Chapter VI: The Call of the Dancing Bear

"A bear! A bear! Thave me!" came Tommy's wailing voice from the interior of the tent.

"Be quiet!" commanded Miss Elting.

"It's on a chain. There are two men with it," said Harriet somewhat unsteadily.

Miss Elting stepped forward to obtain a better view of the two men. She saw the swarthy faces of two Italians. One was leading the bear by a chain, the other carried a long pole. The animal was a huge, ambling, cinnamon bear. He wore a muzzle, and the sight of this gave the woman and the two girls a greater sense of security.

"What do you wish here?" demanded the guardian.

"We maka da bear dance," said the man, with the pole, touching his hat politely. "You giva mea twent-five cent I maka da bear dance."

"We do not wish to see the bear dance. You will please go away, or I shall call for assistance to drive you off," returned Miss Elting boldly.

"Oh, let the bear dance. It would be great fun," urged Hazel.

"Twent-five cent to maka da bear dance."

At this juncture Margery came timidly out of the tent. Tommy, white-faced, ready to run at the slightest sign of alarm, crept out after her.

"Will--will he bite?" stammered Margery.

"He will hurt his teeth on the muzzle if he does," answered Harriet Burrell laughingly.

The leader gave a sharp command. The bear rose on its hind feet and began pawing the air. It fixed its beady eyes on the face of Tommy Thompson. Tommy uttered a little cry and shrank back.

"He lika da littla girl," grinned the Italian.

"Never mind being personal. If you will keep your distance we will pay you a quarter to see the bear dance." Miss Elting drew a coin from her pocket, and stepping forward, without the least hesitation, handed it to the man with the pole. "Keep him over on that side of the fire. You two men remain over there also. Remember, we are quite well prepared to assert our rights if you do not do as you are told. Watch that neither of them gets into the tent, Harriet," she added in a whisper.

Harriet Burrell nodded understandingly. The bear, in response to frequent prods of the pole, ambled about, dancing awkwardly, now and then uttering a growl of resentment at the treatment he was receiving. His master put the animal through its paces. At this juncture, Jane McCarthy, who, some time before, had driven off to a farm house in quest of milk for breakfast, drove in with a great rattle and honking. At first the Italians were for dragging their bear away. But, upon discovering that the newcomer was only another young woman, they grinned and went on with the performance.

"Hello! what have we here?" cried Jane. "Where did you catch that beast? Hey, you men! Didn't I pass you on the road this afternoon? Yes, I did. I recognize your friend, the bear. Better look out for those fellows. I don't like the looks of them," declared Crazy Jane to Miss Elting in a low voice. "I'd a heap sooner trust the bear than the men, and I wouldn't care to turn my back on either for very long at one time." Then turning to the men she said: "Make your bear do his tricks over again. I haven't seen the show, you know."

"Twent-five cent," answered the man.

Jane looked at him for a few seconds, then, throwing back her head, laughed loudly.

"Twent-five cents, eh? I guess not! Does he dance, or does he not?" she demanded.

For answer the man with the pole gave the bear a vicious poke, the other led the animal to a small tree, to which he tied him.

"My gracious, are they going to camp here?" gasped Margery.

"Don't be afraid. We will send them on their way soon enough," answered Harriet in a low voice. "I wouldn't make them angry, Miss Elting."

"I don't intend to."

"Leave them to me. See here, men, what do you propose to do now?" demanded Jane briskly.

"We lika somathing to eat."

"All right. You shall have somathing. Twent-five cent please," mimicked Crazy Jane, holding out a hand. She was so droll about it that the girls burst out laughing.

"Oh, you shouldn't have done that. See, you have made them angry," whispered Hazel.

"I don't care if I have. I'll be getting angry myself, pretty soon--maybe."

"Shall I get something for them, Miss Elting?" questioned Harriet.

