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+Project Gutenberg's The Hollow Tree Snowed-In, by Albert Bigelow Paine
+
+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 Hollow Tree Snowed-In
+       Being a continuation of stories about the Hollow Tree and
+       Deep Woods people
+
+Author: Albert Bigelow Paine
+
+Illustrator: J. M. Conde
+
+Release Date: October 4, 2010 [EBook #33948]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOLLOW TREE SNOWED-IN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from
+scanned images of public domain material from the Internet
+Archive.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Book Cover]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS PEOPLE
+
+Mr. Crow, Mr. Turtle, Mr. 'Coon, Mr. 'Possum, Mr. Robin, Mr. Squirrel,
+Mr. Dog, Mr. Rabbit
+
+THEN MR. DOG SAID: "I KNOW ALL ABOUT MENAGERIES, FOR I HAVE BEEN TO
+ONE"]
+
+
+
+
+THE HOLLOW TREE
+SNOWED-IN BOOK
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE STORIES ABOUT
+THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS PEOPLE
+
+
+BY
+ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE
+
+AUTHOR OF
+"THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS BOOK"
+
+
+WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
+J. M. CONDÉ
+
+[Illustration]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NEW YORK AND LONDON
+HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+MCMX
+
+
+
+
+BOOKS BY
+ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE
+
+  THE HOLLOW TREE SNOWED-IN BOOK. Crown 8vo       $1.50
+  THE SHIP-DWELLERS. Illustrated. 8vo       1.50
+  THE TENT-DWELLERS. Illustrated. Post 8vo       1.50
+  THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS BOOK. Illustrated. Post 8vo       1.50
+  FROM VAN-DWELLER TO COMMUTER. Ill'd. Post 8vo       1.50
+  LIFE OF THOMAS NAST. Ill'd. 8vo _net_       5.00
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, N. Y.
+
+
+Copyright, 1910, by HARPER & BROTHERS
+
+
+
+
+TO ALL DWELLERS IN
+THE BIG DEEP WOODS OF DREAM
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS COUNTRY]
+
+
+
+
+EXPLANATION OF MAP
+
+
+The top of the map is South. This is always so with the Hollow Tree
+People. The cross on the shelf below the edge of the world (where the
+ladder is) is where Mr. Dog landed, and the ladder is the one brought by
+Mr. Man for him to climb back on. The tree that Mr. Man cut down shows
+too. The spot on the edge of the world is where the Hollow Tree People
+sometimes sit and hang their feet over, and talk. A good many paths
+show, but not all by a good deal. The bridge and plank near Mr. Turtle's
+house lead to the Wide Grass Lands and Big West Hills. The spots along
+the Foot Race show where Grandpaw Hare stopped, and the one across the
+fence shows where Mr. Turtle landed. Most of the other things tell what
+they are, and all the things are a good deal farther apart than they
+look. Of course there was not room on the map for everything.
+
+
+
+
+TO FRIENDS OLD AND NEW
+
+
+I wonder if you have ever heard a story which begins like this: "Once
+upon a time, in the far depths of the Big Deep Woods, there was a Big
+Hollow Tree with three hollow branches. In one of these there lived a
+'Coon, in another a 'Possum, and in the third a Big Black Crow."
+
+That was the way the first story began in a book which told about the
+Hollow Tree People and their friends of the Big Deep Woods who used to
+visit them, and how they all used to sit around the table, or by the
+fire, in the parlor-room down-stairs, where they kept most of their
+things, and ate and talked and had good times together, just like
+folk.[1]
+
+And the stories were told to the Little Lady by the Story Teller, and
+there were pictures made for them by the Artist, and it was all a long
+time ago--so long ago that the Little Lady has grown to be almost a big
+lady now, able to read stories for herself, and to write them, too,
+sometimes.
+
+But the Story Teller and the Artist did not grow any older. The years do
+not make any difference to them. Like the Hollow Tree People they remain
+always the same, for though to see them you might think by their faces
+and the silver glint in their hair that they are older, it would not be
+so, because these things are only a kind of enchantment, made to
+deceive, when all the time they are really with the Hollow Tree People
+in the Big Deep Woods, where years and enchantments do not count. It was
+only Mr. Dog, because he lived too much with Mr. Man, who grew old and
+went away to that Far Land of Evening which lies beyond the sunset,
+taking so many of the Hollow Tree stories with him. We thought these
+stories were lost for good when Mr. Dog left us, but that was not true,
+for there came another Mr. Dog--a nephew of our old friend--and he grew
+up brave and handsome, and learned the ways of the Hollow Tree People,
+and their stories, and all the old tales which the first Mr. Dog did not
+tell.
+
+And now, too, there is another Little Lady--almost exactly like the
+first Little Lady--and it may be that it is this Little Lady, after all,
+who keeps the Artist and the Story Teller young, for when she thought
+they might be growing older, and forgetting, she went with them away
+from the House of Many Windows, in the city, to the House of Low
+Ceilings and Wide Fireplaces--a queer old house like Mr. Rabbit's--built
+within the very borders of the Big Deep Woods, where they could be
+always close to Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum and the Old Black Crow, and
+all the others, and so learn all the new tales of the Hollow Tree.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] _The Hollow Tree and Deep Woods Book_, by the same author and
+artist.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+  TO FRIENDS OLD AND NEW                                               7
+  THE FIRST SNOWED-IN STORY                                           15
+  MR. DOG AT THE CIRCUS                                               21
+  THE SECOND SNOWED-IN STORY                                          39
+  THE WIDOW CROW'S BOARDING-HOUSE                                     57
+  THE FINDING OF THE HOLLOW TREE                                      71
+  THE THIRD SNOWED-IN STORY                                           87
+  THE FOURTH SNOWED-IN STORY                                         103
+  THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB                                      119
+  THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB--PART II                             143
+  THE DISCONTENTED FOX                                               155
+  MR. 'POSSUM'S GREAT STORY                                          173
+  THE BARK OF OLD HUNGRY-WOLF                                        191
+  AN EARLY SPRING CALL ON MR. BEAR                                   219
+  MR. CROW'S GARDEN                                                  239
+  WHEN JACK RABBIT WAS A LITTLE BOY                                  261
+  A HOLLOW TREE PICNIC                                               273
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS PEOPLE                   _Frontispiece_
+  MAP OF THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS COUNTRY                        4
+  GATHERING NICE PIECES OF WOOD                                       17
+  THE PANTRY IN THE HOLLOW TREE                                       24
+  "SLIPPED IN BEHIND HIM WHEN HE WENT INTO THE TENT"                  29
+  "HE LOOKED SMILING AND GOOD-NATURED, AND I WENT OVER TO ASK
+    HIM SOME QUESTIONS"                                               31
+  "GAVE ME AN EXTRA BIG SWING AND CRACK"                              35
+  ALL AT ONCE HE HEARD A FIERCE BARK CLOSE BEHIND HIM                 43
+  THEN I SUDDENLY FELT LIKE A SHOOTING-STAR                           47
+  "THEN MR. DOG SAID, 'TELL ME ANOTHER'"                              49
+  "AND DID ROLL OFF THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, SURE ENOUGH"               53
+  "I SET OUT FOR HOME WITHOUT WAITING TO SAY GOOD-BYE"                55
+  CAME CLATTERING DOWN RIGHT IN FRONT OF MR. DOG                      61
+  SO THEN MR. DOG TRIED TO GET MR. 'POSSUM ON HIS SHOULDER            64
+  HE WAS AN OLD BACHELOR AND LIKED TO HAVE HIS OWN WAY                67
+  THEY SAW MR. CROW OUT IN THE YARD CUTTING WOOD FOR HIS
+    MOTHER-IN-LAW                                                     69
+  HAD TO STAY AT HOME AND PEEL POTATOES                               75
+  LISTENED NOW AND THEN AT WIDOW CROW'S DOOR TO BE SURE SHE
+    WAS ASLEEP                                                        79
+  MR. 'POSSUM SAID HE'D JUST GET ON AND HOLD THE THINGS               81
+  MR. 'POSSUM AND MR. 'COON TRIED TO PUT UP THE STOVE                 83
+  MR. FOX SAID HE DIDN'T HAVE MUCH TO DO FOR A FEW MINUTES
+    AND HE'D ACT AS JUDGE                                             93
+  SAILING ALONG, JUST TOUCHING THE HIGHEST POINTS                     97
+  AWAY WENT MR. TORTOISE, CLEAR OVER THE TOP RAIL                     99
+  SET OUT FOR HOME BY A BACK WAY                                     101
+  TRIED TO SPLICE HIS PROPERTY BACK IN PLACE                         107
+  GRANDFATHER WOULD LIGHT HIS PIPE AND THINK IT OVER                 109
+  SET UP HIS EARS AND WENT BY, LICKETY-SPLIT                         111
+  "'GLAD TO SEE YOU,' SAID KING LION; 'I WAS JUST THINKING
+    ABOUT HAVING A NICE RABBIT FOR BREAKFAST"                        113
+  GOT AROUND THE TABLE AND BEGAN TO WORK                             125
+  MR. 'POSSUM WANTED TO KNOW WHAT MR. RABBIT MEANT BY
+    SPINNING THEIR TAILS                                             129
+  MR. DOG SAID HE HAD MADE A FEW SKETCHES                            133
+  MR. 'POSSUM SAID IT MIGHT BE A GOOD ENOUGH STORY, BUT IT
+    COULDN'T BE TRUE                                                 137
+  SO THEN MR. RABBIT SAID THEY MUST CHOOSE WHO WOULD BE "IT"         147
+  MR. 'POSSUM HAD TO PUT ON THE HANDKERCHIEF AND DO MORE
+    EXERCISING THAN ANY OF THEM                                      149
+  WOULD FIND IT ON THE MANTEL-SHELF OR PERHAPS ON MR.
