, small, wee voice.

Then the three Bears went upstairs into their bedroom. Now, the little
Old Woman had pulled the pillow of the Great, Huge Bear out of its
place.

"=Somebody has been lying in my bed!="

said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.

And the little Old Woman had pulled the bolster of the Middle-Sized Bear
out of its place.

"=Somebody has been lying in my bed!="

said the Middle-Sized Bear, in her middle-sized voice.

And when the Little, Small, Wee Bear came to look at his bed, there was
the bolster in its place, and the pillow in its place upon the bolster;
and upon the pillow was the little Old Woman's head, which was not in
its place, for she had no business there at all.

"=Somebody has been lying in my bed--and here she is!="

cried the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.

[Illustration]

The little Old Woman had heard in her sleep the great, rough, gruff
voice of the Great, Huge Bear, but she was so fast asleep that it seemed
to her no more than the roaring of the wind, or the rumbling of thunder.
And she had heard the middle-sized voice of the Middle-Sized Bear, but
it was only as if she had heard some one speaking in a dream. But when
she heard the little, small, wee voice of the Little, Small, Wee Bear,
it was so sharp and shrill that it woke her up at once. Up she started,
and when she saw the three Bears, on one side of the bed, she tumbled
out at the other, jumped out of the window and ran away through the wood
to her own home. And the three Bears never saw anything more of her.

THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL

It was dreadfully cold, it was snowing fast, and almost dark; the
evening--the last evening of the Old Year--was drawing in. But cold and
dark as it was, a poor little girl, with bare head and feet, was still
wandering about the streets. When she left her home she had slippers on,
but they were much too large for her--indeed, really, they belonged to
her mother--and had dropped off her feet while she was running very fast
across the road, to get out of the way of two carriages. One of the
slippers was not to be found; the other had been snatched up by a little
boy, who ran off with it thinking it might serve him as a doll's cradle.

[Illustration]

So the little girl now walked on, her bare feet quite red and blue with
the cold. She carried a small bundle of matches in her hand, and a good
many more in her tattered