" cooed the wood-pigeon, as she
passed.

"Twit, twit, pretty child," said the sparrow.

"Oh, you darling," sang the blackbird; and Golden Hair laughed with
glee, for she liked to be loved.

[Illustration: LITTLE GOLDEN HAIR.]

As to the butterflies, they flew after her, and rested on her hair, and
tickled her cheeks; but she never tried to catch them.

[Illustration: GOLDEN HAIR PEEPING INTO THE BEARS' HOUSE.] She would
not frighten or vex them for anything. She loved all the creatures, and
that is why they loved her.

Love makes love.

Dear little Golden Hair, she went on singing merrily through the
greenwood, saying sometimes to herself--

"I wish I could sing as well as the lark!"

By-and-by Little Golden Hair reached the Bears' house. She had never
seen it before, and she wondered who lived there. A window was open, and
Golden Hair peeped in.

"Dear me," thought the child, "whose house can it be! There is a table
and three chairs, and three basins of hot milk, all steaming, and nobody
to drink it. But I don't see any work or books, or anything else. I
think I will go in and see who lives here."

So she tapped at the door, and cried, "Is any one at home?"

But there was no answer. Then Golden Hair stepped in very carefully,
and looked about her.

She could not see any one, nor hear anybody snoring, so she walked into
the Bears' parlour.

There was a fire, which made the room cheerful, and the hot milk looked
very inviting; it quite seemed to say, "Come and have some breakfast;"
and the early spring air had made Golden Hair rather cold, and very
hungry; so she sat down by the fire in the little Bear's chair. It was
too small for her, but she did not quite sit down at first. In a moment
she got up again, and went round the table and tasted the milk in all
the basins. Little Bear's was the nicest, because it had sugar in it,
and Golden Hair thought it was good. So she took the basin and sat down
again in Little Bear's chair, took his spoon, and ate up _all_ his milk.
Now this was very wrong. A tiny bear is only a tiny bear; still, he has
a right to keep his own things. But Golden Hair did not know any better.
Unluckily, Baby Bear's chair was, as we have said, too small for her;
she broke the seat and fell through, basin and all.

[Illustration: GOLDEN HAIR EATS THE LITTLE BEAR'S BREAKFAST.]

Then Golden Hair went upstairs, and there she saw three beds all in a
row. Golden Hair lay down on Father Bea