+    CROW'S BALD HEAD                                                 152
+  MR. 'POSSUM SAID HE HADN'T MEANT ANYTHING AT ALL BY WHAT
+    HE HAD SAID ABOUT THE STORY                                      162
+  AND SO THIS CAT GREW RICH AND FAT                                  164
+  HIS CLERKS                                                         167
+  A SOLEMN LOOK WAS IN HIS FACE                                      168
+  QUOTH HE; "MY PRIDE IS SATISFIED; THIS KINGDOM BUSINESS
+    DOES NOT PAY"                                                    171
+  AUNT MELISSY HAD ARRANGED A BUNDLE FOR UNCLE SILAS, AND
+    SHE HAD FIXED UP THE HIRED MAN TOO                               179
+  DIDN'T LOOK AS IF SHE BELONGED TO THE REST OF OUR CROWD            181
+  THE BALLOON WENT OVER THE WIDE BLUE WATER JUST AFTER IT
+    GOT OUR FAMILY                                                   184
+  MR. TURTLE SAID THAT WHAT MR. 'POSSUM HAD TOLD THEM WAS TRUE       189
+  ONE DAY MR. CROW FOUND HE WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL OF
+    EVERYTHING                                                       195
+  THEN MR. COON SLAMMED HIS DOOR                                     199
+  MR. 'POSSUM SAID NOT TO MOVE, THAT HE WOULD GO AFTER A PIECE
+    OF WOOD                                                          201
+  HE WOULD SMOKE IN THE SUN WHEN THE MORNINGS WERE FAIR              203
+  WITH A LOOK AND A SIGH THEY WOULD STAND AND BEHOLD                 204
+  THE TASTIEST PASTRY THAT EVER WAS KNOWN                            205
+  THEN TO STIR AND TO BAKE HE BEGAN RIGHT AWAY                       206
+  THE GREEDY OLD RAVEN, BUT GREEDY NO MORE                           208
+  LOOKED STRAIGHT AT MR. 'POSSUM AND SAID, "WHAT WAS THAT YOU
+    WERE CHEWING JUST NOW?"                                          211
+  THEY WENT ALONG, SAYING WHAT A NICE MAN THEY THOUGHT MR. BEAR WAS  224
+  MR. BEAR MUST HAVE BEEN VERY TIRED AND GONE TO SLEEP RIGHT
+    WHERE HE WAS                                                     226
+  MR. 'COON SCRATCHED HIS BACK AGAINST A LITTLE BUSH                 234
+  MR. RABBIT THANKED HIM FROM ACROSS THE RIVER                       237
+  ONE SAID IT WAS ONE WAY AND THE OTHER THE OTHER WAY                247
+  MR. CROW DECIDED TO THIN OUT A FEW OF JACK RABBIT'S THINGS         251
+  MR. CROW WAS ALMOST AFRAID TO BRING ON THE SALAD                   255
+  JACK RABBIT CAPERED AND LAUGHED ALL THE WAY HOME                   259
+  TOOK HER PARASOL AND HER RETICULE AND A CAN OF BERRIES,
+    AND STARTED                                                      265
+  AND HE MADE SOME STRIPES, TOO--MOSTLY ON TOP OF THE STOVE          267
+  LITTLE JACK KNEW PERFECTLY WELL THAT SHE WASN'T AT ALL PLEASED     269
+  PROMISED NEVER TO DISOBEY HIS MOTHER AGAIN                         271
+  AND HE TASTED OF THAT A LITTLE, TOO                                278
+  MR. 'POSSUM LEANED HIS BACK AGAINST A TREE AND READ HIMSELF
+    TO SLEEP                                                         280
+  SO MR. 'POSSUM PROMISED, AND MR. 'COON UNTIED HIM                  282
+  "AND WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY SAW?"                                  284
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: GATHERING NICE PIECES OF WOOD]
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+IN WHICH THE READER LEARNS TO KNOW THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE AND THEIR
+FRIENDS, AND THE LITTLE LADY, AND THE STORY TELLER
+
+
+Now this is the beginning of the Hollow Tree stories which the Story
+Teller told the Little Lady in the queer old house which stands in the
+very borders of the Big Deep Woods itself. They were told in the Room of
+the Lowest Ceiling and the Widest Fire--a ceiling so low that when the
+Story Teller stands upright it brushes his hair as he walks, and a fire
+so deep that pieces of large trees do not need to be split but can be
+put on whole. In the old days, several great-grandfathers back, as the
+Hollow Tree People might say, these heavy sticks were drawn in by a
+horse that came right through the door and dragged the wood to the wide
+stone hearth.
+
+It is at the end of New-Year's Day, and the Little Lady has been
+enjoying her holidays, for Santa Claus found his way down the big stone
+chimney and left a number of things she wanted. Now, when the night is
+coming down outside, and when inside there is a heap of blazing logs and
+a rocking-chair, it is time for the Story Teller. The Story Teller
+generally smokes and looks into the fire when he tells a Hollow Tree
+story, because the Hollow Tree People always smoke and look into the
+fire when _they_ tell _their_ stories, and the Little Lady likes
+everything to be "just the same," and the stories must be always told
+just the same, too. If they are not, she stops the Story Teller and sets
+him right. So while the Little Woman passes to and fro, putting away the
+tea-things, the Story Teller lights his pipe, and rocks, and looks into
+the fire, and holds the Little Lady close, and begins the Tales of the
+Hollow Tree.
+
+"Once upon a time," he begins--
+
+"Once upon a time," murmurs the Little Lady, settling herself.
+
+"Yes, once upon a time, in the old days of the Hollow Tree, when Mr. Dog
+had become friends with the 'Coon and the 'Possum and the Old Black Crow
+who lived in the three hollow branches of the Big Hollow Tree, and used
+to meet together in their parlor-room down-stairs and invite all their
+friends, and have good times together, just like folk--"
+
+"But they live there now, don't they?" interrupts the Little Lady,
+suddenly sitting up, "and still have their friends, just the same?"
+
+"Oh yes, of course, but this was one of the old times, you know."
+
+The Little Lady settles back, satisfied.
+
+"Go on telling, now," she says.
+
+"Well, then, this was one of the times when all the Deep Woods People
+had been invited to the Hollow Tree for Christmas Day, and were snowed
+in. Of course they didn't expect to be snowed in. Nobody ever expects to
+be snowed in till it happens, and then it's too late."
