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diff --git a/15521.txt b/15521.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6a46b53 --- /dev/null +++ b/15521.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2207 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Adventures of Prickly Porky, by Thornton W. Burgess + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Adventures of Prickly Porky + +Author: Thornton W. Burgess + +Release Date: April 1, 2005 [EBook #15521] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF PRICKLY PORKY *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Richard J. Shiffer and the PG +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + +The Bedtime Story-Books + + + + +THE ADVENTURES OF PRICKLY PORKY + +BY + +THORNTON W. BURGESS + + +Author of "Old Mother West Wind Series," "Mother +West Wind 'How' Stories," "The Bedtime +Story-Books," etc. + + +_With Illustrations by HARRISON CADY_ + + + + +BOSTON + +LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY + +1916 + + + + +[Illustration: "Do tell me quickly what has happened to Peter!" +FRONTISPIECE. _See page 94._] + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I HAPPY JACK SQUIRREL MAKES A FIND + II THE STRANGER FROM THE NORTH + III PRICKLY PORKY MAKES FRIENDS + IV PETER RABBIT HAS SOME STARTLING NEWS + V PETER RABBIT TELLS HIS STORY + VI PETER HAS TO TELL HIS STORY MANY TIMES + VII JIMMY SKUNK CALLS ON PRICKLY PORKY + VIII PRICKLY PORKY NEARLY CHOKES + IX JIMMY SKUNK AND UNC' BILLY POSSUM TELL DIFFERENT STORIES + X UNC' BILLY POSSUM TELLS JIMMY SKUNK A SECRET + XI WHAT HAPPENED TO REDDY FOX + XII WHAT REDDY FOX SAW AND DID + XIII REDDY FOX IS VERY MISERABLE + XIV REDDY FOX TRIES TO KEEP OUT OF SIGHT + XV OLD GRANNY FOX INVESTIGATES + XVI OLD GRANNY FOX LOSES HER DIGNITY + XVII GRANNY FOX CATCHES PETER RABBIT +XVIII A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED + XIX JIMMY SKUNK TAKES WORD TO MRS. PETER + XX A PLOT TO FRIGHTEN OLD MAN COYOTE + XXI SAMMY JAY DELIVERS HIS MESSAGE + XXII OLD MAN COYOTE LOSES HIS APPETITE +XXIII BUSTER BEAR GIVES IT ALL AWAY + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +"DO TELL ME QUICKLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO PETER!" _Frontispiece_ + +"POOH," EXCLAIMED REDDY FOX. "WHO'S AFRAID OF THAT FELLOW?" + +THEN HE BRACED HIMSELF AND PULLED WITH ALL HIS MIGHT + +REDDY WOULDN'T HAVE BELIEVED THAT IT WAS ALIVE + +"DROP HIM!" HE GRUNTED + +"I SEE YOU ARE UP TO YOUR OLD TRICKS, PRICKLY PORKY!" HE SHOUTED + + + + +THE ADVENTURES OF PRICKLY PORKY + + + + +I + +HAPPY JACK SQUIRREL MAKES A FIND + + +Happy Jack Squirrel had had a wonderful day. He had found some big +chestnut-trees that he had never seen before, and which promised to +give him all the nuts he would want for all the next winter. Now he +was thinking of going home, for it was getting late in the afternoon. +He looked out across the open field where Mr. Goshawk had nearly +caught him that morning. His home was on the other side. + +"It's a long way 'round," said Happy Jack to himself, "but it is best +to be safe and sure." + +So Happy Jack started on his long journey around the open field. Now, +Happy Jack's eyes are bright, and there is very little that Happy Jack +does not see. So, as he was jumping from one tree to another, he spied +something down on the ground which excited his curiosity. + +"I must stop and see what that is," said Happy Jack. So down the tree +he ran, and in a few minutes he had found the queer thing, which had +caught his eyes. It was smooth and black and white, and at one end it +was very sharp with a tiny little barb. Happy Jack found it out by +pricking himself with it. + +"Ooch," he cried, and dropped the queer thing. Pretty soon he noticed +there were a lot more on the ground. + +"I wonder what they are," said Happy Jack. "They don't grow, for they +haven't any roots. They are not thorns, for there is no plant from +which they could come. They are not alive, so what can they be?" + +Now, Happy Jack's eyes are bright, but sometimes he doesn't use them +to the very best advantage. He was so busy examining the queer things +on the ground that he never once thought to look up in the tops of the +trees. If he had, perhaps he would not have been so much puzzled. As +it was he just gathered up three or four of the queer things and +started on again. On the way he met Peter Rabbit and showed Peter what +he had. Now, you know Peter Rabbit is very curious. He just couldn't +sit still, but must scamper over to the place Happy Jack Squirrel told +him about. + +"You'd better be careful, Peter Rabbit; they're very sharp," shouted +Happy Jack. + +But as usual, Peter was in too much of a hurry to heed what was said +to him. Lipperty-lipperty-lip, lipperty-lipperty-lip, went Peter +Rabbit through the woods, as fast as his long legs would take him. +Then suddenly he squealed and sat down to nurse one of his feet. But +he was up again in a flash with another squeal louder than before. +Peter Rabbit had found the queer things that Happy Jack Squirrel had +told him about. One was sticking in his foot, and one was in the white +patch on the seat of his trousers. + + + + +II + +THE STRANGER FROM THE NORTH + + +The Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West Wind were excited. Yes, +Sir, they certainly were excited. They had met Happy Jack Squirrel and +Peter Rabbit, and they were full of the news of the queer things that +Happy Jack and Peter Rabbit had found over in the Green Forest. They +hurried this way and that way over the Green Meadows and told every +one they met. Finally they reached the Smiling Pool and excitedly told +Grandfather Frog all about it. + +Grandfather Frog smoothed down his white and yellow waistcoat and +looked very wise, for you know that Grandfather Frog is very old. + +"Pooh," said Grandfather Frog. "I know what they are." + +"What?" cried all the Merry Little Breezes together. "Happy Jack says +he is sure they do not grow, for there are no strange plants over +there." + +Grandfather Frog opened his big mouth and snapped up a foolish green +fly that one of the Merry Little Breezes blew over to him. + +"Chug-a-rum," said Grandfather Frog. "Things do not have to be on +plants in order to grow. Now I am sure that those things grew, and +that they did not grow on a plant." + +The Merry Little Breezes looked puzzled. "What is there that grows and +doesn't grow on a plant?" asked one of them. + +"How about the claws on Peter Rabbit's toes and the hair of Happy +Jack's tail?" asked Grandfather Frog. + +The Merry Little Breezes looked foolish. "Of course," they cried. "We +didn't think of that. But we are quite sure that these queer things +that prick so are not claws, and certainly they are not hair." + +"Don't you be too sure," said Grandfather Frog. "You go over to the +Green Forest and look up in the treetops instead of down on the +ground; then come back and tell me what you find." + +Away raced the Merry Little Breezes to the Green Forest and began to +search among the treetops. Presently, way up in the top of a big +poplar, they found a stranger. He was bigger than any of the little +meadow people, and he had long sharp teeth with which he was stripping +the bark from the tree. The hair of his coat was long, and out of it +peeped a thousand little spears just like the queer things that Happy +Jack and Peter Rabbit had told them about. + +"Good morning," said the Merry Little Breezes politely. + +"Mornin'," grunted the stranger in the treetop. + +"May we ask where you come from?" said one of the Merry Little Breezes +politely. + +"I come from the North Woods," said the stranger and then went on +about his business, which seemed to be to strip every bit of the bark +from the tree and eat it. + + + + +III + +PRICKLY PORKY MAKES FRIENDS + + +The Merry Little Breezes soon spread the news over the Green Meadows +and through the Green Forest that a stranger had come from the North. +At once all the little meadow people and forest folk made some excuse +to go over to the big poplar tree where the stranger was so busy +eating. At first he was very shy and had nothing to say. He was a +queer fellow, and he was so big, and his teeth were so sharp and so +long, that his visitors kept their distance. + +Reddy Fox, who, you know, is a great boaster and likes to brag of how +smart he is and how brave he is, came with the rest of the little +meadow people. + +"Pooh," exclaimed Reddy Fox. "Who's afraid of that fellow?" + +Just then the stranger began to come down the tree. Reddy backed away. + +"It looks as if _you_ were afraid, Reddy Fox," said Peter Rabbit. + +"I'm not afraid of anything," said Reddy Fox, and swelled himself up +to look twice as big as he really is. + +"It seems to me I hear Bowser the Hound," piped up Striped Chipmunk. + +[Illustration: "Pooh," exclaimed Reddy Fox. "Who's afraid of that +fellow?" _Page 10._] + +Now Striped Chipmunk had not heard Bowser the Hound at all when he +spoke, but just then there was the patter of heavy feet among the +dried leaves, and sure enough there was Bowser himself. My, how +everybody did run,--everybody but the stranger from the North. He kept +on coming down the tree just the same. Bowser saw him and stopped in +surprise. He had never seen anything quite like this big dark fellow. + +"Bow, wow, wow!" shouted Bowser in his deepest voice. + +Now, when Bowser used that great deep voice of his, he was accustomed +to seeing all the little meadow people and forest folk run, but this +stranger did not even hurry. Bowser was so surprised that he just +stood still and stared. Then he growled his deepest growl. Still the +stranger paid no attention to him. Bowser did not know what to make of +it. + +"I'll teach that fellow a lesson," said Bowser to himself. "I'll shake +him, and shake him and shake him until he hasn't any breath left." + +By this time the stranger was down on the ground and starting for +another tree, minding his own business. Then something happened. +Bowser made a rush at him, and instead of running, what do you suppose +the stranger did? He just rolled himself up in a tight ball with his +head tucked down in his waistcoat. When he was rolled up that way, all +the little spears hidden in the hair of his coat stood right out until +he looked like a great chestnut-burr. Bowser stopped short. Then he +reached out his nose and sniffed at this queer thing. Slap! The tail +of the stranger struck Bowser the Hound right across the side of his +face, and a dozen of those little spears were left sticking there just +like pins in a pin-cushion. + +"Wow! wow! wow! wow!" yelled Bowser at the top of his