Black Bear's feet sticking up over the hill, as he rolled around
on the snow, having a frolic all by himself.

"Well," said Little White Bear, "where did you come from?"

"Oh! My home is just a little way up in the hills," said Little Black
Bear politely. "We have a great many cousins in this cold country; there
is Little Brown Bear and Big Barren Ground Grizzly Bear, and I don't
know how many more, but we seldom get to see any of our white cousins.
How are you? I am glad to see you."

[Illustration: Little White Bear knew right away what he had done.
_Page 52_]

"I think I shall be very fine when I get over my scratches," smiled
Little White Bear. "You must have very sharp claws."

"They are quite sharp," said Little Black Bear slowly. "I am sorry I
scratched you. Let's find something to play, and you will forget all
about it."

"All right!" said Little White Bear gleefully, and away they went,
looking for some adventure in the great, white world.

CHAPTER VIII

TROUBLE FOR LITTLE WHITE BEAR

"Come on," cried Little White Bear, almost standing on his head in his
eagerness to be at play with this new friend.

"Let's go exploring," said Little Black Bear. "That's the most fun of
all!"

"All right," shouted Little White Bear, turning a handspring. And away
they went,--two little bears out to see what they could find in the
great, white world.

They went down by the lakes and saw where Widgeon had made her nests in
the warm summer time; they wandered over the hills and said "Woof
Woof!" in the doorway to Little Mrs. White Fox's home; they went here
and there, but at last they came upon something really very strange.

"What can it be?" said Little White Bear, standing on one foot and
looking very wise.

"What _can_ it be!" said Little Black Bear, scratching his head. And
what indeed could it be? It was right down at the foot of the mountain.
There was a big, black, square thing right in the snow, and in the
middle of that there was another little square that was brown. Did any
one in the wide world ever hear of finding such a strange thing in a
great white wilderness? There wasn't a square thing anywhere else on the
whole tundra. Things were round and crooked and made of little angles,
but who ever saw a square thing in real tundra land?

The two little Bears walked round and round it and tried to think what
it could be. At last Little Black Bear put one foot on it very timidly.
"There!" he said