+
+"Was that the Christmas that Mr. Dog played Santa Claus and brought all
+the presents, and Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Robin and Mr. Turtle and Jack
+Rabbit came over, and they all sat around the fire and ate things and
+told nice stories? You said you would tell about that, and you never
+did."
+
+"I am going to tell it now, as soon as a Little Lady gets real still,"
+says the Story Teller. So then the Little Lady _is_ real still, and he
+tells the first snowed-in story, which is called:
+
+
+
+
+MR. DOG AT THE CIRCUS
+
+
+
+
+MR. DOG AT THE CIRCUS
+
+THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE LEARN SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT ABOUT SHOWS
+
+
+[Illustration: THE PANTRY IN THE HOLLOW TREE]
+
+That was a great Christmas in the Hollow Tree. The 'Coon and the 'Possum
+and the Old Black Crow had been getting ready for it for a long time,
+and brought in ever so many nice things to eat, which Mr. Crow had
+cooked for them, for Mr. Crow is the best cook of anybody in the Big
+Deep Woods. Then Mr. Dog had brought a lot of good things, too, which he
+had borrowed from Mr. Man's house, so they had the finest Christmas
+dinner that you can think of, and plenty for the next day when it would
+be even better, because chicken and turkey and dressing and such things
+are always better the next day, and even the _third_ day, with gravy,
+than they are when they are first cooked.
+
+Then, when they were all through and were standing around, smoking their
+new pipes and looking at each other's new neckties and other Christmas
+things, Mr. Crow said that he and Mr. Squirrel would clear off the table
+if the others would get in some wood and stir up the fire and set the
+room to rights, so they could gather round and be comfortable by-and-by;
+and then, he said, it might snow as much as it liked as long as they had
+plenty of wood and things to eat inside.
+
+So then they all skurried around getting on their things to go out after
+wood--all except Mr. Crow and Mr. Squirrel, who set about clearing off
+the table and doing up the dishes. And pretty soon Mr. Dog and Mr. Coon
+and the rest were hopping about where the snow was falling so soft and
+silent among the big, leafless trees, gathering nice pieces of wood and
+brushing the snow off of them and piling them into the first down-stairs
+of the Hollow Tree, which the 'Coon and 'Possum and Old Black Crow use
+for their wood-house and general store-room. It was great fun, and they
+didn't feel the least bit cold after their warm dinner and with all that
+brisk exercise.
+
+Mr. Robin didn't help carry the wood in. He was hardly strong enough for
+that, but he hopped about and looked for good pieces, and when he found
+one he would call to Mr. 'Coon or Mr. 'Possum, or maybe to one of the
+others, to throw it on his shoulder and carry it in, and then he would
+tell whoever it happened to be how strong he was and how fine he looked
+with that great chunk on his shoulder, and would say that he didn't
+suppose there was another 'Coon, or 'Possum, or Turtle, or Rabbit, or
+Dog that could begin to stand up straight under such a chunk as that
+anywhere outside of a menagerie. Mr. Robin likes to say pleasant things
+to his friends, and is always popular. And each one tried to carry the
+biggest load of wood to show how strong he was, and pretty soon they had
+the lower room of the Hollow Tree piled up high with the finest chunks
+and kindling pieces to be found anywhere. Then they all hurried
+up-stairs, stamping the snow off their feet, and gathered around the
+nice warm fire in the big parlor which was just below the three big
+hollow branches where the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow had
+their rooms.
+
+Mr. Crow and Mr. Squirrel were through with the table by this time, and
+all hands lit their pipes, and looked into the fire, and smoked, and
+rested, and thought a little before they began talking--thinking, of
+course, of what a good time they were having, and how comfortable and
+nice it was to be inside and warm when such a big snow was falling
+outside.
+
+Mr. 'Possum was the first one to say anything. He said he had been
+thinking of what Mr. Robin had said about them being outside of a
+menagerie, and that, come to think about it, he believed he didn't know
+what a menagerie was, unless it was a new name for a big dinner, as that
+was the only thing he could think of now that they were outside of, and
+he said if that was so, and if he could get outside of two menageries,
+he thought he could carry in a bigger chunk than any two chunks there
+were down-stairs.
+
+Then all the others laughed a good deal, and Mr. 'Coon said he had
+thought that perhaps a menagerie was something to wear that would make
+anybody who had it on very strong, and able to stand up under a big
+load, and to eat as much as Mr. 'Possum could, or even more.
+
+But Mr. Robin said that it didn't mean either of those things. He said
+he didn't really know what it did mean himself, but that it must be some
+kind of a place that had a great many large creatures in it, for he had
+heard his grandmother quite often call his grandfather the biggest goose
+outside of a menagerie, though, being very young then, Mr. Robin
+couldn't remember just what she had meant by it.
+
+Mr. Rabbit said he thought that the word "menagerie" sounded like some
+kind of a picnic, with swings and nice lively games, and Mr. Crow said
+that once when he was flying he passed over a place where there was a
+big sign that said Menagerie on it, and that there were some tents and a
+crowd of people and a great noise, but that he hadn't seen anything that
+he could carry off without being noticed, so he didn't stop.
+
+Mr. Squirrel thought that from what Mr. Crow said it must be a place
+where there would be a lot of fine things to see, and Mr. Turtle said
+that he was a good deal over three hundred years old and had often heard
+of a menagerie, but that he had never seen one. He said he had always
+supposed that it was a nice pond of clear water, with a lot of happy
+turtles and fish and wild geese and duck and such things in it, and
+maybe some animals around it, all living happily together, and taken
+care of by Mr. Man, who brought them a great many good things to eat. He
+had always thought he would like to live in a menagerie, he said, but
+that nobody had ever invited him, and he had never happened to come
+across one in his travels.
+
+Mr. Dog hadn't been saying anything all this time, but he knocked the
+ashes out of his pipe now, and filled it up fresh and lit it, and
+cleared his throat, and began to talk. It made him smile, he said, to
+hear the different ways people thought of a thing they had never seen.
+He said that Mr. Turtle was the only one who came anywhere near to what
+a menagerie really was, though of course Mr. Crow _had_ seen one on the
+outside. Then Mr. Dog said:
+
+[Illustration: "SLIPPED IN BEHIND HIM WHEN HE WENT INTO THE TENT"]
+
+"I know all about menageries, on the outside and the inside too, for I
+have been to one. I went once with Mr. Man, though I wasn't really
+invited to go. In fact, Mr. Man invited me to stay at home, and tried to
+slip off from me; but I watched which way he went, and took long
+roundin's on him, and slipped in behind him when he went into the
+tent. He didn't know for a while that I was there, and I wasn't there so
+very long. But it was plenty long enough--a good deal longer than I'd
+ever stay again, unless I was tied.
+
+"I never saw so many wild, fierce-looking creatures in my life as there
+were in that menagerie, and they were just as wild and fierce as they
+looked. They had a lot of cages full of them and they had some outside
+of cages, though I don't know why they should leave any of those
+dangerous animals around where they could damage folks that happened to
+come in reach, as I did. Those animals outside didn't look as wild and
+fierce as those in the cages, but they were.
+
+"I kept in the crowd, close behind Mr. Man at first, and nobody knew I
+was there, but by-and-by he climbed up into a seat to watch some people
+all dressed up in fancy clothes ride around a ring on horses, which I
+didn't care much about, so I slipped away, and went over to where there
+were some things that I wanted to take my time to see quietly."
+
+[Illustration: HE LOOKED SMILING AND GOOD-NATURED, AND I WENT OVER TO
+ASK HIM SOME QUESTIONS]
+
+"There was an animal about my size and style tied over in one corner of
+the tent, behind a rope, with a sign in front of him which said, 'The
+Only Tame Hyena in the World.' He looked smiling and good-natured, and I
+went over to ask him some questions.
+
+"But that sign wasn't true. He wasn't the least bit tame, and I'm sure
+now that he wasn't smiling. He grabbed me before I had a chance to say a
+word, and when I jerked loose, which I did right away, for I didn't want
+to stir up any fuss there, I left quite a piece of my ear with the tame
+hyena, and tripped backward over the rope and rolled right in front of a
+creature called an elephant, about as big as a house and not as useful.