lungs, and +started for home with his tail between his legs, and yelling with +every jump. Then the stranger unrolled himself and smiled, and all the +little meadow people and forest folk who had been watching shouted +aloud for joy. + +And this is the way that Prickly Porky the Porcupine made friends. + + + + +IV + +PETER RABBIT HAS SOME STARTLING NEWS + + +Little Mrs. Peter Rabbit, who used to be Little Miss Fuzzytail, sat at +the edge of the dear Old Briar-patch, anxiously looking over towards +the Green Forest. She was worried. There was no doubt about it. Little +Mrs. Peter was very much worried. Why didn't Peter come home? She did +wish that he would be content to stay close by the dear Old +Briar-patch. For her part, she couldn't see why under the sun he +wanted to go way over to the Green Forest. He was always having +dreadful adventures and narrow escapes over there, and yet, in spite +of all she could say, he would persist in going there. She didn't feel +easy in her mind one minute while he was out of her sight. To be sure +he always turned up all right, but she couldn't help feeling that +sometime his dreadful curiosity would get him into trouble that he +couldn't get out of, and so every time he went to the Green Forest, +she was sure, absolutely sure, that she would never see him again. + +Peter used to laugh at her and tell her that she was a foolish little +dear, and that he was perfectly able to take care of himself. Then, +when he saw how worried she was, he would promise to be very, very +careful and never do anything rash or foolish. But he wouldn't promise +not to go to the Green Forest. No, Sir, Peter wouldn't promise that. +You see, he has so many friends over there, and there is always so +much news to be gathered that he just couldn't keep away. Once or +twice he had induced Mrs. Peter to go with him, but she had been +frightened almost out of her skin every minute, for it seemed to her +that there was danger lurking behind every tree and under every bush. +It was all very well for Chatterer the Red Squirrel and Happy Jack the +Gray Squirrel, who could jump from tree to tree, but she didn't think +it a safe and proper place for a sensible Rabbit, and she said so. + +This particular morning she was unusually anxious. Peter had been gone +all night. Usually he was home by the time Old Mother West Wind came +down from the Purple Hills and emptied her children, the Merry Little +Breezes, out of her big bag to play all day on the Green Meadows, but +this morning Old Mother West Wind had been a long time gone about her +business, and still there was no sign of Peter. + +"Something has happened. I just know something has happened!" she +wailed. + + "Oh, Peter, Peter, Peter Rabbit + Why will you be so heedless? + Why will you take such dreadful risks, + So foolish and so needless?" + +"Don't worry. Peter is smart enough to take care of himself," cried +one of the Merry Little Breezes, who happened along just in time to +overhear her. "He'll be home pretty soon. In fact, I think I see him +coming now." + +Mrs. Peter looked in the direction that the Merry Little Breeze was +looking, and sure enough there was Peter. He was heading straight for +the dear Old Briar-patch, and he was running as if he were trying to +show how fast he could run. Mrs. Peter's heart gave a frightened +thump. "It must be that Reddy or Granny Fox or Old Man Coyote is +right at his heels," thought she, but look as hard as she would, she +could see nothing to make Peter run so. + +In a few minutes he reached her side. His eyes were very wide, and it +was plain to see that he was bursting with important news. + +"What is it, Peter? Do tell me quick! Have you had another narrow +escape?" gasped little Mrs. Peter. + +Peter nodded while he panted for breath. "There's another stranger in +the Green Forest, a terrible looking fellow without legs or head or +tail, and he almost caught me!" panted Peter. + + + + +V + +PETER RABBIT TELLS HIS STORY + + +When Peter Rabbit could get his breath after his long hard run from +the Green Forest to the dear Old Briar-patch, he had a wonderful story +to tell. It was all about a stranger in the Green Forest, and to have +heard Peter tell about it, you would have thought, as Mrs. Peter did, +that it was a very terrible stranger, for it had no legs, and it had +no head, and it had no tail. At least, that is what Peter said. + +"You see, it was this way," declared Peter. "I had stopped longer than +I meant to in the Green Forest, for you know, my dear, I always try to +be home by the time jolly, round, red Mr. Sun gets out of bed and Old +Mother West Wind gets down on the Green Meadows." Mrs. Peter nodded. +"But somehow time slipped away faster than I thought for, or else Mr. +Sun got up earlier than usual," continued Peter. Then he stopped. That +last idea was a new one, and it struck Peter as a good one. "I do +believe that that is just what happened--Mr. Sun must have made a +mistake and crawled out of bed earlier than usual," he cried. + +Mrs. Peter looked as if she very much doubted it, but she didn't say +anything, and so Peter went on with his story. + +"I had just realized how light it was and had started for home, +hurrying with all my might, when I heard a little noise at the top of +the hill where Prickly Porky the Porcupine lives. Of course I thought +it was Prickly himself starting out for his breakfast, and I looked +up with my mouth open to say hello. But I didn't say hello. No, Sir, +I didn't say a word. I was too scared. There, just starting down the +hill straight towards me, was the most dreadful creature that ever has +been seen in the Green Forest! It didn't have any legs, and it didn't +have any head, and it didn't have any tail, and it was coming straight +after me so fast that I had all I could do to get out of the way!" +Peter's eyes grew very round and wide as he said this. "I took one +good look, and then I jumped. My gracious, how I did jump!" he +continued. "Then I started for home just as fast as ever I could make +my legs go, and here I am, and mighty glad to be here!" + +Mrs. Peter had listened with her mouth wide open. When Peter finished, +she closed it with a snap and hopped over and felt of his head. + +"Are you sick, Peter?" she asked anxiously. + +Peter stared at her. "Sick! Me sick! Not a bit of it!" he exclaimed. +"Never felt better in my life, save that I am a little tired from my +long run. What a silly question! Do I look sick?" + +"No-o," replied little Mrs. Peter slowly. "No-o, you don't look sick, +but you talk as if there were something the matter with your head. I +think you must be just a little light-headed, Peter, or else you have +taken a nap somewhere and had a bad dream. Did I understand you to say +that this dreadful creature has no legs, and yet that it chased you?" + +"That's what I said!" snapped Peter a wee bit crossly, for he saw that +Mrs. Peter didn't believe a word of his story. + +"Will you please tell me how any creature in the Green Forest or out +of it, for that matter, can possibly chase any one unless it has legs +or wings, and you didn't say anything about its having wings," +demanded Mrs. Peter. + +Peter scratched his head in great perplexity. Suddenly he had a happy +thought. "Mr. Blacksnake runs fast enough, but he doesn't have legs, +does he?" he asked in triumph. + +Little Mrs. Peter looked a bit discomfited. "No-o," she admitted +slowly, "he doesn't have legs; but I never could understand how he +runs without them." + +"Well, then," snapped Peter, "if he can run without legs, why can't +other creatures? Besides, this one didn't run exactly; it rolled. Now +I've told you all I'm going to. I need a long nap, after all I've been +through, so don't let any one disturb me." + +"I won't," replied Mrs. Peter meekly. "But, Peter, if I were you, I +wouldn't tell that story to any one else." + + + + +VI + +PETER HAS TO TELL HIS STORY MANY TIMES + + Once you start a story you cannot call it back; + It travels on and on and on and ever on, alack! + + +That is the reason why you should always be sure that a story you +repeat is a good story. Then you will be glad to have it travel on and +on and on, and will never want to call it back. But if you tell a +story that isn't true or nice, the time is almost sure to come when +you will want to call it back and cannot. You see stories are just +like rivers,--they run on and on forever. Little Mrs. Peter Rabbit +knew this, and that is why she advised Peter not to tell any one else +the strange story he had told her of the dreadful creature without +legs or head or tail that had chased him in the Green Forest. Peter +knew by that that she didn't believe a word of it, but he was too +tired and sleepy to argue with her then, so he settled himself +comfortably for a nice long nap. + +When Peter awoke, the first thing he thought of was the terrible +creature he had seen in the Green Forest. The more he thought about +it, the more impossible it seemed, and he didn't wonder that Mrs. +Peter had advised him not to repeat it. + +"I won't," said Peter to himself. "I won't repeat it to a soul. No one +will believe it. The truth is, I can hardly believe it myself. I'll +just keep my tongue still." + +But unfortunately for Peter, one of the Merry Little Breezes of Old +Mother West Wind had heard Peter tell the story to Mrs. Peter, and it +was such a wonderful and curious and unbelievable story that the Merry +Little Breeze straightway repeated it to everybody he met, and soon +Peter Rabbit began to receive callers who wanted to hear the story all +over again from Peter himself. So Peter was obliged to repeat it ever +so many times, and every time it sounded to him more foolish than +before. He had to tell it to Jimmy Skunk and to Johnny Chuck and to +Danny Meadow Mouse and to Digger the Badger and to Sammy Jay and to +Blacky the Crow and to Striped Chipmunk and to Happy Jack Squirrel and +to Bobby Coon and to Unc' Billy Possum and to Old Mr. Toad. + +Now, strange to say, no one laughed at Peter, queer as the story +sounded. You see, they all remembered how they had laughed at him and +made fun of him when he told about the great footprints he had found +deep in the Green Forest, and how later it had been proven that he +really did see them, for they were made by Buster Bear who had come +down from the Great Woods to live in the Green Forest. Then it had +been Peter's turn to laugh at them. So now, impossible as this new +story sounded, they didn't dare laugh at it. + +"I never heard of such a creature," said Jimmy Skunk, "and I can't +quite believe that there is such a one, but it is very clear to me +that Peter has