes McGuffey, 1879, via Project Gutenberg - Reading level: Grades 1 and 2 - Subjects: Stories, Animals - Topics: bear, children, stump, took, youngest, away - Length: 256 words, about 2 min - Original: - Page: - Open in Sprouts: THE BEAR AND THE CHILDREN. - In the parlor of an inn in a small town, sat a man who had been going about with a bear. He was waiting for his supper, and the bear was tied up in the yard. - Up in the attic, three little children were playing together. The eldest might have been six years old; the youngest, not more than two. - Stump! stump! stump! Some one was coming up the stairs. - The door flew open suddenly, and there stood the great, shaggy bear. He had got tired of waiting, and had found his way to the stairs. - The children were badly frightened. Each one crept into a corner, but the bear found them all out, and smelt their clothes, but did not hurt them. - "This must be a great dog," they said, and they began to pat him. - Then the bear lay down on the floor, and the youngest boy climbed on his back, hid his head in the shaggy fur, and played at "hide and seek." - The eldest boy took his drum and began to strike it, when the bear rose on his hind legs and danced. At that the children gave a merry shout. - The two younger boys took their wooden guns, and gave the bear one. Away they all marched around the room, keeping step. - Now the frightened mother of the children came to the door. But the youngest boy shouted, joyfully. "See, we are playing soldiers!" - Then the bear's master came running up, and took the bear away. ## Picture credits - illustrator not named in this edition, Public domain ()