The guardian nodded. Harriet ran into the tent, where she quickly prepared some roast beef sandwiches. These she carried out and handed to the leader of the bear. He divided with his companion. The two men sat down by the fire and began eating voraciously.

"You gotta coffee?" asked the leader, his mouth so full of the sandwich he was eating that he was barely understandable.

"No. We have no coffee made," replied Miss Elting. "You will have to get along with what you have."

"You maka coffee. You maka now!"

"What?" cried Crazy Jane belligerently. "You order us to make coffee for you, you lazy good-for-nothings? Get out of here before I lose my temper with you."

"Easy, Jane!" warned Miss Elting.

"You no giva coffee, I letta out da bear," threatened the leader, scrambling up and running to the tree where the cinnamon bear was secured. The second Italian also had risen to his feet. He was edging toward the rear of the tent, evidently thinking that he was not observed. But Harriet, though not appearing to notice, was watching him narrowly. Tommy and Margery were trembling with fear. Harriet and Jane were unafraid. They were getting a little angry, however. Miss Elting slipped into the tent and getting her revolver, secreted it in a fold of her skirt. Just as she emerged the second Italian ducked in under the edge of the tent. The tent had been staked down firmly and as the man was somewhat stout he stuck when half way under the side wall.

"Come out of that," commanded Harriet.

Instead of obeying her the man tried to wriggle in.

"I see I've got to attack him from inside the tent," decided the girl. Wheeling about she ran into the tent where, in the light from the campfire, she could see the tousled head and rolling black eyes of the man underneath the side wall. Without speaking she seized a pail of water that stood near the entrance of the tent and dashed it full into the man's face.

"Hurrah for Harriet!" cried Crazy Jane from the tent door, where she stood waving her arms now and hopping about gleefully.

Choking and sputtering the man wriggled out from under the tent uttering a perfect torrent of abuse in his native tongue. It was about this time that Miss Elting discovered that she had forgotten to load the revolver before taking it from the tent. Meanwhile the leader had untied the chain of the bear and was urging it forward, evidently intending to frighten the women.

"You giva me mon. I then-a go way with da bear. You giva me mon," he demanded angrily.

Tommy Thompson, at this juncture, found her courage. Snatching up a burning fire brand she charged the man leading the bear. He leaped back to avoid the thrust of the fiery club. The bear swung a giant paw at her. Tommy hit him over the nose with the firebrand. In the meantime Hazel Holland, following Harriet's example, appeared on the scene with another pail of water, which she dashed over the leader and the bear.

Fire and water were a little more than the man or the bear had bargained for, so they made haste to get out of the danger zone. Crazy Jane, in the meantime pursued them shouting and brandishing a stout stick that she had picked up in the field. Jane chased the men all the way to the road, with Tommy and her fiery club in close pursuit.

"Oh, those rascals!" cried the guardian, when the girls returned. "And that miserable bear! I'll warrant the three of them got the fright of their lives. They won't bother the Meadow-Brook Girls soon again."

"I am not so certain of that," answered Harriet, smiling. "We did give them a scare, though. But I'm sorry I had almost to drown that one man. He was determined to get into the tent. What do you suppose he wanted?"

"To steal something, of course," answered Miss Elting.

"And Tommy. Did you see Tommy and her torch, girls? Oh, wasn't it a sight?"

"Yes. And Hazel and Harriet with their pails of water," chuckled the guardian.

"Tommy, dear," exclaimed Miss Elting, as the little girl sat down beside her, flushed and triumphant. "You have earned a bead this evening. I think each one of you is entitled to a bright red bead. Now pile on the wood, girls, so we shall have plenty of light. I don't apprehend further trouble, but it is well to be prepared."

"I will see to that," spoke up Harriet. "I have a plan that will make it unnecessary for any one to sit up and keep watch."

Harriet explained her plan, which met with the approval of the others. That plan was destined to fulfill its purpose later in the night, for their excitement was not yet ended, and before the dawning of another day, the Meadow-Brook Girls were once more to distinguish themselves.