seen something strange. You know the old saying that he +laughs best who laughs last, and I'm not going to give Peter another +chance to have the last laugh and say, 'I told you so.'" + +"That is very true," replied Old Mr. Toad solemnly. "Probably Peter +has seen something out of the ordinary, and in his excitement he has +exaggerated it. The thing to do is to make sure whether or not there +is a stranger in the Green Forest. Peter says that it came down the +hill where Prickly Porky the Porcupine lives. Some one ought to go ask +him what he knows about it. If there is such a terrible creature up +there, he ought to have seen it. Why don't you go up there and ask +him, Jimmy Skunk? You're not afraid of anybody or anything." + +"I will," replied Jimmy promptly, and off he started. You see, he felt +very much flattered by Old Mr. Toad's remark, and he couldn't very +well refuse, for that would look as if he were afraid, after all. + + + + +VII + +JIMMY SKUNK CALLS ON PRICKLY PORKY + + +"A plague upon Old Mr. Toad!" grumbled Jimmy, as he ambled up the Lone +Little Path through the Green Forest on his way to the hill where +Prickly Porky lives. "Of course I'm not afraid, but just the same I +don't like meddling with things I don't know anything about. I'm not +afraid of anybody I know of, because everybody has the greatest +respect for me, but it might be different with a creature without legs +or head or tail. Whoever heard of such a thing? It gives me a queer +feeling inside." + +However, he kept right on, and as he reached the foot of the hill +where Prickly Porky lives, he looked sharply in every direction and +listened with all his might for strange sounds. But there was nothing +unusual to be seen. The Green Forest looked just as it always did. It +was very still and quiet there save for the cheerful voice of Redeye +the Vireo telling over and over how happy he was. + +"That doesn't sound as if there were any terrible stranger around +here," muttered Jimmy. + +Then he heard a queer, grunting sound, a very queer sound, that seemed +to come from somewhere on the top of the hill. Jimmy grinned as he +listened. "That's Prickly Porky telling himself how good his dinner +tastes," laughed Jimmy. "Funny how some people do like to hear their +own voices." + +The contented sound of Prickly Porky's voice made Jimmy feel very sure +that there could be nothing very terrible about just then, anyway, and +so he slowly ambled up the hill, for you know he never hurries. It was +an easy matter to find the tree in which Prickly Porky was at work +stripping off bark and eating it, because he made so much noise. + +"Hello!" said Jimmy Skunk. + +Prickly Porky took no notice. He was so busy eating, and making so +much noise about it, that he didn't hear Jimmy at all. + +"Hello!" shouted Jimmy a little louder. "Hello, there! Are you deaf?" +Of course this wasn't polite at all, but Jimmy was feeling a little +out of sorts because he had had to make this call. This time Prickly +Porky looked down. + +"Hello yourself, and see how you like it, Jimmy Skunk!" he cried. +"Come on up and have some of this nice bark with me." Then Prickly +Porky laughed at his own joke, for he knew perfectly well that Jimmy +couldn't climb, and that he wouldn't eat bark if he could. + +Jimmy made a face at him. "Thank you, I've just dined. Come down here +where I can talk to you without straining my voice," he replied. + +"Wait until I get another bite," replied Prickly Porky, stripping off +a long piece of bark. Then with this to chew on, he came half way down +the tree and made himself comfortable on a big limb. "Now, what is it +you've got on your mind?" he demanded. + +At once Jimmy told him the queer story Peter Rabbit had told. "I've +been sent up here to find out if you have seen this legless, +headless, tailess creature. Have you?" he concluded. + +Prickly Porky slowly shook his head. "No," said he. "I've been right +here all the time, and I haven't seen any such creature." + +"That's all I want to know," replied Jimmy. "Peter Rabbit's got +something the matter with his eyes, and I'm going straight back to the +Old Briar-patch to tell him so. Much obliged." With that Jimmy started +back the way he had come, grumbling to himself. + + + + +VIII + +PRICKLY PORKY NEARLY CHOKES + + +Hardly was Jimmy Skunk beyond sight and hearing after having made his +call than Redeye the Vireo, whose home is in a tree just at the foot +of the hill where Prickly Porky lives, heard a very strange noise. He +was very busy, was Redeye, telling all who would listen how happy he +was and what a beautiful world this is. Redeye seems to think that +this is his special mission in life, that he was put in the Green +Forest for this one special purpose,--to sing all day long, even in +the hottest weather when other birds forget to sing, his little song +of gladness and happiness. It never seems to enter his head that he +is making other people happy just by being happy himself and saying +so. + +At first he hardly noticed the strange noise, but when he stopped +singing for a bit of a rest, he heard it very plainly, and it sounded +so very queer that he flew up the hill towards the place from which it +seemed to come, and there his bright eyes soon discovered Prickly +Porky. Right away he saw that Prickly Porky was in some kind of +trouble, and that it was he who was making the queer noise. Prickly +Porky was on the ground at the foot of a tree, and he was rolling over +and kicking and clawing at his mouth, from which a little piece of +bark was hanging. It was such a strange performance that Redeye simply +stared for a minute. Then in a flash it came to him what it meant. +Prickly Porky was choking, and if something wasn't done to help him, +he might choke to death! + +Now there was nothing that Redeye himself could do to help, for he was +too small. He must get help somewhere else, and he must do it quickly. +Anxiously he looked this way and that way, but there was no one in +sight. Then he remembered that Unc' Billy Possum's hollow tree was not +far away. Perhaps Unc' Billy could help. He hoped that Unc' Billy was +at home, and he wasted no time in finding out. Unc' Billy was at home, +and when he heard that his old friend Prickly Porky was in trouble, he +hurried up the hill as fast as ever he could. He saw right away what +was the trouble. + +"Yo' keep still just a minute, Brer Porky!" he commanded, for he did +not dare go very near while Prickly Porky was rolling and kicking +around so, for fear that he would get against some of the thousand +little spears Prickly Porky carries hidden in his coat. Prickly Porky +did as he was told. Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that +he was glad to. Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging +from Prickly Porky's mouth. Then he braced himself and pulled with all +his might. For a minute the piece of bark held. Then it gave way so +suddenly that Unc' Billy fell over flat on his back. Unc' Billy +scrambled to his feet and looked reprovingly at Prickly Porky, who lay +panting for breath, and with big tears rolling down his face. + +[Illustration: Then he braced himself and pulled with all his might. +_Page 30._] + +"Ah cert'nly am surprised, Brer Porky; Ah cert'nly am surprised that +yo' should be so greedy that yo' choke yo'self," said Unc' Billy, +shaking his head. + +Prickly Porky grinned weakly and rather foolishly. "It wasn't greed, +Unc' Billy. It wasn't greed at all," he replied. + +"Then what was it, may Ah ask?" demanded Unc' Billy severely. + +"I thought of something funny right in the middle of my meal, and I +laughed just as I started to swallow, and the piece of bark went down +the wrong way," explained Prickly Porky. And then, as if the mere +thought of the thing that had made him laugh before was too much for +him, he began to laugh again. He laughed and laughed and laughed, +until finally Unc' Billy quite lost patience. + +"Yo' cert'nly have lost your manners, Brer Porky!" he snapped. + +Prickly Porky wiped the tears from his eyes. "Come closer so that I +can whisper, Unc' Billy," said he. + +A little bit suspiciously Unc' Billy came near enough for Prickly +Porky to whisper, and when he had finished, Unc' Billy was wiping +tears of laughter from his own eyes. + + + + +IX + +JIMMY SKUNK AND UNC' BILLY POSSUM TELL DIFFERENT STORIES + + +The little people of the Green Meadows and the Green Forest didn't +know what to believe. First came Peter Rabbit with the strangest kind +of a story about being chased by a terrible creature without legs, +head, or tail. He said that it had come down the hill where Prickly +Porky the Porcupine lives in the Green Forest. Jimmy Skunk had been +sent to call on Prickly Porky and ask him if he had seen any strange +creature such as Peter Rabbit had told about. Prickly Porky had said +that he hadn't seen any stranger in that part of the Green Forest, and +Jimmy had straightway returned to the Green Meadows and told all his +friends there that Peter Rabbit must have had something the matter +with his eyes or else was crazy, for Prickly Porky hadn't been away +from home and yet had seen nothing unusual. + +At the same time Unc' Billy Possum was going about in the Green Forest +telling everybody whom he met that he had called on Prickly Porky, and +that Prickly Porky had told him that Peter Rabbit undoubtedly had seen +something strange. Of course Jimmy Skunk's story soon spread through +the Green Forest, and Unc' Billy Possum's story soon spread over the +Green Meadows, and so nobody knew what to believe or think. If Jimmy +Skunk was right, why Peter Rabbit's queer story wasn't to be believed +at all. If Unc' Billy was right, why Peter's story wasn't as crazy as +it sounded. + +Of course all this aroused a great deal of talk and curiosity, and +those who had the most courage began to make visits to the hill where +Prickly Porky lives to see if they could see for themselves anything +out of the ordinary. But they always found that part of the Green +Forest just as usual and always, if they saw Prickly Porky at all, he +seemed to be fast asleep, and no one liked to wake him to ask +questions. Little by little they began to think that Jimmy Skunk was +right, and that Peter Rabbit's terrible creature existed only in +Peter's imagination. + +About this time Unc' Billy told of having just such an experience as +Peter had. It happened exactly as it did with Peter, very early in the +morning, when he was passing the foot of the hill where Prickly Porky +lives. + +"Ah was just passing along, minding mah own business, when Ah heard a +noise up on the hill behind me," said Unc' Billy, "and