"Oo didn't know what me
was. Oo t'ought me was a great big bear."
Whereupon she looked down at him with amazed recognition. "Is it _you_,
Archie? Dear me, I thought it was a great big bear."
"Mew! Mew! Mew!" he repeated in joy.
"Why, Archie, old man, bears don't mew!" cried the genial Briscoe,
recovering his equanimity. "Bears _growl_--didn't you know that?"
He straightway began to teach the little fellow a very noisy and
truculent vocalization of the ursine type, which Archie, who was a great
favorite with his host, eagerly imitated, Briscoe appearing throughout
the duet at the pitiable disadvantage of the adult imbecile disporting
himself in infantile wise.
The tumult of the child's entrance had the effect of relaxing for Briscoe
the tension of the situation, but when Archie's nurse appeared at the
door and he ran away at her summons, the host looked apprehensively about
the circle as the party ranged themselves around the fire, its glow
beginning to be welcome in the increasing chill of the evening.
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