+
+"I suppose they thought _he_ was tame, too, but he must have been tamed
+by the same man, for he grabbed me with a kind of a tail that grew on
+the end of his nose--a thing a good deal like Mr. 'Possum's tail, only
+about a million times as big--and I could hear my ribs crack as he waved
+me up and down.
+
+"Of course, as I say, I didn't want to stir up any fuss, but I couldn't
+keep still under such treatment as that, and I called right out to Mr.
+Man, where he sat looking at the fancy people riding, and told him that
+I had had enough of the show, and if he wanted to take any of me home,
+he ought not to wait very long, but come over that way and see if he
+couldn't get the tame elephant to practise that performance on the hyena
+or the next dog, because I had had plenty, and was willing to go home
+just as I was, all in one piece, even if not very lively.
+
+"Mr. Man _came_, too, and so did a lot of the others. They seemed to
+think that I was more to look at than those riding people; and some of
+them laughed, though what there was happening that was funny I have
+never been able to guess to this day. I kept right on telling Mr. Man
+what I wanted him to do, and mebbe I made a good deal of noise about it,
+for it seemed to stir up those other animals. There was a cage full of
+lions that started the most awful roaring you can think of, and a cage
+of crazy-looking things they called monkeys that screeched and howled
+and swung back and forth in rings and held on to the bars, and all the
+other things joined in, until I couldn't tell whether I was still saying
+anything or not. I suppose they were all jealous of the elephant because
+of the fun he was having, and howling to be let out so they could get
+hold of me too.
+
+"Well, you never heard of such a time. It nearly broke up the show.
+Everybody ran over to look, and even the riding people stopped their
+horses to enjoy it, too. If it only hadn't been so dangerous and
+unpleasant I should have been proud of the way they came to see me
+perform.
+
+"But Mr. Man didn't seem to like it much. I heard him tell somebody, as
+loud as he could, that I would be killed, and that I was the best dog he
+ever had, and that if I _was_ killed he'd sue the show."
+
+[Illustration: "GAVE ME AN EXTRA SWING AND CRACK"]
+
+"That made me proud, too, but I wished he wouldn't wait to sue the
+show, but would do something right away, and just then a man with a
+fancy dress on and a stick with a sharp iron hook on it came running up
+and said something I didn't understand and hit the elephant with the
+hook end of the stick, and he gave me an extra big swing and crack and
+flung me half-way across the tent, where I landed on a bunch of hay
+right in front of a long-necked thing called a camel--another terrible
+tame creature, I suppose--who had me about half eaten up with his old
+long under lip, before Mr. Man could get over there.
+
+"When Mr. Man did get hold of me, he said that I'd better take what was
+left of me home, for they were going to feed the animals pretty soon,
+and that I would likely get mixed up with the bill of fare.
+
+"After that he took me to the entrance and pushed me outside, and I
+heard all those fierce creatures in the cages growl and roar louder than
+ever, as if they had expected to sample me and were sorry to see me go.
+
+"That's what a menagerie is--it's a place where they have all the kinds
+of animals and things in the world, for show, and a good many birds, and
+maybe turtles, too, but they don't have any fine clear pond. They have
+just a big tent, like the one Mr. Crow saw, and a lot of cages inside.
+They keep most of the animals in cages, and they ought to keep them all
+there, and I don't think they feed them very much, nor the best
+things, or they wouldn't look so fierce and hungry.
+
+"They just keep them for Mr. Man and his friends to look at and talk
+about, and if Mr. Turtle will take my advice he will keep out of a
+menagerie and live in the Wide Blue Water where he was born. I wouldn't
+have gone there again unless I had been tied and dragged there, or
+unless they had put those tame animals into cages with the others. No
+doubt there are some very fine, strong animals in a menagerie, but they
+wouldn't be there if they could help it, and if anybody ever invites any
+of you to join a menagerie, take my advice and don't do it."
+
+Then Mr. Dog knocked the ashes out of his pipe again, and all the other
+Deep Woods People knocked the ashes out of _their_ pipes, too, and
+filled them up fresh, and one said one thing, and one said another about
+being in a menagerie or out of it, and every one thought it would be a
+terrible thing to be shut up in a cage, except Mr. 'Possum, who said he
+wouldn't mind it if they would let him sleep enough and give him all he
+could eat, but that a cage without those things would be a lonesome
+place.
+
+Then Mr. 'Coon said that a little adventure had happened to him once
+which he had never mentioned before, because he had never known just
+what to make of it; but he knew now, he said, that he had come very near
+getting into a menagerie, and he would tell them just what happened.
+
+The Story Teller looked down at the quiet figure in his lap. The Little
+Lady's head was nestled close to his shoulder, and her eyes were
+straining very hard to keep open.
+
+"I think we will save Mr. 'Coon's story till another night," he said.
+
+
+
+
+THE SECOND SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+
+
+
+THE SECOND SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+MR. 'COON TELLS HOW HE CAME NEAR BEING A PART OF A MENAGERIE, AND HOW HE
+ONCE TOLD A STORY TO MR. DOG
+
+
+"You can tell about Mr. 'Coon, now--the story you didn't tell last
+night, you know," and the Little Lady wriggles herself into a
+comfortable corner just below the Story Teller's smoke, and looks deep
+into a great cavern of glowing embers between the big old andirons,
+where, in her fancy, she can picture the Hollow Tree people and their
+friends.
+
+"Why, yes, let me see--" says the Story Teller.
+
+"Mr. Dog had just told about being at the menagerie, you know, and Mr.
+'Coon was just going to tell how he came very near getting into a
+menagerie himself."
+
+"Oh yes, of course--well, then, all the Hollow Tree people, the 'Coon
+and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow, and their friends who were visiting
+them--Mr. Dog and Mr. Robin and Jack Rabbit and Mr. Turtle and Mr.
+Squirrel--knocked the ashes out of their pipes and filled them up
+fresh--"
+
+"No, they had just done that."
+
+"That's so, I forgot. Well, anyway, as soon as they got to smoking and
+settled back around the fire again Mr. 'Coon told them his story, and I
+guess we'll call it
+
+"MR. 'COON'S EARLY ADVENTURE"
+
+[Illustration: ALL AT ONCE HE HEARD A FIERCE BARK CLOSE BEHIND HIM]
+
+Mr. 'Coon said he was quite young when it happened, and was taking a
+pleasant walk one evening, to think over things a little, and perhaps to
+pick out a handy tree where Mr. Man's chickens roosted, when all at once
+he heard a fierce bark close behind him, and he barely had time to get
+up a tree himself when a strange and very noisy Mr. Dog was leaping
+about at the foot of the tree, making a great fuss, and calling every
+moment for Mr. Man to hurry, for he had a young 'coon treed.
+
+"Of course I laid pretty low when I heard that," Mr. 'Coon said, "for I
+knew that Mr. Man would most likely have a gun, so I got into a bunch of
+leaves and brush that must have been some kind of an old nest and
+scrooched down so that none of me would show.
+
+"Then by-and-by I heard some big creature come running through the
+brush, and I peeked over a little, and there, sure enough, was Mr. Man
+with a long gun, and I noticed that he wore a thing on his head--a sort
+of hat, I suppose--made of what looked to be the skin of some relative
+of mine.
+
+"Of course that made me mad. I hadn't cared so much until I saw that;
+but I said right then to myself that any one who would do such a thing
+as that never could be a friend of mine, no matter how much he tried. So
+I scrooched down and laid low in that old nest, and didn't move or let
+on in any way that I was there.
+
+"Then I heard Mr. Man walking around the tree and talking to his dog and
+telling him that there wasn't anything up in that tree at all, and that
+Mr. Dog had just been fooling him. I could tell by his voice that he was
+getting mad at Mr. Dog, and I hoped that he'd get mad enough pretty soon
+to take a stick to him for chasing me up a tree like that, and then
+calling for Mr. Man to come and see me when there wasn't really anything
+to look at.
+
+"But Mr. Dog kept galloping around the tree and barking out, over and
+over, that I was there; that he had seen me, and that he knew that I was
+hiding up there somewhere; and pretty soon I heard Mr. Man going away,
+and I peeked over again.