when Ah looked +up, there was something coming straight down at me, and Ah couldn't +see any legs or head or tail." + +"What did you do, Unc' Billy?" asked Bobby Coon. + +"What did Ah do? Ah did just what yo'alls would have done,--Ah done +run!" replied Unc' Billy, looking around the little circle of forest +and meadow people, listening with round eyes and open mouths. "Yes, +Sah, Ah done run, and Ah didn't turn around until Ah was safe in mah +holler tree." + +"Pooh!" sneered Reddy Fox, who had been listening. "You're a coward. I +wouldn't have run! I would have waited and found out what it was. You +and Peter Rabbit would run away from your own shadows." + +"You don't dare go there yourself at daybreak to-morrow!" retorted +Unc' Billy. + +"I do too!" declared Reddy angrily, though he didn't have the least +intention of going. + +"All right. Ah'm going to be in a tree where Ah can watch to-morrow +mo'ning and see if yo' are as brave as yo' talk," declared Unc' Billy. + +Then Reddy knew that he would have to go or else be called a coward. +"I'll be there," he snarled angrily, as he slunk away. + + + + +X + +UNC' BILLY POSSUM TELLS JIMMY SKUNK A SECRET + + Be sure before you drop a friend + That you've done nothing to offend. + + +A friend is always worth keeping. Unc' Billy Possum says so, and he +knows. He ought to, for he has made a lot of them in the Green Forest +and on the Green Meadows, in spite of the pranks he has cut up and the +tricks he has played. And when Unc' Billy makes a friend, he keeps +him. He says that it is easier and a lot better to keep a friend than +to make a new one. And this is the way he goes about it: Whenever he +finds that a friend is angry with him, he refuses to be angry +himself. Instead, he goes to that friend, finds out what the trouble +is, explains it all away, and then does something nice. + +Jimmy Skunk and Unc' Billy had been friends from the time that Unc' +Billy came up from ol' Virginny to live in the Green Forest. In fact, +they had been partners in stealing eggs from the hen-house of Farmer +Brown's boy. So when Jimmy Skunk, who had made a special call on +Prickly Porky to find out if he had seen the strange creature without +head, tail, or legs, told everybody that Prickly Porky had seen +nothing of such a creature, he was very much put out and quite +offended to hear that Unc' Billy was telling how Prickly Porky had +said that Peter might really have some reason for his queer story. It +seemed to him that either Prickly Porky had told an untruth or that +Unc' Billy was telling an untruth. It made him very angry. + +The afternoon of the day when Unc' Billy had dared Reddy Fox to go at +sun-up the next morning to the hill where Prickly Porky lives he met +Jimmy Skunk coming down the Crooked Little Path. Jimmy scowled and was +going to pass without so much as speaking. Unc' Billy's shrewd little +eyes twinkled, and he grinned as only Unc' Billy can grin. "Howdy, +Brer Skunk," said he. + +Jimmy just frowned harder than ever and tried to pass. + +"Howdy, Brer Skunk," repeated Unc' Billy Possum. "Yo' must have +something on your mind." + +Jimmy Skunk stopped. "I have!" he snapped. "I want to know whether it +is you or Prickly Porky who has been telling an untruth. He told me +that he hadn't seen anything like what Peter Rabbit said chased him, +and you've been telling around how he told you that Peter may have had +good grounds for that foolish story. If Peter saw that thing, Prickly +Porky would know it, for he hasn't been away from home this summer. +Why would he tell me that he hasn't seen it if he has?" + +"Don' be hasty, Brer Skunk. Don' be hasty," replied Unc' Billy +soothingly. "Ah haven't said that Brer Porky told me that he had +_seen_ the thing that Peter says chased him. He told the truth when he +told you that he hadn't seen any stranger around his hill. What he +told me was that--" Here Unc' Billy whispered. + +Jimmy Skunk's face cleared. "That's different," said he. + +"Of course it is," replied Unc' Billy. "Yo' see Peter _did_ see +something strange, even if Brer Porky didn't. Ah have seen it +mahself, and now Ah invites yo' to be over at the foot of Brer Porky's +hill at sun-up to-morrow mo'ning and see what happens when Brer Fox +tries to show how brave he is. Only don' forget that it's a secret." + +Jimmy was chuckling by this time. "I won't forget, and I'll be there," +he promised. "I'm glad to know that nobody has been telling untruths, +and I beg your pardon, Unc' Billy, for thinking you might have been." + +"Don' mention it, Brer Skunk, don' mention it. Ah'll be looking fo' +yo' to-morrow mo'ning," replied Unc' Billy, with a sly wink that made +Jimmy laugh aloud. + + + + +XI + +WHAT HAPPENED TO REDDY FOX + + +Reddy Fox wished with all his might that he had kept his tongue still +about not being afraid to meet the strange creature that had given +Peter Rabbit such a fright. When he had boasted that he would stop and +find out all about it if he happened to meet it, he didn't have the +least intention of doing anything of the kind. He was just idly +boasting and nothing more. You see, Reddy is one of the greatest +boasters in the Green Forest or on the Green Meadows. He likes to +strut around and talk big. But like most boasters, he is a coward at +heart. + +Unc' Billy Possum knew this, and that is why he dared Reddy to go the +next morning to the foot of the hill where Prickly Porky the Porcupine +lives, and where Peter Rabbit had had his strange adventure, and where +Unc' Billy himself claimed to have seen the same strange creature +without head, tail, or legs which had so frightened Peter. Unc' Billy +had said that he would be there himself up in a tree where he could +see whether Reddy really did come or not, and so there was nothing for +Reddy to do but to go and make good his foolish boast, if the strange +creature should appear. You see, a number of little people had heard +him boast and had heard Unc' Billy dare him, and he knew that if he +didn't make good, he would never hear the end of it and would be +called a coward by everybody. + +Reddy didn't sleep at all well that afternoon, and when at dusk he +started to hunt for his supper, he found that he had lost his +appetite. Instead of hunting, he spent most of the night in trying to +think of some good reason for not appearing at Prickly Porky's hill at +daybreak. But think as he would, he couldn't think of a single excuse +that would sound reasonable. "If only Bowser the Hound wasn't chained +up at night, I would get him to chase me, and then I would have the +very best kind of an excuse," thought he. But he knew that Bowser +_was_ chained. Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to +make sure. It was just as he expected,--Bowser was chained. + +Reddy sneaked away without even a look at Farmer Brown's hen-house. He +didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he +had, it would have made no difference. He hadn't a bit of appetite. +No, Sir. Reddy Fox wouldn't have eaten the fattest chicken there if it +had been right before him. All he could think of was that queer story +told by Peter Rabbit and Unc' Billy Possum, and the scrape he had got +himself into by his foolish boasting. He just wandered about +restlessly, waiting for daybreak and hoping that something would turn +up to prevent him from going to Prickly Porky's hill. He didn't dare +to tell old Granny Fox about it. He knew just what she would say. It +seemed as if he could hear her sharp voice and the very words: + +"Serves you right for boasting about something you don't know anything +about. How many times have I told you that no good comes of boasting? +A wise Fox never goes near strange things until he has found out all +about them. That is the only way to keep out of trouble and live to a +ripe old age. Wisdom is nothing but knowledge, and a wise Fox always +knows what he is doing." + +So Reddy wandered about all the long night. It seemed as if it never +would pass, and yet he wished it would last forever. The more he +thought about it, the more afraid he grew. At last he saw the first +beams from jolly, round, red Mr. Sun creeping through the Green +Forest. The time had come, and he must choose between making his boast +good or being called a coward by everybody. Very, very slowly, Reddy +Fox began to walk towards the hill where Prickly Porky lives. + + + + +XII + +WHAT REDDY FOX SAW AND DID + + Who guards his tongue as he would keep + A treasure rich and rare, + Will keep himself from trouble free, + And dodge both fear and care. + + +The trouble with a great many people is that they remember this too +late. Reddy Fox is one of these. Reddy is smart and sly and clever in +some ways, but he hasn't learned yet to guard his tongue, and half the +trouble he gets into is because of that unruly member. You see it is a +boastful tongue and an untruthful tongue and that is the worst +combination for making trouble that I know of. It has landed him in +all kinds of scrapes in the past, and here he was in another, all on +account of that tongue. + +Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had kicked his rosy blankets off and was +smiling down on the Great World as he began his daily climb up in the +blue, blue sky. The Jolly Little Sunbeams were already dancing through +the Green Forest, chasing out the Black Shadows, and Reddy knew that +it was high time for him to be over by the hill where Prickly Porky +the Porcupine lives. With lagging steps he sneaked along from tree to +tree, peering out from behind each anxiously, afraid to go on, and +still more afraid not to, for fear that he would be called a coward. + +He had almost reached the foot of the hill without seeing anything out +of the usual and without any signs of Unc' Billy Possum. He was just +beginning to hope that Unc' Billy wasn't there, as he had said he +would be, when a voice right over his head said: + +"Ah cert'nly am glad to see that yo' are as good as your word, Brer +Fox, fo' we need some one brave like yo' to find out what this strange +creature is that has been chasing we-uns." + +Reddy looked up with a sickly grin. There sat Unc' Billy Possum in a +pine tree right over his head. He knew now that there was no backing +out; he had got to go on. He tried to swagger and look very bold and +brave. + +"I told you I'm not afraid. If there's anything queer around here, +I'll find out what it is," he once more boasted, but Unc' Billy +noticed that his voice sounded just a wee bit trembly. + +"Keep right on to the foot of the hill; that's where Ah saw it +yesterday. My, Ah'm glad that we've got some one so truly brave!" +replied Unc' Billy. + +Reddy