ear.

"Maybe he is afraid, and ran away," suggested the Wax Doll, who seemed
more friendly to the Polar Bear.

"No, indeed!" squealed the Flannel Pig. "The Plush Bear is a brave
fellow, and he is very wise! He would not run away. The window must have
come open and he tumbled out."

"But he isn't down there in the snow," said a toy Fireman, looking
carefully below. "If he was down there I could fix a ladder for him so
he could climb up. But he isn't there."

"Where can he be?" asked the Flannel Pig. "He was standing near me one
minute, saying how he was going to turn a somersault, and when next I
looked he was gone."

"See! There are footprints in the snow under the window," said the Polar
Bear, who had come to the sill. "Maybe Santa Claus or some of his men
came along outside, and took the Plush Bear away."

"They would not do that," declared the Wax Doll. "Santa Claus would not
take just one of us toys. When he takes any, he takes a whole
sleigh-load to Earth for the children. No, there is something strange
about this!"

And indeed there was, as we know. The Eskimo boy had the Plush Bear, but
the toys knew nothing of this. However, there was nothing they could
do.

After calling softly to the Plush Bear to come back, but receiving no
answer, about a dozen of the Jumping Jacks, by climbing up and all
pulling together on the window, managed to close it to keep out the
cold, night air.

"Well, since there is no one else to turn somersaults with me, I'll do
it alone," said the Polar Bear. So he flipped and flopped over again,
and the other toys played games among themselves, but the nice Plush
Bear was not among them.

He was under the fur coat of the Eskimo boy, being carried across the
snow to the ice hut, or igloo. The door to this igloo was not like the
door to your home. It was just a hole, with some pieces of fur and skin
hung over it to keep out the cold wind. Ski, which was the name of the
Eskimo boy, pushed aside this curtain of fur as he crawled into the
igloo, with the Plush Bear beneath his warm jacket. The doorway, or
hole, was made small to keep out as much cold as possible, and Ski had
to stoop down and crawl on his hands and knees to get in.

Inside the igloo there were no tables and chairs, such as there are in
your house. There were just some slabs of ice set here and there, being
raised a little from the icy floor. On the floor were skins to make it
as warm as possible, and in the middle o