+
+"Sure enough, he was going, but Mr. Dog was staying right there,
+sitting under the tree and looking up and making a good deal more noise
+than there was any need of to let me know he hadn't gone. I didn't see
+why he stayed there. I wished he'd go away and tend to his own business.
+
+"Being quite young, I still lived with my folks over near the Wide Grass
+Lands, and I wanted to get home for supper. It was a good way to go, for
+the tree I had climbed was over close to the edge of the world where the
+sun and moon rise, and you all know that's a good way, even from here.
+
+"Well, he didn't go, but just sat there, barking up that tree, and after
+a long time I heard somebody coming again, and I peeked over and there
+was Mr. Man, hurrying back, this time with an axe. I knew, right then,
+there was going to be trouble. I knew they were going to cut that tree
+down, and that I should most likely have quite a fuss with Mr. Dog, and
+perhaps go home with a black eye and a scratched nose, and then get
+whipped again for fighting, after I got there."
+
+Mr. 'Coon stopped and knocked the ashes out of his pipe and filled it up
+fresh, and all the others knocked the ashes out of their pipes and
+filled them up fresh, too. Then Mr. 'Possum poked up the fire and told
+Mr. Turtle to bring a stick of wood from down-stairs, and when it was
+blazing up high and bright again they all stepped over to the window a
+minute, to see how hard it was snowing and banking up outside, then
+went back to their chairs around the fire, and stretched out their feet
+and leaned back and smoked, and listened to the rest of Mr. 'Coon's
+story.
+
+Mr. Coon said he didn't like the sound of that axe when Mr. Man began to
+cut the tree down.
+
+"Every time he struck the tree I could feel it all through me," he said,
+"and I knew if he kept that noise up long enough it would give me a
+nervous headache. I wished the tree would hurry up and drop, so we could
+have what muss we were going to, and get it over with. I'd have got out
+of that old nest and made a jump for another tree if there had been any
+near enough, but there wasn't, so I just laid low and gritted my teeth
+and let him chop.
+
+[Illustration: THEN I SUDDENLY FELT LIKE A SHOOTING-STAR]
+
+"Well, by-and-by that tree began to go down. It seemed to teeter a
+little at first, this way and that; then it went very slow in one
+direction; then it went a little faster; then it went a good deal
+faster; then I suddenly felt like a shooting-star, I came down so fast,
+and there was a big crash, and I thought I had turned into a lot of
+stars, sure enough, and was shooting in every direction, and the next I
+knew I was tied to a tree, hand and foot and around the middle, and Mr.
+Man and Mr. Dog were sitting and looking at me, and grinning, and
+talking about what they were going to do.
+
+"Mr. Man wasn't scolding Mr. Dog any more. He was telling him what a
+good thing it was they had caught me alive, for now they could sell me
+to a show and get a great deal more for me than they could for my skin.
+I didn't know what a show was, then, or that a show is a menagerie, but
+I know now, and I can see just what they meant.
+
+"Pretty soon Mr. Man told Mr. Dog to stay there and watch me while he
+went home after a box to put me in. He said he didn't think it would be
+safe to carry me in his arms, and he was right about that.
+
+"So then Mr. Man walked off, and left Mr. Dog guarding me, and saying
+unpleasant things to me now and then.
+
+"At first I wouldn't answer him; but pretty soon I happened to think of
+something pleasant to say:
+
+"'Mr. Dog,' I said, 'I know a good story, if you'd like me to tell it.
+Mr. Man may be a good while getting that box, and mebbe you'd like to
+hear something to pass the time.'
+
+"Mr. Dog said he would. He said that Mr. Man would most likely have to
+make the box, and he didn't suppose he knew where the hammer and nails
+were, and it might be dark before Mr. Man got back.
+
+[Illustration: "THEN MR. DOG SAID, 'TELL ME ANOTHER'"]
+
+"I felt a good deal better when I heard Mr. Dog say that, and I told him
+a story I knew about how Mr. Rabbit lost his tail, and Mr. Dog laughed
+and seemed to like it, and said, 'Tell me another.'"
+
+Before Mr. 'Coon could go on with his story, Mr. Rabbit said that of
+course if that old tale had helped Mr. 'Coon out of trouble he was very
+glad, but that it wasn't at all true, and that some time _he_ would tell
+them himself the true story of how it happened.
+
+Then they all said that they hoped he would, for they'd always wanted to
+hear that story told right, and then Mr. 'Coon went on with his
+adventure.
+
+Mr. Coon said that when Mr. Dog said, 'Tell me another,' he knew he was
+in a good-humor, and that he felt better and better himself. "I thought
+if Mr. Man didn't come back too soon," he said, "I might get along
+pretty well with Mr. Dog.
+
+"'I know another story, Mr. Dog,' I said--'the funniest story there is.
+It would make you laugh until you fell over the edge of the world, but I
+can't tell it here.'
+
+"'Why,' he said,--'why can't you tell it here as well as anywhere?'
+
+"'Because it has to be acted,' I said, 'and my hands are tied.'
+
+"'Will you tell it if I untie your hands?' said Mr. Dog.
+
+"'Well,' I said, 'I'll begin it, and you can see how it goes.'
+
+"So Mr. Dog came over and untied my hands, for he said he could tie them
+again before Mr. Man came back, because he knew Mr. Man hadn't found
+that hammer yet.
+
+"'You can't get loose with just your hands untied, can you?' he said.
+
+"'No, of course not, Mr. Dog,' I said, pleasant and polite as could be.
+
+"'Let's see you try,' said Mr. Dog.
+
+"So I twisted and pulled, and of course I couldn't get loose.
+
+"'Now tell the story,' said Mr. Dog.
+
+"So I said: 'Once there was a man who had a very bad pain in his chest,
+and he took all kinds of medicine, and it didn't do him any good. And
+one day the Old Wise Man of the Woods told him if he would rub his chest
+with one hand and pat his head with the other, it might draw the pain
+out the top and cure him. So the man with the pain in his chest tried
+it, and he did it this way.'
+
+"Then I showed Mr. Dog just how he did it, and Mr. Dog thought that was
+funny, and laughed a good deal.
+
+"'Go on and tell the rest of it,' he said. 'What happened after that?'
+
+"But I let on as if I'd just remembered something, and I said, 'Oh, Mr.
+Dog, I'm _so_ sorry, but I can't tell the rest of that story here, and
+it's the funniest part, too. I know you'd laugh till you rolled over the
+edge of the world.'
+
+"'Why can't you tell the rest of that story here as well as anywhere?'
+said Mr. Dog, looking anxious.
+
+"'Because it has to be acted with the feet,' I said, 'and my feet are
+tied.'
+
+"'Will you tell it if I untie your feet?' said Mr. Dog.
+
+"'Well, I'll do the best I can,' I said.
+
+"So Mr. Dog came over and untied my feet. He said he knew that Mr. Man
+hadn't found the nails or the pieces to make the box yet, and there
+would be plenty of time to tie me again before Mr. Man got back.
+
+"'You can't get loose, anyway, with just your hands and feet untied, can
+you?' he said.
+
+"'No, of course not, Mr. Dog,' I said, more pleasant and polite than
+ever.
+
+"'Let's see you try,' said Mr. Dog.
+
+"So I squirmed and twisted, but of course with a strong string around my
+waist and tied behind I couldn't do anything.
+
+"'Now go on with the story,' said Mr. Dog.
+
+[Illustration: "AND DID ROLL OFF THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, SURE ENOUGH"]
+
+"'Well,' I said, 'the pain left his chest, but it went into his back,
+and he had a most terrible time, until one day the Old Wise Man of the
+Woods came along and told him that he thought he ought to know enough by
+this time to rub his back where the pain was and pat his head at the
+same time to draw it out at the top. So then the man with the pain
+rubbed his back and patted his head this way,' and I showed Mr. Dog how
+he did it; and I rubbed a good while about where the knot was, and made
+a face to show how the man with the pain looked, and then I said the
+pain came back into his chest again instead of being drawn out at the
+top; and I changed about and rubbed there awhile, and then I went around
+to my back again, chasing that pain first one side and the other; and
+then I said that the Old Wise Man of the Woods came along one day and
+told him that he must kick with his feet too if he ever wanted to get
+rid of that pain, because, after all, it might have to be kicked out at
+the bottom; and when I began to kick and dance with both feet and to rub
+with my hands at the same time, Mr. Dog gave a great big laugh--the
+biggest laugh I ever heard anybody give--and fell right down and rolled
+over and over, and did roll off the edge of the world, sure enough.