looked at him sharply, but there wasn't a trace of a smile on +Unc' Billy's face, and Reddy couldn't tell whether Unc' Billy was +making fun of him or not. So, there being nothing else to do, he went +on. He reached the foot of the hill without seeing or hearing a thing +out of the usual. The Green Forest seemed just as it always had +seemed. Redeye the Vireo was pouring out his little song of gladness, +quite as if everything was just as it should be. Reddy's courage began +to come back. Nothing had happened, and nothing was going to happen. +Of course not! It was all some of Peter Rabbit's foolishness. Some day +he would catch Peter Rabbit and put an end to such silly tales. + +"Ah! What was that?" Reddy's sharp ears had caught a sound up near the +top of the hill. He stopped short and looked up. For just a little wee +minute Reddy couldn't believe that his eyes saw right. Coming down +the hill straight towards him was the strangest thing he ever had +seen. He couldn't see any legs. He couldn't see any head. He couldn't +see any tail. It was round like a ball, but it was the strangest +looking ball that ever was. It was covered with old leaves. Reddy +wouldn't have believed that it was alive but for the noises it was +making. For just a wee minute he stared, and then, what do you think +he did? Why, he gave a frightened yelp, put his tail between his legs, +and ran just as fast as he could make his legs go. Yes, Sir, that's +just what Reddy Fox did. + +[Illustration: Reddy wouldn't have believed that it was alive. +_Page 69._] + + + + +XIII + +REDDY FOX IS VERY MISERABLE + + +When Reddy Fox put his tail between his legs and started away from +that terrible creature coming down the hill where Prickly Porky lives, +he thought of nothing but of getting as far away as he could in the +shortest time that he could, and so, with a little frightened yelp +with every jump, he ran as he seldom had run before. He forgot all +about Unc' Billy Possum watching from the safety of a big pine-tree. +He didn't see Jimmy Skunk poking his head out from behind an old stump +and laughing fit to kill himself. When he reached the edge of the +Green Forest, he didn't even see Peter Rabbit jump out of his path +and dodge into a hollow log. + +When Reddy was safely past, Peter came out. He sat up very straight, +with his ears pointing right up to the sky and his eyes wide open with +surprise as he stared after Reddy. "Why! Why, my gracious, I do +believe Reddy has had a fright!" exclaimed Peter. Then, being Peter, +he right away began to wonder what could have frightened Reddy so, and +in a minute he thought of the strange creature which had frightened +him a few days before. "I do believe that was it!" he cried. "I do +believe it was. Reddy is coming from the direction of Prickly Porky's, +and that was where I got my fright. I--I--" + +Peter hesitated. The truth is he was wondering if he dared go up there +and see if that strange creature without head, tail, or legs really +was around again. He knew it would be a foolish thing to do, for he +might walk right into danger. He knew that little Mrs. Peter was +waiting for him over in the dear Old Briar-patch and that she would +worry, for he ought to be there this very blessed minute. But he was +very curious to know what had frightened Reddy so, and his curiosity, +which has led him into so many scrapes, grew greater with every +passing minute. + +"It won't do any harm to go part way up there," thought Peter. +"Perhaps I will find out something without going way up there." + +So, instead of starting for home as he should have done, he turned +back through the Green Forest and, stopping every few hops to look and +listen, made his way clear to the foot of the hill where Prickly Porky +lives. There he hid under a little hemlock-tree and looked in every +direction for the strange creature which had frightened him so the +last time he was there. But nobody was to be seen but Prickly Porky, +Jimmy Skunk, and Unc' Billy Possum rolling around in the leaves at the +top of the hill and laughing fit to kill themselves. + +"There's no danger here; that is sure," thought Peter shrewdly, "and I +believe those fellows have been up to some trick." + +With that he boldly hopped up the hill and joined them. "What's the +joke?" he demanded. + +"Did you meet Reddy Fox?" asked Jimmy Skunk, wiping the tears of +laughter from his eyes. + +"Did I meet him? Why, he almost ran into me and didn't see me at all. +I guess he's running yet. Now, what's the joke?" Peter demanded. + +When the others could stop laughing long enough, they gathered around +Peter and told him something that sent Peter off into such a fit of +laughter that it made his sides ache, "That's a good one on Reddy, and +it was just as good a one on me," he declared. "Now who else can we +scare?" + +All of which shows that there was something very like mischief being +planned on the hill where Prickly Porky the Porcupine lives. + + + + +XIV + +REDDY FOX TRIES TO KEEP OUT OF SIGHT + + +Never in all his life was Reddy Fox more uncomfortable in his mind. He +knew that by this time everybody in the Green Forest, on the Green +Meadows, around the Smiling Pool, and along the Laughing Brook, knew +how he had put his tail between his legs and run with all his might at +the first glimpse of the strange creature which had rolled down the +hill of Prickly Porky. And he was right; everybody _did_ know it, and +everybody _was_ laughing about it. Unc' Billy Possum, Jimmy Skunk, +Prickly Porky, and Peter Rabbit had seen him run, and you may be sure +they told everybody they met about it, and news like that travels +very fast. + +It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't boasted beforehand that if +he met the strange creature he would wait for it and find out what it +was. As it was, he had run just as Peter Rabbit had run when he saw +it, and he had been just as much frightened as Peter had. Now, as he +sneaked along trying to find something to eat, for he was hungry, he +did his very best to keep out of sight. Usually he is very proud of +his handsome red coat, but now he wished that he could get rid of it. +It is very hard to keep out of sight when you have bright colored +clothes. Presently Sammy Jay's sharp eyes spied him as he tried to +crawl up on the young family of Mrs. Grouse. At once Sammy flew over +there screaming at the top of his lungs: + + "Reddy Fox is very brave when there's no danger near; + But where there is, alas, alack! he runs away in fear." + +Reddy looked up at Sammy and snarled. It was of no use at all now to +try to surprise and catch any of the family of Mrs. Grouse, so he +turned around and hurried away, trying to escape from Sammy's sharp +eyes. He had gone only a little way when a sharp voice called: +"Coward! Coward! Coward!" It was Chatterer the Red Squirrel. + +No sooner had he got out out of Chatterer's sight than he heard +another voice. It was saying over and over: + + "Dee, dee, dee! Oh, me, me! + Some folks can talk so very brave + And then such cowards be." + +It was Tommy Tit the Chickadee. Reddy couldn't think of a thing to say +in reply, and so he hurried on, trying to find a place where he would +be left in peace. But nowhere that he could go was he free from those +taunting voices. Not even when he had crawled into his house was he +free from them, for buzzing around his doorway was Bumble Bee and +Bumble was humming: + + "Bumble, grumble, rumble, hum! + Reddy surely can run some." + +Late that afternoon old Granny Fox called him out, and it was clear to +see that Granny was very much put out about something. "What is this I +hear everywhere I go about you being a coward?" she demanded sharply, +as soon as he put his head out of the doorway. + +Reddy hung his head, and in a very shamefaced way he told her about +the terrible fright he had had and all about the strange creature +without legs, head, or tail that had rolled down the hill where +Prickly Porky lives. + +"Serves you right for boasting!" snapped Granny. "How many times have +I told you that no good comes of boasting? Probably somebody has +played a trick on you. I've lived a good many years, and I never +before heard of such a creature. If there were one, I'd have seen it +before now. You go back into the house and stay there. You are a +disgrace to the Fox family. I am going to have a look about and find +out what is going on. If this is some trick, they'll find that old +Granny Fox isn't so easily fooled." + + + + +XV + +OLD GRANNY FOX INVESTIGATES + + +In-vest-i-gate is a great big word, but its meaning is very simple. To +in-vest-i-gate is to look into and try to find out all about +something. That is what old Granny Fox started to do after Reddy had +told her about the terrible fright he had had at the hill where +Prickly Porky lives. + +Now old Granny Fox is very sly and smart and clever, as you all know. +Compared with her, Reddy Fox is almost stupid. He may be as sly and +smart and clever some day, but he has got a lot to learn before then. +Now if it had been Reddy who was going to investigate, he would have +gone straight over to Prickly Porky's hill and looked around and +asked sly questions, and everybody whom he met would have known that +he was trying to find out something. + +But old Granny Fox did nothing of the kind. Oh, my, no! She went about +hunting her dinner just as usual and didn't appear to be paying the +least attention to what was going on about her. With her nose to the +ground she ran this way and ran that way as if hunting for a trail. +She peered into old hollow logs and looked under little brush piles, +and so, in course of time, she came to the hill where Prickly Porky +lives. + +Now Reddy had told Granny that the terrible creature that had so +frightened him had rolled down the hill at him, for he was at the +bottom. Granny had heard that the same thing had happened to Peter +Rabbit and to Unc' Billy Possum. So instead of coming to the hill +along the hollow at the bottom, she came to it from the other way. +"If there is anything there, I'll be behind it instead of in front of +it," she thought shrewdly. + +As she drew near where Prickly Porky lives, she kept eyes and ears +wide open, all the time pretending to pay attention to nothing but the +hunt for her dinner. No one would ever have guessed that she was +thinking of anything else. She ran this way and that way all over the +hill, but nothing out of the usual did she see or hear excepting one +thing: she did find some queer marks down the hill as if something +might have rolled there. She followed these down to the bottom, but +there they disappeared. + +As she