He called Whiskers back and went on with his story.  He was just wondering how he would draw the seats inside the circus tent, when Whiskers put his paw down on the wet page, and the man said: 

“Why, Whiskers, you certainly are an artist.”

Then he began to wonder how he could show what a big space the elephant covered when he walked, and just then the cat walked over the paper, to show him!

The man was so pleased then, that he laid down his pen and gave Whiskers a big hug.

“Pooh!” said Whiskers, “that was nothing.  I could write a better story than you can, any day!”

You see, Whiskers was not a polite cat.

“Did Whiskers write the story?” asked Bunny.

Susan winked at Bunny and said: 

“Old Grizzly, that is the best story of all, and I believe you made it up yourself!”

Then old Grizzly blushed under the fur on his cheeks, and Bunny ran and got a big bouquet and stuck it in his paw!

Old Grizzly went home feeling very happy indeed.

CHAPTER IV

The next evening Susan begged old Grizzly to tell her another story about Whiskers.  Grizzly said he knew one, but he kept it in the back of his head and he could not find it.  So he told them the story of Carlo, instead.

Carlo was a fine dog.  He had but one fault.  He liked to suck eggs.

Day after day the cook went out into the hen-house to get eggs, and day after day there were no eggs to be found.

At first she thought it must be a rat that stole her eggs, and she set a trap.  A clever old rat came and ate the cheese, but he never got caught.

One day the cook saw Carlo sucking an egg.  Whisk! she was after him with a broom, and gave him a sound beating!  But this did not cure Carlo of his bad habit.  He went into the hen-house and stole eggs whenever he pleased.

The cook said she was not going to allow this, so one day she called the dog to her in a most friendly way, and held out half an egg in her hand.

Carlo thought that the cook had made up her mind to let him eat all the eggs he wanted, so he took the egg in his mouth, and swallowed it quickly.

Then he began to behave very strangely.  He yelped with pain, and ran out into the yard and rolled over and over in the snow.

“Good!  Now you will steal no more eggs,” said the cook.

What do you suppose was the matter with Carlo?  The egg the cook had given him was full of red pepper, and his mouth burned as though on fire.  There is no telling what the poor dog would have done if a little girl had not come along just then.

The little girl had found out what the cook had done.  She crept out of the house and said: 

“Poor Carlo, poor doggie, come to me!” and then she took snow and washed out Carlo’s mouth and patted him on the head until he felt all right again.