Out shuffled Mother Bear in a hurry. "You naughty cub," she cried,
aiming a blow at Sprawley's ear. But quick as a wink Sprawley slipped
behind Dumpy, and it was upon Dumpy that the blow fell.

And now Dumpy joined in with his sister. "Ou-u-u!" he cried.

"There, there!" cried the poor Mother Bear, "don't you cry any more and
I'll give you each an extra piece of meat."

So they stopped crying and ate their suppers contentedly, and after that
they all went to bed, and the little cubs had hardly lain down before
they were fast asleep.

Teddy did not go to sleep, however. He lay looking at the ice-roof of
the cave and thinking how strange it was to be there. Presently he heard
the Mother Bear say very softly, "Husband, husband, are you awake?"

"Yes, I am," said the Father Bear. "What do you want?"

The Mother Bear sighed. "I don't know how it is, husband," she said,
"but I never had a cub like Sprawley before. He is so naughty and
mischievous that he keeps his little brother and sister whining all the
time."

"You ought to box him," said the Father Bear.

"That's all very well," said the Mother Bear, "but when I try to box him
he slips behind the others and pushes them forward, and he is so quick
that twice I have boxed Dumpy instead of him by mistake."

The Father Bear grunted and they were silent for a while, but presently
the Mother Bear began again, more softly than ever. "Do you know,
husband, sometimes I wonder whether Sprawley can really be my cub. If I
could only count them I might find out. If there were only one and one I
could count them, but there are more than one and one."

"Well," said Father Bear, "I should think that would be easy. Let's see.
There's Dumpy, and he's one, and Fatty, and she's one, and Sprawley, and
he's one. And now how many does that make?"

"Oh dear!" said the Mother Bear, "Don't ask me. My head's all of a whirl
already."

"Then you'd better go to sleep, my dear," said her husband. "The next
thing you know you'll be having a headache to-morrow. You think too
much."

"Yes," said the Mother Bear, sighing, "That's so; I suppose I do think
too much, but then I can't help it. I always was thinking ever since I
was a cub. It's the way I'm made. Good-night."

"Good-night," said the Father Bear, and then they, too, went to sleep.

Teddy seemed to be the only one left awake. Dumpy kept crowding up
against him and snoring with his nose close to Teddy's ear. Teddy pushed
him on