was trotting home along the Lone Little Path through the Green +Forest, she met Unc' Billy Possum. No, she didn't exactly meet him, +because he saw her before she saw him, and he promptly climbed a +tree. + +"Ah suppose yo'all heard of the terrible creature that scared Reddy +almost out of his wits early this mo'ning," said Unc' Billy. + +Granny stopped and looked up. "It doesn't take much to scare the young +and innocent, Mr. Possum," she replied. "I don't believe all I hear. +I've just been hunting all over the hill where Prickly Porky lives, +and I couldn't find so much as a Wood Mouse for dinner. Do you believe +such a foolish tale, Mr. Possum?" + +Unc' Billy coughed behind one hand. "Yes, Mrs. Fox, Ah confess Ah done +have to believe it," he replied. "Yo' see, Ah done see that thing mah +own self, and Ah just naturally has to believe mah own eyes." + +"Huh! I'd like to see it! Maybe I'd believe it then!" snapped Granny +Fox. + +"The only time to see it is just at sun-up," replied Unc' Billy. +"Anybody that comes along through that hollow at the foot of Brer +Porky's hill at sun-up is likely never to forget it. Ah wouldn't do it +again. No, Sah, once is enough fo' your Unc' Billy." + +"Huh!" snorted Granny and trotted on. + +Unc' Billy watched her out of sight and grinned broadly. "As sho' as +Brer Sun gets up to-morrow mo'ning, Ol' Granny Fox will be there," he +chuckled. "Ah must get word to Brer Porky and Brer Skunk and Brer +Rabbit." + + + + +XVI + +OLD GRANNY FOX LOSES HER DIGNITY + + +Unc' Billy Possum had passed the word along to Jimmy Skunk, Peter +Rabbit, and Prickly Porky that old Granny Fox would be on hand at +sun-up to see for herself the strange creature which had frightened +Reddy Fox at the foot of the hill where Prickly Porky lives. How did +Unc' Billy know? Well, he just guessed. He is quite as shrewd and +clever as Granny Fox herself, and when he told her that the only time +the strange creature everybody was talking about was seen was at +sun-up, he guessed by the very way she sniffed and pretended not to +believe it at all that she would visit Prickly Porky's hill the next +morning. + +"The ol' lady suspects that there is some trick, and we-uns have got +to be very careful," warned Unc' Billy, as he and his three friends +put their heads together in the early evening. "She is done bound to +come snooping around before sun-up," he continued, "and we-uns must be +out of sight, all excepting Brer Porky. She'll come just the way she +did this afternoon,--from back of the hill instead of along the +holler." + +Unc' Billy was quite right. Old Granny Fox felt very sure that some +one was playing tricks, so she didn't wait until jolly, round, red Mr. +Sun was out of bed. She was at the top of the hill where Prickly Porky +lives a full hour before sun-up, and there she sat down to wait. She +couldn't see or hear anything in the least suspicious. You see, Unc' +Billy Possum was quite out of sight, as he sat in the thickest part of +a hemlock-tree, and Peter Rabbit was sitting perfectly still in a +hollow log, and Jimmy Skunk wasn't showing so much as the tip of his +nose, as he lay just inside the doorway of an old house under the +roots of a big stump. Only Prickly Porky was to be seen, and he seemed +to be asleep in his favorite tree. Everything seemed to be just as old +Granny Fox had seen it a hundred times before. + +At last the Jolly Little Sunbeams began to dance through the Green +Forest, chasing out the Black Shadows. Redeye the Vireo awoke and at +once began to sing, as is his way, not even waiting to get a mouthful +of breakfast. Prickly Porky yawned and grunted. Then he climbed down +from the tree he had been sitting in, walked slowly over to another, +started to climb it, changed his mind, and began to poke around in the +dead leaves. Old Granny Fox arose and slowly stretched. She glanced at +Prickly Porky contemptuously. She had seen him act in this stupid, +uncertain way dozens of times before. Then slowly, watching out +sharply on both sides of her, without appearing to do so, she walked +down the hill to the hollow at the foot. + +Now old Granny Fox can be very dignified when she wants to be, and she +was now. She didn't hurry the least little bit. She carried her big, +plumey tail just so. And she didn't once look behind her, for she felt +sure that there was nothing out of the way there, and to have done so +would have been quite undignified. She had reached the bottom of the +hill and was walking along the hollow, smiling to herself to think how +easily some people are frightened, when her sharp ears caught a sound +on the hill behind her. She turned like a flash and then--well, for a +minute old Granny Fox was too surprised to do anything but stare. +There, rolling down the hill straight towards her, was the very thing +Reddy had told her about. + +At first Granny decided to stay right where she was and find out what +this thing was, but the nearer it got, the stranger and more terrible +it seemed. It was just a great ball all covered with dried leaves, and +yet somehow Granny felt sure that it was alive, although she could see +no head or tail or legs. The nearer it got, the stranger and more +terrible it seemed. Then Granny forgot her dignity. Yes, Sir, she +forgot her dignity. In fact, she quite lost it altogether. Granny Fox +ran just as Reddy had run! + + + + +XVII + +GRANNY FOX CATCHES PETER RABBIT + + Now listen to this little tale + That deals somewhat with folly, + And shows how sometimes one may be + A little bit too jolly. + + +No sooner was old Granny Fox out of sight, running as if she thought +that every jump might be her last, than Jimmy Skunk came out from the +hole under a big stump where he had been hiding, Peter Rabbit came out +of the hollow log from which he had been peeping, and Unc' Billy +Possum dropped down from the hemlock-tree in which he had so carefully +kept out of sight, and all three began to dance around Prickly Porky, +laughing as if they were trying to split their sides. + +"Ho, ho, ho!" shouted Jimmy Skunk. "I wonder what Reddy Fox would have +said if he could have seen old Granny go down that hollow!" + +"Ha, ha, ha!" shouted Peter Rabbit. "Did you see how her eyes popped +out?" + +"Hee, hee, hee!" squeaked Unc' Billy Possum in his funny cracked +voice. "Ah reckons she am bound to have sore feet if she keeps on +running the way she started." + +Prickly Porky didn't say a word. He just smiled in a quiet sort of way +as he slowly climbed up to the top of the hill. + +Now old Granny Fox had been badly frightened. Who wouldn't have been +at seeing a strange creature without head, tail, or legs rolling down +hill straight towards them? But Granny was too old and wise to run +very far without cause. She was hardly out of sight of the four little +scamps who had been watching her when she stopped to see if that +strange creature were following her. It didn't take her long to decide +that it wasn't. Then she did some quick thinking. + +"I said beforehand that there was some trick, and now I'm sure of it," +she muttered. "I have an idea that that good-for-nothing old Billy +Possum knows something about it, and I'm just going back to find out." + +She wasted no time thinking about it, but began to steal back the way +she had come. Now, no one is lighter of foot than old Granny Fox, and +no one knows better how to keep out of sight. From tree to tree she +crawled, sometimes flat on her stomach, until at last she reached the +foot of the hill where she had just had such a fright. There was +nothing to be seen there, but up at the top of the hill she saw +something that made a fierce, angry gleam come into her yellow eyes. +Then she smiled grimly. "The last laugh always is the best laugh, and +this time I guess it is going to be mine," she said to herself. Very +slowly and carefully, so as not to so much as rustle a leaf, she began +to crawl around so as to come up on the back side of the hill. + +Now what old Granny Fox had seen was Peter Rabbit and Jimmy Skunk and +Unc' Billy Possum rolling over and over in the dried leaves, turning +somersaults, and shouting and laughing, while Prickly Porky sat +looking on and smiling. Granny knew well enough what was tickling them +so, and she knew too that they didn't dream but that she was still +running away in fright. At last they were so tired with their good +time that they just had to stop for a rest. + +"Oh, dear, I'm all out of breath," panted Peter, as he threw himself +flat on the ground. "That was the funniest thing I ever saw. I wonder +who we--" + +Peter didn't finish. No, Sir, Peter didn't finish. Instead, he gave a +frightened shriek as something red flashed out from under a +low-growing hemlock-tree close behind him, and two black paws pinned +him down, and sharp teeth caught him by the back of the neck. Old +Granny Fox had caught Peter Rabbit at last! + + + + +XVIII + +A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED + + The friendship which is truest, best, + Is that which meets the trouble test. + + +No one really knows who his best friends are until he gets in trouble. +When everything is lovely and there is no sign of trouble anywhere, +one may have ever and ever so many friends. At least, it may seem so. +But let trouble come, and all too often these seeming friends +disappear as if by magic, until only a few, sometimes a very few, are +left. These are the real friends, the true friends, and they are worth +more than all the others put together. Remember that if you are a true +friend to any one, you will stand by him and help him, no matter what +happens. Sometimes it is almost worth while getting into trouble just +to find out who your real friends are. + +Peter Rabbit found out who some of his truest friends are when, +because of his own carelessness, old Granny Fox caught him. Peter has +been in many tight places and had many terrible frights in his life, +but never did he feel quite so helpless and hopeless as when he felt +the black paws of old Granny Fox pinning him down and Granny's sharp +teeth in the loose skin on the back of his neck. All he could do was +to kick with all his might, and kicking was quite useless, for Granny +took great care to keep out of the way of those stout hind legs of +his. + +Many, many times Granny Fox had tried to catch Peter, and always +before Peter had been too smart for her, and had just made fun of her +and laughed at her. Now it was her turn to laugh, all because he had +been careless and foolish. You see, Peter had been so sure that Granny +had had such a fright when she ran away from the strange creature that +rolled down Prickly Porky's hill at her