+
+"I heard him go clattering into a lot of brush and blackberry bushes
+that are down there, and just then I got that back knot untied, and I
+stepped over and looked down at Mr. Dog, who had lodged in a brier patch
+on a shelf about ten feet below the edge, where Mr. Man would have to
+get him up with a ladder or a rope.
+
+"'Do you want to hear the rest of the story, Mr. Dog?' I said.
+
+"'I'll story _you_,' he said, 'when I catch you!'
+
+"'I told you you'd laugh till you fell off the edge of the world,' I
+said.
+
+"'I'll make _you_ laugh,' he said, 'when I catch you!'
+
+[Illustration: "I SET OUT FOR HOME WITHOUT WAITING TO SAY GOOD-BYE"]
+
+"Then I saw he was cross about something, and I set out for home without
+waiting to say good-bye to Mr. Man, for I didn't want to waste any more
+time, though I missed my supper and got a scolding besides.
+
+"But I was glad I didn't bring home a black eye and scratched nose, and
+I'm more glad than ever now that Mr. Man didn't get back in time with
+that box, or I might be in a menagerie this minute instead of sitting
+here smoking and telling stories and having a good time on Christmas
+Day."
+
+The Story Teller looks down at the Little Lady.
+
+"I'm glad Mr. 'Coon didn't get into the menagerie, aren't you?" she
+says.
+
+"Very glad," says the Story Teller.
+
+"He went lickety-split home, didn't he?"
+
+"He did that!"
+
+"I like them to go lickety-split better than lickety-cut, don't you?"
+says the Little Lady. "They seem to go so much faster."
+
+"Ever so much faster," says the Story Teller.
+
+
+
+
+THE WIDOW CROW'S BOARDING-HOUSE
+
+
+
+
+THE WIDOW CROW'S BOARDING-HOUSE
+
+EARLY DOINGS OF THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE AND HOW THEY FOUND A HOME
+
+
+Anybody can tell by her face that the Little Lady has some plan of her
+own when the Story Teller is ready next evening to "sit by the fire and
+spin."
+
+"I want you to tell me," she says, climbing up into her place, "how the
+'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow ever got to living together in
+the Hollow Tree."
+
+That frightens the Story Teller. He is all ready with something
+different.
+
+"Good gracious!" he says, "that is an old story that all the Deep Woods
+People have known ever so long."
+
+"But I don't know it," says the Little Lady, "and I'd like to know that
+before you tell anything else. Rock, and tell it."
+
+So the Story Teller rocks slowly, and smokes, and almost forgets the
+Little Lady in remembering that far-away time, and presently he begins.
+
+"Well, it was all so long ago that perhaps I can't remember it very
+well. Mr. 'Possum was a young man in those days--a nice spry young
+fellow; and he used to think it was a good deal of fun to let Mr.
+Dog--who wasn't friendly then, of course--try to catch him; and when Mr.
+Dog would get pretty close and come panting up behind him, Mr. 'Possum
+would scramble up a tree, and run out on to the longest limb and swing
+from it, head down, and laugh, and say:
+
+"Come right up, Mr. Dog! Always at home to you, Mr. Dog! Don t stop to
+knock!"
+
+And then Mr. Dog would race around under the tree and make a great to
+do, and sometimes Mr. 'Possum would swing back and forth, and pretty
+soon give a great big swing and let go, and Mr. Dog would think surely
+he had him then, and bark and run to the place where he thought he was
+going to drop. Only Mr. 'Possum didn't drop--not far; for he had his
+limb all picked out, and he would catch it with his tail as he went by,
+and it would bend and sway with him, and he would laugh, and call again:
+
+"Don't go, Mr. Dog! Mr. Man can get up the cows alone to-night!"
+
+And then Mr. Dog would remember that he was a good ways from home, and
+that if he wasn't there in time to help Mr. Man get up the cows there
+might be trouble; and he would set out lickety-split for home, with Mr.
+'Possum calling to him as he ran.
+
+[Illustration: CAME CLATTERING DOWN RIGHT IN FRONT OF MR. DOG]
+
+But one time Mr. 'Possum made a mistake. He didn't know it, but he was
+getting older and a good deal fatter than he had been at first, and when
+he swung out for another limb that way, and let go, he missed the limb
+and came clattering down right in front of Mr. Dog. He wasn't hurt much,
+for the ground was soft, and there was a nice thick bed of leaves; but I
+tell you he was scared, and when Mr. Dog jumped right on top of him, and
+grabbed him, he gave himself up for lost, sure enough.
+
+But Mr. 'Possum is smart in some ways, and he knows how to play "dead"
+better than any other animal there is. He knew that Mr. Dog would want
+to show him to Mr. Man, and that he was too heavy for Mr. Dog to carry.
+He had thought about all that, and decided what to do just in that
+little second between the limb and the ground, for Mr. 'Possum can think
+quick enough when anything like that happens.
+
+So when he struck the ground he just gave one little kick with his hind
+foot and a kind of a sigh, as if he was drawing his last breath, and
+laid there: and even when Mr. Dog grabbed him and shook him he never let
+on, but acted almost deader than if he had been really dead and no
+mistake.
+
+Then Mr. Dog stood with his paws out and his nose down close, listening,
+and barking once in a while, and thinking maybe he would come to pretty
+soon, but Mr. 'Possum still never let on, or breathed the least little
+bit, and directly Mr. Dog started to drag him toward Mr. Man's house.
+
+That was a hard job, and every little way Mr. Dog would stop and shake
+Mr. 'Possum and bark and listen to see if he was really dead, and after
+a while he decided that he was, and started to get Mr. Man to come and
+fetch Mr. 'Possum home. But he only went a few steps, the first time,
+and just as Mr. 'Possum was about to jump up and run he came hurrying
+back, and stood over him and barked and barked as loud as ever he could
+for Mr. Man to come and see what he had for him. But Mr. Man was too far
+away, and even if he heard Mr. Dog he didn't think it worth while to
+come.
+
+[Illustration: SO THEN MR. DOG TRIED TO GET MR. 'POSSUM ON HIS SHOULDER]
+
+So then Mr. Dog tried to get Mr. 'Possum on his shoulder, to carry him
+that way; but Mr. 'Possum made himself so limp and loose and heavy that
+every time Mr. Dog would get him nearly up he would slide off again and
+fall all in a heap on the leaves; and Mr. Dog couldn't help believing
+that he was dead, to see him lying there all doubled up, just as he
+happened to drop.
+
+So, then, by-and-by Mr. Dog really did start for Mr. Man's, and Mr.
+'Possum lay still, and just opened one eye the least bit to see how
+far Mr. Dog had gone, and when he had gone far enough Mr. 'Possum jumped
+up quick as a wink and scampered up a tree, and ran out on a limb and
+swung with his head down, and called out:
+
+"Don't go away, Mr. Dog! We've had such a nice visit together! Don't go
+off mad, Mr. Dog! Come back and stay till the cows come home!"
+
+Then Mr. Dog was mad, I _tell_ you, and told him what he'd do next time;
+and he set out for home fast as he could travel, and went in the back
+way and hid, for Mr. Man was already getting up the cows when he got
+there.
+
+Well, Mr. 'Possum didn't try that swinging trick on Mr. Dog any more. He
+found out that it was dangerous, the way he was getting, and that made
+him think he ought to change his habits in other ways too. For one
+thing, he decided he ought to have some regular place to stay where he
+could eat and sleep and feel at home, instead of just travelling about
+and putting up for the night wherever he happened to be.
+
+Mr. 'Possum was always quite stylish, too, and had a good many nice
+clothes, and it wasn't good for them to be packed about all the time;
+and once some of his best things got rained on and he had to sleep on
+them for a long time to get them pressed out smooth again.
