-Bear look
eager. The Snimmy's wife set all the viands out on the grass, and the
Plynck graciously drifted down and took her place at the head of the
table. There was a trifle too much sand in the sandwiches, but
everything else was perfect; and they all ate as immoderately as
people do at picnics.

Sara found herself seated next to the Brown Teddy-Bear. After he had
eaten a pickle or two and begun to look cheerful, she asked him,
tactfully, what he had had so long on his mind.

"I'll tell you, Sara," said the Brown Teddy-Bear candidly and
mournfully. "I'm so ephemeral."

Sara opened her eyes, and looked at him carefully. What new affliction
was this? "Do you mean you're sick?" she asked, after a while.

"No, Sara," said the Teddy-Bear, smiling sadly. "You don't understand.
What I mean is, I'm already old-fashioned; I've had my day. Twenty
years from now, nobody will know what you mean when you speak of a
Teddy-Bear."

"I will," said Sara, squeezing his paw affectionately.

"Well, perhaps you will, Sara," admitted the Teddy-Bear, "because
you'll remember. But the children won't, and they're the only ones
that matter."

"I'll tell mine," insisted Sara stoutly.

"Ah, yes, Sara," said the Teddy-Bear, still more sadly, "but such
loyalty as yours is rare. I have but a frail hold upon posterity. The
same is true of many of my colleagues--the Billiken, for instance, and
the Kewp. But the Billiken is a philosopher, and doesn't care; and the
Kewp is a careless child. But I feel it, Sara; I have to confess to
you that I am a prey to the 'last infirmity of noble minds.'" After a
moment he added, less sadly but more irritably, "That creature, now,
brainless as it is, is just a doll. And dolls are immortal."

"It's a Baby doll," said Sara, wishing to offer consolation, but
really not knowing what to say.

"Humph," said the Brown Teddy-Bear disgustedly. "Babies are as
universal as dolls."

Sara was still trying to think of something pleasant to say to him,
when she noticed that the Plynck, having finished her luncheon, had
flown up to a bough of the tree just over the spring; and suddenly she
heard her speak.

"Well!" she said in astonishment. "Where did you come from?"

And looking down, Sara saw the Echo of the Plynck in the water. She
looked quite imperturbable again, and quite cerulean. "Oh, I have ways
of doing things," she answered, preening her feathers. And the Plynck
was so mystified that she did not say an