that she wouldn't think of +coming back, and so he had just given himself up to enjoying Granny's +fright. At Peter's scream of fright, Unc' Billy Possum scampered for +the nearest tree, and Jimmy Skunk dodged behind a big stump. You see, +it was so sudden that they really didn't know what had happened. But +Prickly Porky, whom some people call stupid, made no move to run away. +He happened to be looking at Peter when Granny caught him, and so he +knew just what it meant. A spark of anger flashed in his usually dull +eyes and for once in his life Prickly Porky moved quickly. The +thousand little spears hidden in his coat suddenly stood on end and +Prickly Porky made a fierce little rush forward. + +[Illustration: "Drop him!" he grunted. _Page 89._] + +"Drop him!" he grunted. + +Granny Fox just snarled and backed away, dragging Peter with her and +keeping him between Prickly Porky and herself. + +By this time Jimmy Skunk had recovered himself. You know he is not +afraid of anybody or anything. He sprang out from behind the stump, +looking a wee bit shame-faced, and started for old Granny Fox. "You +let Peter Rabbit go!" he commanded in a very threatening way. Now the +reason Jimmy Skunk is afraid of nobody is because he carries with him +a little bag of very strong perfume which makes everybody sick but +himself. Granny Fox knows all about this. For just a minute she +hesitated. Then she thought that if Jimmy used it, it would be as bad +for Peter as for her, and she didn't believe Jimmy would use it. So +she kept on backing away, dragging Peter with her. Then Unc' Billy +Possum took a hand, and his was the bravest deed of all, for he knew +that Granny was more than a match for him in a fight. He slipped down +from the tree where he had sought safety, crept around behind Granny, +and bit her sharply on one heel. Granny let go of Peter to turn and +snap at Unc' Billy. This was Peter's chance. He slipped out from under +Granny's paws and in a flash was behind Prickly Porky. + + + + +XIX + +JIMMY SKUNK TAKES WORD TO MRS. PETER + + +When old Granny Fox found Prickly Porky, with his thousand little +spears all pointing at her, standing between her and Peter Rabbit, she +was the angriest old Fox ever seen. She didn't dare touch Prickly +Porky, for she knew well enough what it would mean to get one of those +sharp, barbed little spears in her skin. To think that she actually +had caught Peter Rabbit and then lost him was too provoking! It was +more than her temper, never of the best, could stand. In her anger she +dug up the leaves and earth with her hind feet, and all the time her +tongue fairly flew as she called Prickly Porky, Jimmy Skunk, and Unc' +Billy Possum everything bad she could think of. Her yellow eyes +snapped so that it seemed almost as if sparks of fire flew from them. +It made Peter shiver just to look at her. + +Unc' Billy Possum, who, by slipping up behind her and biting one of +her heels, had made her let go of Peter, grinned down at her from a +safe place in a tree. Jimmy Skunk stood grinning at her in the most +provoking manner, and she couldn't do a thing about it, because she +had no desire to have Jimmy use his little bag of perfume. So she +talked herself out and then with many parting threats of what she +would do, she started for home. Unc' Billy noticed that she limped a +little with the foot he had nipped so hard, and he couldn't help +feeling just a little bit sorry for her. + +When she had gone, the others turned to Peter Rabbit to see how badly +he had been hurt. They looked him all over and found that he wasn't +much the worse for his rough experience. He was rather stiff and lame, +and the back of his neck was very sore where Granny Fox had seized +him, but he would be quite himself in a day or two. + +"I must get home now," said he in a rather faint voice. "Mrs. Peter +will be sure that something has happened to me and will be worried +almost to death." + +"No, you don't!" declared Jimmy Skunk. "You are going to stay right +here where we can take care of you. It wouldn't be safe for you to try +to go to the Old Briar-patch now, because if you should meet Old Man +Coyote or Reddy Fox or Whitetail the Marshhawk, you would not be able +to run fast enough to get away. I will go down and tell Mrs. Peter, +and you will make yourself comfortable in the old house behind that +stump where I was hiding." + +Peter tried to insist on going home, but the others wouldn't hear of +it, and Jimmy Skunk settled the matter by starting for the dear Old +Briar-patch. He found little Mrs. Peter anxiously looking towards the +Green Forest for some sign of Peter. + +"Oh!" she cried, "you have come to bring me bad news. Do tell me +quickly what has happened to Peter!" + +"Nothing much has happened to Peter," replied Jimmy promptly. Then in +the drollest way he told all about the fright of Granny Fox when she +first saw the terrible creature rolling down the hill and all that +happened after, but he took great care to make light of Peter's +escape, and explained that he was just going to rest up there on +Prickly Porky's hill for that day and would be home the next night. +But little Mrs. Peter wasn't wholly satisfied. + +"I've begged him and begged him to keep away from the Green Forest," +said she, "but now if he is hurt so that he can't come home, he needs +me, and I'm going straight up there myself!" + +Nothing that Jimmy could say had the least effect, and so at last he +agreed to take her to Peter. And so, hopping behind Jimmy Skunk, timid +little Mrs. Peter Rabbit actually went into the Green Forest of which +she was so much afraid, which shows how brave love can be sometimes. + + + + +XX + +A PLOT TO FRIGHTEN OLD MAN COYOTE + + Mischief leads to mischief, for it is almost sure + To never, never be content without a little more. + + +Now you would think that after Peter Rabbit's very, very, narrow +escape from the clutches of Old Granny Fox that Jimmy Skunk, Unc' +Billy Possum, Peter Rabbit, and Prickly Porky would have been +satisfied with the pranks they already had played. No, Sir, they were +not! You see, when danger is over, it is quickly forgotten. No sooner +had Peter been made comfortable in the old house behind the big stump +on the hill where Prickly Porky lives than the four scamps began to +wonder who else they could scare with the terrible creature without +head, legs, or tail which had so frightened Reddy and Old Granny Fox. + +"There is Old Man Coyote; he is forever frightening those smaller and +weaker than himself. I'd just love to see him run," said Peter Rabbit. + +"The very one!" cried Jimmy Skunk. "I wonder if he would be afraid. +You know he is even smarter than Granny Fox, and though she was +frightened at first, she soon got over it. How do you suppose we can +get him over here?" + +"We-uns will take Brer Jay into our secret. Brer Jay will tell Brer +Coyote that Brer Rabbit is up here on Brer Porky's hill, hurt so that +he can't get home," said Unc' Billy Possum. "That's all Brer Jay need +to say. Brer Coyote is gwine to come up here hot foot with his tongue +hanging out fo' that dinner he's sho' is waiting fo' him here." + +"You won't do anything of the kind!" spoke up little Mrs. Peter, who, +you know, had bravely left the dear Old Briar-patch and come up here +in the Green Forest to take care of Peter. "Peter has had trouble +enough already, and I'm not going to let him have any more, so there!" + +"Peter isn't going to get into any trouble," spoke up Jimmy Skunk. +"Peter and you are going to be just as safe as if you were over in the +Old Briar-patch, for you will be in that old house where nothing can +harm you. Now, please, Mrs. Peter, don't be foolish. You don't like +Old Man Coyote, do you? You'd like to see him get a great scare to +make up for the scares he has given Peter and you, wouldn't you?" + +Little Mrs. Peter was forced to admit that she would, and after a +little more teasing she finally agreed to let them try their plan for +giving Old Man Coyote a scare. Sammy Jay happened along just as Jimmy +Skunk was starting out to look for him, and when he was told what was +wanted of him, he agreed to do his part. You know Sammy is always +ready for any mischief. Just as he started to look for Old Man Coyote, +Unc' Billy Possum made another suggestion. + +"We-uns have had a lot of fun with Reddy and Granny Fox," said he, +"and now it seems to me that it is no more than fair to invite them +over to see Old Man Coyote and what he will do when he first sees the +terrible creature that has frightened them so. Granny knows now that +there is nothing to be afraid of, and perhaps she will forget her +anger if she has a chance to see Old Man Coyote run away. Yo' know she +isn't wasting any love on him. What do yo' alls say?" + +Peter and Mrs. Peter said "No!" right away, but Jimmy Skunk and +Prickly Porky thought it a good idea, and of course Sammy Jay was +willing. After a little, when it was once more pointed out to them how +they would be perfectly safe in the old house behind the big stump, +Peter and Mrs. Peter agreed, and Sammy started off on his errand. + + + + +XXI + +SAMMY JAY DELIVERS HIS MESSAGE + + +Sammy Jay has been the bearer of so many messages that no one knows +better than he how to deliver one. He knows when to be polite, and no +one can be more polite than he. First he went over to the home of +Reddy and Granny Fox and invited them to come over to the hill where +Prickly Porky lives and see the terrible creature which had frightened +them so give Old Man Coyote a scare. Both Reddy and Granny promptly +said they would do nothing of the kind, that probably Sammy was +engaged in some kind of mischief, and that anyway they knew that there +was no such creature without head, legs, or tail, and though they had +been fooled once, they didn't propose to be fooled again. + +"All right," replied Sammy, quite as if it made no difference to him. +"You admit that smart as you are you were fooled, and we thought you +might like to see the same thing happen to Old Man Coyote." + +With this he flew on his way to the Green Meadows to look for Old Man +Coyote, and as he flew he chuckled to himself. "They'll be there," he +muttered. "I know them well enough to know that nothing would keep +them away when there is a chance to see some one else frightened, +especially Old Man Coyote. They'll try to keep out of sight, but +they'll be there." + +Sammy found Old Man Coyote taking a sun-bath. "Good morning, Mr. +Coyote. I hope you are feeling well," said Sammy in his politest +manner. + +"Fairly, fairly, thank you," replied Old Man Coyote, all the time +watching Sammy sharply out of the corners