+
+[Illustration: HE WAS AN OLD BACHELOR AND LIKED TO HAVE HIS OWN WAY]
+
+So Mr. 'Possum made up his mind to find a home. He was an old bachelor
+and never wanted to be anything else, because he liked to have his own
+way, and go out all times of the night, and sleep late if he wanted to.
+So he made up his mind to look up a good place to board--some place that
+would be like a home to him--perhaps in a private family.
+
+One day when he was walking through the woods thinking about it, and
+wondering how he ought to begin to find a place like that, he met Mr. Z.
+'Coon, who was one of his oldest friends in the Big Deep Woods. They had
+often been hunting together, especially nights, for Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
+'Possum always like that time best for hunting, and have better luck in
+the dark than any other time. Mr. 'Coon had had his troubles with Mr.
+Dog, too, and had come very near getting caught one night when Mr. Man
+and some of his friends were out with Mr. Dog and his relatives and
+several guns looking for a good Sunday dinner. Mr. 'Coon _would_ have
+got caught that time, only when Mr. Man cut the tree down that he was in
+he gave a big jump as the tree was falling and landed in another tree,
+and then ran out on a limb and jumped to another tree that wasn't so far
+away, and then to another, so that Mr. Man and his friends and all the
+dog family lost track of him entirely.
+
+But Mr. 'Coon was tired of that kind of thing too, and wanted some
+place where he could be comfortable, and where he could lock the door
+nights and feel safe. Mr. 'Coon was a bachelor, like Mr. 'Possum, though
+he had once been disappointed in love, and told about it sometimes, and
+looked sad, and even shed tears.
+
+So when he met Mr. 'Possum that day they walked along and talked about
+finding a place to live, and just as they were wondering what they ought
+to do they happened to notice, right in front of them, a little piece of
+birch bark tacked up on a tree, and when they read it, it said:
+
+MRS. WIDOW CROW.
+
+WILL TAKE A FEW GUESTS.
+
+SINGLE GENTLEMEN PREFERRED;
+
+PLEASANT LOCATION NEAR
+
+RACE-TRACK.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum scratched his head and tried to think, and Mr. 'Coon
+scratched _his_ head and tried to think, and pretty soon Mr. 'Coon said:
+
+"Oh yes, I know about that. That's Mr. Crow's mother-in-law. He had a
+wife until last year, and his mother-in-law used to live with them. I
+believe she was pretty cross, but I've heard Mr. Crow say she was a good
+cook, and that he had learned to cook a great many things himself. I
+heard some time ago that she had moved over by the race-track, and
+perhaps Mr. Crow is boarding with her. Let's go over and see."
+
+[Illustration: THEY SAW MR. CROW OUT IN THE YARD CUTTING WOOD FOR HIS
+MOTHER-IN-LAW]
+
+So away they went, saying how nice it would be to be really settled, and
+pretty soon they got over to Mrs. Widow Crow's, and there, sure enough,
+they saw Mr. Crow out in the yard cutting wood for his mother-in-law;
+and when they asked him about the advertisement, he said he was helping
+her to get started, and she had two nice rooms, and that Mr. 'Possum and
+Mr. 'Coon would be just the ones to fill them.
+
+So they went right in and saw Mrs. Widow Crow about it, and by night
+they had their things moved and were all settled, and Widow Crow got a
+nice supper for them, and Mr. Crow helped her, and worked as hard as if
+he were a hired man instead of a boarder like the others, which he was,
+because he paid for his room as much as anybody, and got scolded besides
+when he didn't do things to suit his mother-in-law.
+
+
+
+
+THE FINDING OF THE HOLLOW TREE
+
+
+
+
+THE FINDING OF THE HOLLOW TREE
+
+HOW THE 'COON AND 'POSSUM AND THE OLD BLACK CROW MOVED AND SET UP
+HOUSEKEEPING
+
+
+Well, the Widow Crow set a very good table, and everything in her
+boarding-house went along quite well for a while, and Mr. 'Possum and
+Mr. 'Coon both said what a good thing it was to have a home, and Mr.
+Crow said so too, though he didn't look as if he enjoyed it as much as
+he said, for his mother-in-law kept him so busy cutting and carrying
+wood and helping her with the cooking that he never had any time for
+himself at all.
+
+[Illustration: HAD TO STAY AT HOME AND PEEL POTATOES]
+
+Even when Mr. Rabbit and some of his friends had the great fall handicap
+race he had to stay at home and peel potatoes, and not see it, besides
+being scolded all the time for wanting to go to such a thing as a rabbit
+race anyway. And Mr. Crow was sad because it reminded him of his
+married life, which he was trying to forget--Mrs. Crow having been the
+image of his mother-in-law and exactly like her about races and peeling
+potatoes and such things.
+
+And by-and-by, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon didn't like it so much, either.
+Widow Crow got so she scolded them, too, about their habits, especially
+about being out nights and lying in bed next morning, and she wouldn't
+give them any breakfast unless they got up in time.
+
+At last she even asked them to take care of their own rooms and to do
+other work, the same as Mr. Crow did; and she didn't cook as good
+things, nor as many of them, as she did when they first came. Then one
+day when they complained a little--not very much, for they were afraid
+of the Widow Crow, but a little--she told them that if they didn't like
+what she gave them they could find a place they liked better, and that
+she was tired of their ways anyhow.
+
+So then Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum all got together and
+talked it over. And Mr. Crow said _they_ might be pretty tired of it,
+but that they couldn't in a hundred years, thinking night and day, think
+how tired of it _he_ was. He said if they would just say the word he
+would take the things that belonged to him out of that house, and the
+three of them would find some good place and all live together, and
+never have anything more to do with mothers-in-law or their families. He
+said he knew how to cook as well as she did, and really liked to cook
+when he was in a pleasant place and wasn't henpecked to death.
+
+And he said if they moved his things they had better do it at night
+while his mother-in-law was asleep, so as not to disturb her.
+
+Well, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. Coon both spoke right up and said _they'd_ go
+in a minute, and that they'd hunt up the place to live that very day,
+though it wasn't the best time of year to move. And Mr. Crow said:
+
+"I know where there's a big Hollow Tree that would be _just_ the place.
+It's the biggest tree in the Big Deep Woods. It has three big hollow
+branches that would do for rooms, and with a little work it could be
+made into the finest place anywhere. The Old Wise Man of the Woods once
+lived there and fixed it all up with nice stairs, and a fireplace, and
+windows, and doors with good latches on them, and it's still just as he
+left it. All it needs are a few repairs, and we could move right in. I
+found it once as I was flying over, and I could tell _you_, so you could
+find it. It's in a thick swampy place, and you would never guess it was
+there if you didn't know it. Mr. Dog knows about it, but he never could
+get in if we kept the door latched, and it's not so far away from Mr.
+Man's that we could not borrow, when we ran out of little things we
+needed."
+
+Well, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon took the directions from Mr. Crow, and
+went right off to look at the Hollow Tree that very day, and decided
+they'd take it, and pitched in to clean it up and get it ready to live
+in. And next day they came with a hammer and some nails and worked all
+day again, and Mr. Rabbit heard the noise and came over and looked
+through the place and said how nice it was; and they were so tired at
+night that they never thought of going out, and were up early for
+breakfast.
+
+Widow Crow was so surprised she forgot what she had always scolded them
+for before, and scolded them this time for getting up so early that they
+had to stand around and wait for breakfast to be put on the table. But
+they didn't seem to mind the scolding at all, and Mr. Crow looked
+happier than he had looked for months, and skipped around and helped set
+the table, and brought in a big wood-box full of wood, and when Widow
+Crow scolded him for getting chips on the floor he laughed. Then she
+boxed his ears and told him he ought to remember the poor Missing One at
+such a time, and Mr. Crow said he did, and could almost imagine she was
+there now.
+
+Well, Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum got the Hollow Tree all ready, that day,
+and that night they moved.
+
+The Widow Crow was pretty fat, and liked to go to bed early, and sleep
+sound, and leave Mr. Crow to do the evening dishes; and that evening Mr.
+'Coon and' Mr. Possum pitched in and helped him, and they got through
+in a jiffy and began to move.
