One evening， Balser's father and mother went to the village with Mr.and Mrs. Fox. The Fox children， Liney and her brother Limpy stayed with Balser.
When the children were alone， Liney got the babies ready for bed. They were soon asleep. The other children then sat around the fireplaceto play games and tell stories.
Outside the house， the wind whistled through the trees and blew the falling snow all around. It was cold， but the great fireplace kept the children warm.
After a few games， Balser got a pail of nuts. Quickly， they all started breaking open the nuts， filling their mouths with the sweet nut meat.
Liney began a story from the Bible about Daniel and the lion. Suddenly， they heard someone cry for help. The cry seemed to come right down the chimney.
"Listen！" whispered Balser， holding up his hands for silence.
Again they heard it. The children jumped up and came closeto Balser.
"Help！ help！" The voice came from outside. "Someone needs help，" Balser whispered， "I must go……"
"No！" cried Liney. "Don't！ Indians may be trying to get us outside to kiIl us."
Liney frightened the others. Balser too was frightened.
But he knew he had to go. He could not let them think he was afraid. He got his gun， took a torch from the fire and rushed out into the freezing storm.
"Who's there？" Balser shouted， holding his flaming torch high above the head.
"Help！ help！" cried the voice.
Balser ran toward the voice. We saw someone coming toward him……a man. He was breathing heavily. "Who are you！"
Balser had his gun ready.
"Don't you know me， Balser …… Polly Barrot……Polly……"
"For heavens sake， Poll， what's wrong？"
"The Fire Bear！ The Fire Bear！ He's been chasing me. There he goes！ There！ Don't you see him？ He's moving down to the river. He's crossing the river on the ice now. There！ There！"
Balser looked out but saw nothing at first. Then， at last he saw a huge animal. It seemed to glow in the dark. It was a frightening thing to see. Balser turned and ran as fast as he
could back to the house. Poll was close behind him.
Inside the house， Balser suddenly felt foolish for running away as he did. He turned to Polly and said， "Let's go out and take anothcr look at the Fire Bear." But Polly and the others
said no……no one should go out in this storm looking for a hungry bear.
Balser was really happy to hear how they all felt about going out， and he put his gun away.
"Where did you first see the Fire Bear， Poll？" Balser asked.
"A little way down the river，" said Polly. "I ran just as fast as I could. But that old Fire Bear at my heels every step of the way……growling and flaming and smoking like a great fire."
"Oh， that's silly，" Balser said. "He wasn't flaming when I saw him."
"Of course he wasn't，" Poly said. "He had burned himself out. Do you think a bear could flame forever， like a volcano？"
"Did he really flame up like a fire？" Liney Fox asked. Would I be sweating like this， on such a cold night？" They began to believe him. He really had seen a Fire Bear！ The settlers of Blue River had laughed at stories about the Fire Bear. But Balser now began to believe that there was such a thing. It was true that the bear was not aflame when he saw him， but he seemed to glow in the dark.
One of the stories about the Fire Bear told how he flamed up when he was angry. He started fires in the forests and burned down barns and houses.
But many laughed at these foolish stories. They said these fires were started by Indians. There was one story about the Fire Bear taht was especially strange and difficult to believe. It said that anyone who looked at the Fire Bear would die in three months， unless he killed the bear.
The oldest men in the Blue River settlement said that the Fire Bear had been around for a long， long time. Many hunters had tried to find him. All failed. There were only about ten persons who had ever seen the Fire Bear. And every one of them died within three months after seening this strange and terrible creature.
The children listen quietly to these stories about the bear. Great was their fear. Polly was tired， still shaking from his escape from the bear. He was silent for a long time. Then he said： "Balser， let us join the church……We are going to be dead in three months……dead as sure as my name is Polly Barrot. We had better get ready， Baker. Nobody ever saw that bear and lived to tell about it three months later."
Liney， sitting next to Balser， gently touched his arm. She said： "I saw him too. I followed you when you went out， and saw something bright across the river on the ice just below the barn. Was that the bear？"
"Yes，， yes，" cried Balser. "For goodness sake， Liney， why didn't you stay in the house？"
Liney began to cry， and so did Jim and Limpy. Balser struggled to check his tears. Then， he rose to his feet and said： "Stop crying-all of you！ I'll kill that bear before three months are half gone. Yes， I'll kll him before the month is gone. If Liney saw him， the bear must die-that settles it."
Liney looked up to Balser. There was soft look in her eyes. "He'll save us， Polly……he killed the one eared bear……that one was evil……worse than the Fire Bear."
Polly looked at Liney， then at Balser. He sighed and sat down by the fire and watched the flames. Then he lay down on the floor and fell asleep.
The children sat and said nothing.
Then Jim lay down beside Polly and closed his eyes. Limpy's head began to feel heavy and soon he too was fast asleep. Balser and Liney sat quietly together， just looking into the flames.
The hot coals threw a soft red light on their faces and the shadows in back of the room grew darker.
Their heads were full of strange stories about the Fire Bear. They had seen this creature and the stories were real to them. They thought of the people who had died after seeing this bear with its strange powers. Three months……that's all they had left， unless Balser could kill the bear……
The heat from the fire made Liney's eyes heavy， and she fell asleep. Balser looked at her with strong feelings. He must save her and Polly and himself……he must destroy this horrible fire bear.
Late in the night-ten o'clock-the parents came home. The sleepers were awakened. That all talked at the same time telling about the Fire Bear.
"Tell me about it， Balser，" said Mr. Fox， who was also beginning to believe the story.
Mr. and Mrs. Fox and Mr. and Mrs. Brent listened seriously as Balser told how they had seen the glowing bear. And then， while Mrs. Brent made coffee and brought out some cake， the grownups told all the stories they had ever heard about this strange monster.
It was late when the stories ended， and so Mr. and Mrs. Fox stayed for the night.
The next morning， before they left， Liney whispered to Balser， "Let me know when you are going to hunt for the bear. I will pray for you……"
Balser looked lovingly at her.
"Thank you， Liney，" he said. "I will be ready soon." Balser seemed sure of himself. Time would tell if he was right or not.