The Tree that Sat Down

‘The steppes,’ gasped Bruno.

‘The steps?’ echoed Mr Justice Owl. There was a rather sharp note in his voice. He wondered if Bruno was trying to make a fool of him. What did he mean – the steps? The doorsteps? The steps leading up to the attic? He was about to rebuke Bruno, when he stopped short, and a melancholy ‘Too-wit, too-woe’ echoed from his beak.

For Bruno, exhausted by all he had gone through, had fallen into a dead faint.

Chapter Seven (#ulink_c9692c19-73d7-5b5f-8b9d-f923eae3114e)

BRUNO RECAPTURED (#ulink_c9692c19-73d7-5b5f-8b9d-f923eae3114e)

AND NOW WE can go on with our story, which we left on a bright sunny morning when Bruno was lumbering through the wood on his way to The Shop in the Ford.

Many years had passed since all the sad things which we have been recalling in the last two chapters, and today if you had seen Mr Bruno, you would have said that never in your life before had you met a bear so happy, so plump, and so prosperous; he had developed into one of the most respected citizens in the wood.

‘Top of the morning, Mr Bruno! … All the best, Mr Bruno! … My! Mr Bruno, you’re looking fine!’ Such were the cordial greetings that welcomed him, all along the way. Miss Fox gave an extra twitch to her brush when she saw him, and Mrs Hare gave a very gracious bow. And even Mr Peacock, who only spread his tail on very special occasions (except, of course, when he was by himself, standing by the edge of the lake watching his own reflection, which was so beautiful that sometimes he felt quite giddy and fell into the water), even Mr Peacock greeted Bruno by spreading his tail to its fullest extent.