Denslow’s Three Bears

G.W.Dillingham Co.
Publishers New York.
Copyright 1903 by
W.W.Denslow.
Published, August 1903

A long time ago in a cottage on the
edge of a great forest there dwelt
a little girl by the name of Golden
Hair; she was an orphan and lived
with her grandmother who loved her
dearly. The grandmother was very old
and so most of the house work was
done by Golden Hair; but she was so
young and strong she did not mind
that a bit, for she had plenty of time
to play and was merry the whole day
long.

Although little Golden Hair lived far
from other children she was never lonesome,
for she had many friends and playmates
in the wild creatures of the wood.
The gentle, soft eyed deer would feed
from her hand, and the wild birds would
come at her musical call; for she knew
their language and loved them well.

Golden Hair had never wandered far
into the forest. But one day in the early
autumn time, as she was gathering bright
leaves and golden rod, she strayed farther
than she knew and came upon a lonely,
gray cabin under the mighty
trees. A slab of wood beside
the half open door told
who lived within. It read:

“Papa Bear, Mamma
Bear, and the Tiny Bear.”

“So this is where the
jolly bears live!” said
Golden Hair, as she knocked
upon the door. “I want
to meet them.”

No answer came to her knocking, so
she pushed the door wide open and
walked in.

It was a most disorderly house,
but a bright fire burned on the hearth,
over which hung a big, black kettle of
bubbling soup, while on the table, near
by, were three yellow bowls of different
sizes.

“A big bowl for Papa Bear, a medium
sized bowl for Mamma Bear, and a little
bowl for the Tiny Bear,” said Golden Hair.

“That soup smells good,” she went on
to say, “but my! what an untidy house!
I’ll put the place to rights while I am

waiting for the bears to come home.

So she went to work to sweep and dust and soon had the room in order. Then she went into the bed room and made up the three beds: the big one for Papa Bear, the medium sized one for Mamma Bear, and the little one for the Tiny Bear; she bustled and had everything as neat as a pin when in bounced the three jolly bears. For a moment the bears stood speechless, with wide

open eyes, staring at Golden Hair, who
stood, like a ray of sunshine in the
dusky room; then they burst into loud
laughter and made her welcome to their
home. When they saw how nice and clean
it was they thanked her heartily and
invited her to share their dinner, for the
soup was now ready and they were all

hungry. Golden Hair spent the rest of the day with the three jolly bears playing "hi spy" and many new games which the bears taught her.

When the afternoon sun was sinking in the west the little girl said she must be getting home, for her grandma would be anxious about her. The three bears would not let her go alone, so they all set off together through the twilight woods,—a merry company. Golden Hair rode upon the broad back of Papa Bear, while Mamma Bear and Tiny walked gaily on either side. In this way, before night had fallen, they came clear of the wood and up to the home of Golden Hair. To be sure the grandmother was much surprised to see

this shaggy company with her little Golden
Hair; but when she saw how jolly they
all were and how handy they were in
helping Golden Hair get the supper, she was
delighted to have them stay, and gave
them welcome. Papa Bear split the wood,
brought it in, and built the fire; Mamma
Bear got the tea kettle and filled it with
water that was carried from the well by the
Tiny Bear, and soon they were able to sit down

to a good supper of hot biscuit, wild honey and

pumpkin pie, with tea
for the elders and nice
sweet milk for Golden
Hair and the Tiny Bear.

The grandmother
liked the three bears so
well and the bears were
so delighted with the
comforts of home that
they all decided to live
together for the general
good.

Papa Bear would do
the chores and stand
guard over the house
at night; Mamma Bear
would do the housework under the direction
of Golden Hair, while the Tiny Bear
would wait upon grandmother and run
errands for the household.

And so it came about that the
three
bears moved their three bowls and their

three beds to the home of Golden Hair
and her grandmother, the very next day;
and from all accounts they were happy
ever after. At any rate the fame of
Golden Hair and the three bears spread
far and wide through all the countryside,
so that on holidays troops of children
came to play with the four jolly friends.

The good natured bears were always
anxious to please the children; they
would get up games under the greenwood
trees in the summer, and merry

sports upon the icy lake or snowy hills in winter. They did their best to make life for all, one glad round of joy. Just how long they lived thus, no one seems to know; for it was a long, long time ago and nothing is left but a joyous memory of a happy golden time.

Denslow’s Picture Books for Children

For these books W.W. Denslow has revised and adapted several of the
best classical fairy tales. He has improved these stories by elimination of
all coarseness, cruelty, and everything that might frighten children. They
are new; more beautiful and striking in both text and picture than any
children’s books heretofore published. Each book is filled with pictures of
action and fun in brilliant colors. The twelve books are uniform in size.

PRICE 25 CENTS EACH; INDESTRUCTIBLE, MOUNTED ON LINEN, 50 CENTS EACH

G.W. Dillingham Company, Publishers, New York