Cuffy saw what his father dropped down onto the floor he hopped up
and down in his delight. There was no pig there, but Cuffy didn't mind
that. For Mr. Bear had brought home four rabbits, and four squirrels,
and four porcupines, and four raccoons. And Cuffy ate and ate until his
skin grew so tight that he was afraid it would burst. He ate all of one
rabbit, and one squirrel, and one raccoon. But he never touched his
porcupine at all. It made him think of the time he had tried to kill a
porcupine himself, and had got his paws stuck full of quills. But he had
a real feast, just the same.

XXIII

CUFFY BEAR GROWS SLEEPY

Far up Blue Mountain, and down in the valley too, the leaves had long
ago fallen off the trees. And for some time the ground had been white
with snow; for winter had come again. And Cuffy Bear's sister Silkie had
had a birthday-party the very first day it snowed. Cuffy and Silkie
shouted with glee each morning now, when they went out of doors, where
the earth was covered with a snow-blanket. And they played and played
and had just as good a time as little boys and girls have when winter
comes. As they scampered about in the door-yard their feet left tracks
that looked exactly like the foot-prints of barefooted girls and boys.
They played tag, and hide-and-seek, and turned somersaults. And one day,
when Mrs. Bear called them into the house, they ate, each of them,
several quarts of chestnuts which Mr. Bear had gathered and brought
home. In fact, before Mrs. Bear knew it they had eaten a great many more
chestnuts than were good for them. And Cuffy, who had eaten the most,
soon began to have a pain in his stomach.

"That's what you get for being greedy," his mother told him.

"I didn't eat many chestnuts," Cuffy said.

Mrs. Bear pointed to the floor.

"What do you call those?" she asked.

"Chestnut-shells," Cuffy replied, hanging his head. There was a great
heap of shells on the floor where Cuffy had sat.

"Pick them all up--every one of them," his mother ordered. "And when
you have finished you may take a nap--both of you."

Cuffy yawned.

"What do you say?" Mrs. Bear asked severely.

"Excuse me!" Cuffy said hastily.

"That's better!" said Mrs. Bear. "Now do as I say. You'll be asleep
before you know it. And I don't intend to have those chestnut shells
lying on the floor all winter."

You may think that that was a queer thing for Mrs. Bear to say. But when
you see what happened, yo