CHAPTER VIII

0RS0

Mrs. Chester and I hurried back to the yard. There was the bear,sitting calmly on his haunches, but there was no Italian.

"Now that his master is gone," my hostess exclaimed, "I am afraid ofhim! I will not go any farther! Can you imagine anything that can bedone with that beast?"

I had no immediate answer to give, and I was still very much amused atthe absurdity of the situation. Had any one ever before paid his billin such fashion? At this moment the stable-man approached us from oneof the outbuildings. "This is my hostler," she exclaimed. "Perhaps he cansuggest something."