and scattered! While they all thought it good fun to have the cub
at the party, none of them knew just what he would do, and some;
especially among the younger ones, were decidedly nervous. A small
girl hid behind the window curtains, two little boys scurried upstairs
and peeped through the banisters, and another, by means of a chair,
scrambled to the top of a sideboard. But Jimmy had his own ideas about
a party. His first interest was in the supper table. Standing up on
his hind legs, he placed his forepaws on the cloth. Just in front of
him was a plate with some apple jelly on it. One sweep of his long
tongue and the plate was almost as clean as if it had been washed.
A dish of blancmange was the next to be gobbled up, and then a boy
rather bolder than the rest made an attempt to save the cake. He
seized the intruder by the skin of his neck, but except for a loud,
grumbling protest, the bear paid no attention to him. He walked right
along, pulling the boy with him, and one slice of cake after another
disappeared down the black throat. The little girl behind the
curtains, seeing that Jimmy did not intend to hurt anyone, came from
her hiding place to try to help the boy who was holding him. Now
this little girl had been eating strawberry jam, and as little girls
sometimes do, had left some of it on her lips. The moment she touched
him, Jimmy turned, and seeing and smelling the jam, he caught the
child in his short forearms, and in spite of her screams, licked her
face all over before letting her go. Then he reached for the sugar
basin, lifted it from the table with his paws, and sat down on his
haunches to devour the contents.

By this time the children who had been nervous were quite at their
ease again, and gathered round to see him eat the sugar. In a few
moments he had satisfied his hunger, and was ready to play. First of
all he acted as if he had lost his wits; or as if he wanted to "show