as tossed out into a drift of snow. Then,
finally, the big sack of toys was left at one of the many big buildings
on Earth, whence they were to be divided among the toy shops.

And one day, after having been cooped up in his box for a long time, so,
at least, it seemed to him, the Plush Bear's eyes were suddenly dazzled
by a flash of light.

"I wonder if I am back at the North Pole," he thought. "Has that Eskimo
boy caught me again, and is he taking me to his igloo? Are these
Northern Lights that flash in front of me?"

But they were not, though they came from the same cause--electricity.
The glare that dazzled the eyes of the Plush Bear came from the electric
lights of a large store, where he was being unpacked, together with
other toys. There was a rustle of paper as the Plush Bear was unwrapped,
and then a voice cried:

"Oh, Father, see what a fine toy! And it's the kind you wind up! Oh, I
shall love this Plush Bear!"

"Do not squeeze him too tightly, Angelina," said a white-haired and
white-whiskered old man, who was helping two women lift the toys out of
the big box in which they had come. "You may break some of the wheels or
springs."

"Oh, I shan't hug him too tightly," said Angelina, laughing. "But he is
certainly a lovely Plush Bear."

"Yes, he is very nice," said the old gentleman. "What have you,
Geraldine?" he asked his other daughter.

"An Elephant," was the answer. "But he doesn't wind up. However, he will
look well in the window."

"Yes," said the old man, "to-morrow we will decorate the show windows
for the Christmas trade. The Plush Bear must surely stand in the window.
Some one will see him and buy him."

"Well, at last I seem to have reached a toy shop--the very place I most
wanted to come to," thought the Plush Bear. "I wonder who the old
gentleman is?"

Had the Plush Bear been able to read he would have seen in white letters
on one of the windows the name:

HORATIO MUGG
TOY DEALER

But the Plush Bear did not need this to tell him he was in the very
place he wished to be.

"Now some girl or boy will buy me, I hope, and I shall have more
adventures," thought the new toy.

The Plush Bear, who was taken from his box by Angelina, one of Mr.
Mugg's daughters, was placed safely on a shelf, and the unpacking of the
toys went on. It was evening, and the store was closed for the day. But
Mr. Mugg took this time to open his new shipment of Christmas goods.

Geraldine