he tall
trees were set far apart but were so leafy that they shaded all the
spaces between them with their branches. "There are no bushes here,"
said Cayke, much pleased, "so we can now travel faster and with more
comfort."

CHAPTER 15

THE BIG LAVENDER BEAR

It was a pleasant place to wander, and the two travelers were
proceeding at a brisk pace when suddenly a voice shouted, "Halt!"

They looked around in surprise, seeing at first no one at all. Then
from behind a tree there stepped a brown, fuzzy bear whose head came
about as high as Cayke's waist--and Cayke was a small woman. The bear
was chubby as well as fuzzy; his body was even puffy, while his legs
and arms seemed jointed at the knees and elbows and fastened to his
body by pins or rivets. His ears were round in shape and stuck out in
a comical way, while his round, black eyes were bright and sparkling as
beads. Over his shoulder the little brown bear bore a gun with a tin
barrel. The barrel had a cork in the end of it, and a string was
attached to the cork and to the handle of the gun. Both the Frogman
and Cayke gazed hard at this curious bear, standing silent for some
time. But finally the Frogman recovered from his surprise and
remarked, "It seems to me that you are stuffed with sawdust and ought
not to be alive."

"That's all you know about it," answered the little Brown Bear in a
squeaky voice. "I am stuffed with a very good quality of curled hair,
and my skin is the best plush that was ever made. As for my being
alive, that is my own affair and cannot concern you at all, except that
it gives me the privilege to say you are my prisoners."

"Prisoners! Why do you speak such nonsense?" the Frogman angrily. "Do
you think we are afraid of a toy bear with a toy gun?"

"You ought to be," was the confident reply, "for I am merely the sentry
guarding the way to Bear Center, which is a city containing hundreds of
my race, who are ruled by a very powerful sorcerer known as the
Lavender Bear. He ought to be a purple color, you know, seeing he is a
King, but he's only light lavender, which is, of course, second cousin
to royal purple. So unless you come with me peaceably as my prisoners,
I shall fire my gun and bring a hundred bears of all sizes and colors
to capture you."

"Why do you wish to capture us?" inquired the Frogman, who had listened
to his speech with much astonishment.

"I don't wish to, as a matter of fact," replied the li