of his shrewd eyes. "What's +the news in the Green Forest?" + +"There isn't any, that is, none to amount to anything," declared +Sammy. "I never did see such a dull summer. Is there any news down +here on the Green Meadows? I hear Danny Meadow Mouse has found his +lost baby." + +"So I hear," replied Old Man Coyote. "I tried to find it for him. You +know I believe in being neighborly." + +Sammy grinned, for as he said this, Old Man Coyote had winked one eye +ever so little, and Sammy knew very well that if he had found that +lost baby, Danny Meadow Mouse would never have seen him again. "By the +way," said Sammy in the most matter-of-fact tone, "as I was coming +through the Green Forest, I saw Peter Rabbit over on the hill where +Prickly Porky lives, and Peter seems to have been in some kind of +trouble. He was so lame that he said he didn't dare try to go home to +the Old Briar-patch for fear that he might meet some one looking for a +Rabbit dinner, and he knew that, feeling as he did, he wouldn't be +able to save himself. Peter is going to come to a bad end some day if +he doesn't watch out." + +"That depends on what you call a bad end," replied Old Man Coyote with +a sly grin. "It might be bad for Peter and at the same time be very +good for some one else." + +Sammy laughed right out. "That's one way of looking at it," said he. +"Well, I should hate to have anything happen to Peter, because I have +lots of fun quarreling with him and should miss him dreadfully. I +think I'll go up to the Old Orchard and see what is going on there." + +Off flew Sammy in the direction of the Old Orchard, and once more he +chuckled as he flew. He had seen Old Man Coyote's ears prick up ever +so little when he had mentioned that Peter was over in the Green +Forest so lame that he didn't dare go home. "Old Man Coyote will start +for the Green Forest as soon as I am out of sight," thought Sammy. And +that is just what Old Man Coyote did. + + + + +XXII + +OLD MAN COYOTE LOSES HIS APPETITE + + +Hardly was Sammy Jay out of sight, flying towards the Old Orchard, +before Old Man Coyote started for the Green Forest. He is very sharp, +is Old Man Coyote, so sharp that it is not very often that he is +fooled. If Sammy Jay had gone to him and told him what a splendid +chance he would have to catch Peter Rabbit if he hurried up to the +Green Forest right away, Old Man Coyote would have suspected a trick +of some kind. Sammy had been clever enough to know this. So he had +just mentioned in the most matter-of-fact way that he had seen Peter +over on Prickly Porky's hill and that Peter appeared to have been in +trouble, so that he was too lame to go to his home in the dear Old +Briar-patch. There wasn't even a hint that Old Man Coyote should go +over there. This was what made him sure that the news about Peter was +probably true. + +Now as soon as Sammy was sure that Old Man Coyote couldn't see him, he +headed straight for the Green Forest and the hill where Prickly Porky, +Jimmy Skunk, Unc' Billy Possum, and Peter and Mrs. Peter Rabbit were +waiting. As he flew, he saw Reddy Fox and old Granny Fox stretched +flat behind an old log some distance away, but where they could see +all that might happen. + +"I knew they would be on hand," he chuckled. + +When he reached the others, he reported that he had delivered the +message to Old Man Coyote, and that he was very sure, in fact he was +positive, that Old Man Coyote was already on his way there in the hope +that he would be able to catch Peter Rabbit. It was decided that +everybody but Peter should get out of sight at once. So Unc' Billy +Possum climbed a tree. Jimmy Skunk crawled into a hollow log. Sammy +Jay hid in the thickest part of a hemlock tree. Prickly Porky got +behind a big stump right at the top of the hill. Little Mrs. Peter, +with her heart going pit-a-pat, crept into the old house between the +roots of this same old stump, and only Peter was to be seen when at +last Old Man Coyote came tiptoeing along the hollow at the foot of the +hill, as noiseless as a gray shadow. + +He saw Peter almost as soon as Peter saw him, and the instant he saw +him, he stopped as still as if he were made of stone. Peter took a +couple of steps, and it was very plain to see that he was lame, just +as Sammy Jay had said. + +"That good-for-nothing Jay told the truth for once," thought Old Man +Coyote, with a hungry gleam in his eyes. + +Whenever Old Man Coyote thought that Peter was not looking his way, he +would crawl on his stomach from one tree to another, always getting a +little nearer to Peter. He would lie perfectly still when Peter seemed +to be looking towards him. Now of course Peter knew just what was +going on, and he took the greatest care not to get more than a couple +of jumps away from the old house under the big stump, where Mrs. Peter +was hiding and wishing with all her might that she and Peter were back +in the dear Old Briar-patch. It was very still in the Green Forest +save for the song of happiness of Redeye the Vireo who, if he knew +what was going on, made no sign. My, but it was exciting to those who +were watching! + +Old Man Coyote had crept half-way up the hill, and Peter was wondering +how much nearer he could let him get with safety, when a sudden +grunting broke out right behind him. Peter knew what it meant and +jumped to one side. Then down the hill, rolling straight towards Old +Man Coyote, started the strange, headless, tailess, legless creature +that had so frightened Reddy and Granny Fox. + +Old Man Coyote took one good look, hesitated, looked again, and then +turned tail and started for the Green Meadows as fast as his long legs +would take him. It was plain to see that he was afraid, very much +afraid. Quite suddenly he had lost his appetite. + + + + +XXIII + +BUSTER BEAR GIVES IT ALL AWAY + + +It was very clear that Old Man Coyote wasn't thinking about his +stomach just then, but about his legs and how fast they could go. He +had been half-way up the hill when he first saw the terrible creature +without head, tail, or legs rolling down straight at him. He stopped +only long enough for one good look and then he started for the bottom +of the hill as fast as he could make his legs go. Now, it is a very +bad plan to run fast down-hill. Yes, Sir, it is a very bad plan. You +see, once you are started, it is not the easiest thing in the world to +stop. And then again, you are quite likely to stub your toes. + +This is what Old Man Coyote did. He stubbed his toes and turned a +complete somersault. He looked so funny that the little scamps +watching him had all they could do to keep from shouting right out. +Old Granny Fox and Reddy Fox, looking on from a safe distance, did +laugh. You know they had not been friendly with Old Man Coyote since +he came to live on the Green Meadows, and as they had themselves had a +terrible fright when they first saw the strange creature, they +rejoiced in seeing him frightened. + +But Old Man Coyote didn't stop for a little thing like a tumble. Oh, +my, no! He just rolled over on to his feet and was off again, harder +than before. Now there are very few people who can see behind them +without turning their heads as Peter Rabbit can, and Old Man Coyote +is not one of them. Trying to watch behind him, he didn't see where +he was going, and the first thing he knew he ran bump into--guess who! +Why, Buster Bear, to be sure. + +Where Buster had come from nobody knew, but there he was, as big as +life. When Old Man Coyote ran into him, he growled a deep, provoked +growl and whirled around with one big paw raised to cuff whoever had +so nearly upset him. Old Man Coyote, more frightened than ever, yelped +and ran harder than before, so that by the time Buster Bear saw who it +was who had run into him, he was safely out of reach and still +running. + +Then it was that Buster Bear first saw, rolling down the hill, the +strange creature which had so frightened Old Man Coyote. Unc' Billy +Possum, Jimmy Skunk, Sammy Jay, Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Peter, watching +from safe hiding places, wondered if Buster would run too. If he did, +it would be almost too good to be true. But he didn't. He looked first +at the strange creature rolling down the hill, then at Old Man Coyote +running as hard as ever he could, and his shrewd little eyes began to +twinkle. Then he began to laugh. + +"Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ho! I see you are up to your old +tricks, Prickly Porky!" he shouted, as the strange creature rolled +past, almost over his toes and brought up against a little tree at the +foot of the hill. + +[Illustration: "I see you are up to your old tricks, Prickly Porky!" +he shouted. _Page 114._] + +Old Man Coyote heard him and stopped short and turned to see what it +meant. Very slowly the strange creature unrolled and turned over. +There was a head now and a tail and four legs. It was none other than +Prickly Porky himself! There was no doubt about it, though he still +looked very strange, for he was covered with dead leaves which clung +to the thousand little spears hidden in his coat. Prickly Porky +grinned. + +"You shouldn't have given me away, Buster Bear, just because you have +seen me roll down hill before in the Great Woods where we both came +from," said he. + +"I think it was high time I did," replied Buster Bear, still +chuckling. "You might have scared somebody to death down here where +they don't know you." + +Then everybody came out of their hiding places, laughing and talking +all at once, as they told Buster Bear of the joke they had played on +Old Man Coyote, and how it had all grown out of the fright Peter +Rabbit had received when he just happened along as Prickly Porky was +rolling down hill just for fun. As for Old Man Coyote, he sneaked +away, grinding his teeth angrily. Like a great many other people, he +couldn't take a joke on himself. + +So Prickly Porky made himself at home in the Green Forest and took his +place among the little people who live there. In just the same way Old +Man Coyote came as a stranger to the Green Meadows and established +himself there. In the next book you may read all about how he came to +the Green Meadows and of some of his adventures there and in the Green +Forest. + + + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Prickly Porky +by Thornton W. Burgess + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF PRICKLY PORKY *** + +***** This file should be named 15521.txt or 15521.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/5/2/15521/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Richard J. 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