g _was_ coming,--a funny little roly-poly something. What a
pity, thought Bearhunter, that his sight was growing so poor! At any
rate, he had better give the people in the house warning.

So he gave several deep, echoing barks. The goats sprang together in a
clump and raised their ears; the pigs stopped in the very midst of
their scratching to listen. That Bearhunter was held in great respect
could easily be seen.

He still remained sitting on the doorstep, staring up the road. Never
in his life had he seen such a thing as that now approaching. Perhaps,
after all, it was nothing worth giving warning about. He would take a
turn up the road and look at it a little nearer. So, arching his bushy
tail into a handsome curve and putting on his most good-humored
expression, he sauntered off.

Yes, it must be a human being, although you would not think so. It
began to look very much like "Katrine the Finn," as they called her,
who came to the farm every winter; but it could not be Katrine--it was
altogether too little. It wore a long, wide skirt, and from under the
skirt protruded the tips of two big shoes covered with gray woolen
stocking feet from which the legs had been cut off. Above the skirt
there was a round bundle of clothes with a knitted shawl tied around
it, and from this protruded two stumps with red mittens on. Perched on
the top of all was a smaller shape, muffled up in a smaller knitted
shawl,--that, of course, must be the head. Carried at the back was a
huge bundle tied up in a dark cloth, and in front hung a pretty wooden
pail, painted red.

Really, Bearhunter had to stand still and gaze. The strange figure, in
the meantime, had become aware of him, and it also came to a
standstill, as if in a dilemma. At that, Bearhunter walked over to the
farther side of the road and took his station there, trying to look
indifferent, for he did not wish to cause any fright. The strange
figure then made its way carefully forward again, drawing gradually
closer and closer to its own side of the road. As it came nearer to
Bearhunter the figure turned itself around by degrees, until, when
directly opposite to him, it walked along quite sidewise.

Then it was that Bearhunter got a peep through a little opening in the
upper shawl; and there he saw the tip of a tiny, turned-up red nose,
then a red mouth that was drawn down a little at the corners as if
ready for crying, and then a pair of big blue eyes that were fastened
upon