A man had come to town with two tame bears. They were very clever bears, and could climb posts and trees, dance and turn summersets and do a great many other tricks besides.
One day the man was taken ill and had to stay in the house all day. He thought the bears were locked up in the barn. But the bears decided they would go for a walk by themselves. They managed to get away without being seen and started in the direction of the schoolhouse.
The children were at recess when they suddenly saw the bears. They were frightened and ran screaming into the school-house.
The bears were very tame and kind and wanted to make friends with the children, so they followed them.
The children jumped on the desks screaming and crying and the teachers were frightened too.
When the bears saw that they could not make friends or play they began quietly walking about the school-room.
Finally they came to the dressing-room where all the dinner-pails and baskets were hanging.
Smelling the food, they managed to knock some of the baskets down and then such a feast as they had!
They sat on their haunches and ate sandwiches and fruit and drank milk out of the bottles just as the children would do. When they had eaten enough they quietly left the school-house and trotted down the road toward home.
After the bears were gone the children became calm again and returned to their lessons.
The man and the bears disappeared the next day and were never seen again.