A bear once came out of the woods late in autumn,
to have one more walk before he should go to sleep for the
winter.
A little farmhouse stood near the woods, and the boiling
tea-kettle had been set out of doors on a little table by the
woodshed.
The bear saw the steam puffing from the spout of the
kettle, and perhaps had never seen such a sight before ; for
he hurried up to the table, and standing on his hind legs,
put his nose into the hot steam to smell it. Of course his nose was burned, and he was angry with the tea-kettle,
and jumping on the table he seized it in his hairy paws ;
but he dropped it very quickly and spilled some of the hot
water on his feet. The little children who were looking
out of the window at him were very glad to see him run away as fast as he could, and their mamma assured them
the bear would not be likely to visit their house again
that winter.
