ew the sled, on which Ski's father sat well
wrapped in fur blankets. Nearer they came to the workshop of Santa
Claus--the "big igloo" as Ski had called it.

"I will leave the magic bear that moves beneath one of the windows,"
murmured Ski's father. "Then will the bad luck pass from us."

He guided his dog team up under the very window out of which Ski had
taken the bear, for the man could see Ski's footprints in the snow.

"There! Now I am done with you!" whispered Ski's father, as he dropped
the Plush Bear in the snow and turned his dog team around to go back to
his igloo.

As for the Plush Bear, his head moved, he growled, and his paws waved to
and fro as long as the spring was wound up. But when it ran down, as it
did in a little while, he was motionless. Except that now, as no one
could see him, he was allowed to make believe come to life and could do
as he pleased.

"Well, this is certainly a fine state of affairs!" said the Plush Bear
to himself, speaking out loud, as there were no human ears to hear.
"Taken away to an ice house, scaring an Eskimo family half to death, and
then to be brought back here and dumped in a snow bank! It's a good
thing I have on a warm plush coat, or I'd surely freeze! I wonder if I
can get back into the shop?"

But this the Bear could not do. The window had been pulled down and shut
by the Jumping Jacks, and the hole Ski had breathed in the icy pane was
too small for the Plush Bear to crawl through, even if he could have
reached it. He tried to call out, to make the toys inside hear him, so
they might rescue him, but they had gone to sleep after their evening of
fun.

So the Plush Bear had to stay out in the snow bank near the workshop of
Santa Claus all night. It was cold and dreary, but he made the best of
it.

"When morning comes they will take me in," he thought. "The night can
not last forever."

CHAPTER IV

IN THE TOY SHOP

Slowly the night passed. Well it was for the Plush Bear that he was
warmly clad in such a warm coat, or he might have been frozen stiff. As
it was, his wheels and springs had to be oiled several times after his
long night spent in a snowdrift.

In the morning Santa Claus and his men hurried into the workshop after
breakfast. There was a hum and a bustle, whistling and singing, and the
sound of many tools being used.

"Lively, my merry men, lively!" cried Santa Claus, with a laugh, as he
passed from bench to bench. "I will soon make a t