bed-chamber. 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 Bear out
of its place.

'Somebody Has Been Lying In My Bed!'

said the Middle Bear in his middle 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 ugly, dirty head,--which
was not in its place, for she had no business there.

'_Somebody has been lying in my bed,--and here she is!_'

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

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 was no
more to her than the roaring of wind or the rumbling of thunder. And she
had heard the middle voice of the Middle Bear, but it was only as if she
had heard someone speaking in a dream. But when she heard the little,
small, wee voice of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, it was so sharp, and so
shrill, that it awakened her at once. Up she started; and when she saw
the Three Bears on one side of the bed, she tumbled herself out at the
other, and ran to the window. Now the window was open, because the
bears, like good, tidy bears as they were, always opened their
bed-chamber window when they got up in the morning. Out the little old
woman jumped; and whether she broke her neck in the fall, or ran into
the wood and was lost there, or found her way out of the wood and was
taken up by the constable and sent to the House of Correction for a
vagrant as she was, I cannot tell. But the Three Bears never saw
anything more of her.

[Illustration]

Southey.

_PRINCE VIVIEN AND THE PRINCESS PLACIDA_

Once upon a time there lived a King and Queen who loved one another
dearly. Indeed the Queen, whose name was Santorina, was so pretty and so
kind-hearted that it would have been a wonder if her husband had not
been fond of her, while King Gridelin himself was a perfect bundle of
good qualities, for the Fairy who presided at his christening had
summoned the shades of all his ancestors, and taken something good from
each of them to form his character. Unfortunately, though, she had given
him rather too much kindness of h