The Berenstain Bears in the Wax Museum Read Online Free PDF Page A

become the great Madame Bearsaud?”

    â€œOh, years ago,” said Madame Bearsaud. “And it’s been marvelous!” She held Lady Grizzly at arm’s length. “Meg Moxie! Just look at you! It took me awhile to recognize you in such beautiful clothes and expensive jewelry. So you’re the one who married Squire Grizzly. What have you been doing to keep yourself busy, my dear?”
    â€œCharity work, mostly,” said Lady Grizzly. “I’m chairbear of FOTH—Friends of the Hospital. Every year we raise money for Bear Country Memorial Hospital here in Beartown.”
    â€œThat’s wonderful!” said Madame Bearsaud. Then, with the light of an idea in her eyes, she said, “Igor, clear the way to that microphone. I have an announcement to make.

    â€œMy dear friends,” she said into the microphone. “I hereby pledge all the proceeds from the grand opening of Madame Bearsaud’s Wax Museum and Entertainment Center to Friends of the Hospital, Lady Grizzly’s marvelous charity!”
    â€œAnd in honor of this great event,” said Lady Grizzly, not to be outdone, “I shall wear my priceless diamond necklace for the first time in public. That should sell a few extra tickets!”
    The audience, which had been listening in stunned silence, broke into wild applause.
    Lady Grizzly looked up at Mayor Honeypot on the stage. “Mr. Mayor,” she said, “I wish to change my vote. I now cast my vote in favor of Madame Bearsaud!”
    That, of course, made the vote two to one in favor of Madame Bearsaud. The town hall shook from all the cheering and applause. And when the noise finally died down, Farmer Ben changed his vote again to make it unanimous.

Chapter 10
    Lingering Suspicions
    As Brother and Fred walked home from the town hall, Brother seemed lost in thought. But Fred didn’t notice. He was too busy talking.
    â€œWhat just happened is great, of course,” he was saying. “But it’s kind of sad, too. Because it means our Great Adventure is pretty much over. Our Great Adventure was watching that building go up and dreaming about what it would be like inside. And sneaking in and seeing all that stuff was the climax. I tell ya, we can’t top that. It’s like reading an adventure story and realizing you’ve already read the most exciting chapter. Going to the grand opening will be cool, but it won’t be as good as sneaking in was—or even as good as all the anticipation … Hey, are you listening?”

    â€œHuh?” said Brother.
    â€œI’ve been telling you our Great Adventure is over,” said Fred. “We’ll go to the grand opening and see the horror movies and eat at the restaurant. It’ll all be fun, but it’ll get normal real quick. You know—predictable.”
    â€œI’m not so sure about that,” said Brother.
    â€œWhat do you mean?” asked Fred.
    â€œI recognized Igor—or whatever his real name is,” said Brother.
    â€œYou did?”
    â€œHe was the supervisor of that work crew we watched from inside the barrel,” said Brother. “Only he wasn’t hunched over and limping then. He stood up straight and walked just like you and me. And I seem to remember a booming voice shouting orders—anyway, he sure wasn’t mute.”
    â€œSo what?” said Fred. “He’s probably an actor playing a role. The whole thing’s kind of show biz.”
    â€œI know,” said Brother. “But there’s something else about Igor that bothers me. He looks like someone I’ve seen before. Someone from the Beartown area. I just can’t put my finger on who it is. Anyway, he’s not who he seems to be. And then there are those workbears. Remember, they looked familiar? I think I’m having one of those premonitions you talked about … Anyway, something’s wrong.”
    Fred liked the idea of there being a