+
+Mr. Crow said he knew his own things, and that he wouldn't take any that
+belonged to the Missing One, because they had mostly come from her
+mother; and, besides, they would be a sad reminder, and didn't seem to
+go with the kind of a place they had planned to have. He said if they
+didn't have enough things they could borrow a few from Mr. Man when Mr.
+Man went away and left his windows open, and that they wouldn't need
+much to begin with.
+
+[Illustration: LISTENED NOW AND THEN AT WIDOW CROW'S DOOR TO BE SURE SHE
+WAS ASLEEP]
+
+So then they got Mr. Crow's cook-stove out of the back store-room, and a
+table that was his, and some chairs from different parts of the house,
+and a few dishes which had come to him from his side of the family, and
+they tiptoed around and listened now and then at Widow Crow's door to be
+sure she was asleep.
+
+They knew she _was_ by the sound; but still they were very quiet until
+Mr. 'Possum started to bring a rocking-chair of Mr. Crow's down-stairs
+and somehow got his legs through the rounds and fell and rolled clear to
+the bottom, expressing his feelings as he came down.
+
+That woke up Widow Crow with a jump, and she sat up in bed and called
+"Thieves!" and "Help!" and Mr. Crow ran to her door and said that it
+wasn't anything, only those scamps Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon had been
+out late again. He said they had brought home one of Mr. Man's
+beehives and had dropped it because the bees woke up just as they were
+climbing the stairs.
+
+Then Mrs. Crow called out quick, and said for him not to dare to open
+that door and let those pesky bees into her room, and that she hoped
+they'd sting that 'Possum and 'Coon until they wouldn't be able to tell
+themselves apart. She said she bet she'd get that pair out of her house
+if she lived through the night. Then she rolled over and went to sleep
+again, and Mr. 'Possum got up and limped a little, but wasn't much
+damaged, and they got all the things outside and loaded up, and set out
+for the Hollow Tree.
+
+It was moonlight and Mr. Crow led the way, and the minute they were far
+enough off to be sure they wouldn't wake up Widow Crow they sang the
+chorus of a song that Mr. Rabbit had made for them the day before when
+he called at the Hollow Tree, and they had told him what they were going
+to do. That was the Hollow Tree Song, which, of course, everybody in the
+Big Deep Woods knows now, but it had never been sung there before, and
+when they joined in the chorus,
+
+  Then here's to the 'Possum and the Old Black Crow
+    And the 'Coon with a one, two, three!
+  And here's to the hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow--
+    Then here's to the Hollow Tree,
+
+Mr. Owl, who was watching them from a limb overhead, thought he had
+never heard anything quite so fine.
+
+Well, they couldn't get along very fast, for the things got so heavy and
+they had to rest so often that it began to look as if they wouldn't get
+to the Hollow Tree by morning. But just as they got out into a little
+open place that was about half-way there they saw somebody coming, and
+who do you suppose it was?
+
+"I know," says the Little Lady, "it was the Old Wise Man of the Woods,
+to tell them they couldn't have his house."
+
+"No, he didn't live there any more--he had gone away for good. No, it
+wasn't the Old Wise Man; it was Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Turtle, coming to
+help them move. Mr. Rabbit had gone all the way to the Wide Blue Water
+after Mr. Turtle because he is so strong, and they would have been there
+a good deal sooner, only Mr. Turtle didn't get home till late, and
+travels slow."
+
+[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM SAID HE'D JUST GET ON AND HOLD THE THINGS]
+
+Well, it wasn't so hard to move after that. They just set the cook-stove
+on Mr. Turtle's back and piled on as much as would stay on, and he kept
+telling them to put on more, until pretty soon Mr. 'Possum said that he
+would just get on and hold the things from slipping off, which he did,
+and sat on the stove and rode and swung his feet and held the other
+things, while Mr. Crow and the rest walked and carried what was left.
+
+And when they got to the Hollow Tree it was just about sun-up, and Mr.
+'Possum said if they didn't have breakfast pretty soon he would starve
+to death with being up all night and working so hard holding on those
+things.
+
+[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM AND MR. 'COON TRIED TO PUT UP THE STOVE]
+
+So then Mr. Crow told him that he and Mr. 'Coon could set up the stove,
+and that he would unpack the food and stir up something as quick as he
+could if the others would bring a little wood and some water from the
+spring, and place the things around inside; for he saw a cloud coming,
+he said, and it might rain. And Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon tried to put
+up the stove in a hurry, and the pieces of pipe didn't fit very well,
+and they came as near having a quarrel over it as they ever did over
+anything, for even the best friends can't always put up stovepipe
+together without thinking and sometimes saying unpleasant things about
+each other, especially when they are hungry and not very warm and the
+house is all upset. Mr. 'Coon said he only wished he had another hand
+and he would do that job alone, and Mr. 'Possum told him that if he'd
+been provided with a handy and useful tail he'd _have_ the same as
+another hand, and could work more and not wish so much.
+
+Then Mr. Rabbit came to help them, and just as they got it about up it
+all came down again, and Mr. Crow said that if they'd all go away he'd
+set up the stove himself; which he did in about a minute, and had a
+fire in it and the coffee on in no time.
+
+Then the others rushed around and got the things straightened out, and a
+fire in the fireplace, and they said how nice rooms were, and when Mr.
+Crow called they all came hurrying down, and in about another minute the
+'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow, with Mr. Rabbit and Mr.
+Turtle, all sat down to the first meal in the Hollow Tree.
+
+It was then that Jack Rabbit read all of the "Hollow Tree Song" he had
+made for them, and they all sang it together; and then the storm that
+Mr. Crow had seen coming did come, and they shut all the doors and
+windows tight, and sat before the fire and smoked and went to sleep,
+because they were so tired with being up all night.
+
+And that was the first day in the Hollow Tree, and how the Possum and
+Coon and Old Black Crow came to live there, and they live there still.
+
+
+
+
+THE THIRD SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+
+
+
+THE THIRD SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+MR. RABBIT TELLS SOME INTERESTING FAMILY HISTORY
+
+
+The Little Lady waited until the Story Teller had lit his pipe and sat
+looking into the great open fire, where there was a hickory log so big
+that it had taken the Story Teller and the Little Lady's mother with two
+pairs of ice-tongs to drag it to the hearth and get it into place.
+Pretty soon the Little Lady had crept in between the Story Teller's
+knees. Then in another minute she was on one of his knees, helping him
+rock. Then she said:
+
+"Did Mr. Rabbit tell his story next? He promised to tell about losing
+his tail, you know."
+
+The Story Teller took his pipe from his mouth a moment, and sat thinking
+and gazing at the big log, which perhaps reminded him of one of the
+limbs of the Hollow Tree, where the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black
+Crow lived and had their friends visit them that long-ago snowy
+Christmas-time.
+
+"Why, yes," he said, "that's so, Mr. Rabbit _did_ tell that story. When
+Mr. 'Coon got through telling how he came near getting into a menagerie,
+they all said that it certainly was a very narrow escape, and Mr. 'Coon
+said he shouldn't wonder if that menagerie had to quit business, just
+because he wasn't in it; and Mr. 'Possum said he thought if anything
+would _save_ a menagerie that would, for it would keep them from being
+eaten out of house and home."
+
+Then Mr. Coon said that if that was so, Mr. 'Possum had saved at least
+three menageries by staying right where he was in the Big Deep Woods.
+This made Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Robin laugh, and the rest wondered what
+those two gigglers had noticed that was funny. Then they all knocked the
+ashes out of their pipes again, and walked over to the window, and
+looked at the snow banking up outside and piling up on the bare limbs of
+the big trees. They said how early it got dark this time of year,
+especially on a cloudy day. And pretty soon Mr. Crow said they had just
+about time for one more story before supper, and that Mr. Rabbit ought
+to tell now about how, a long time ago, his family had lost their tails.
+Mr. Rabbit didn't seem to feel very anxious to tell it, but they told
+him that he had promised, and that now was as good a time as any, so
+they went back and sat down, and Mr. Rabbit told them
+
+THE TRUE STORY OF THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE, AND HOW JACK RABBIT LOST
+HIS TAIL
+
+"Once upon a time," he said, "a great many great-grandfathers back, my
+family had long bushy tails, like Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Fox, only a good
+deal longer and finer and softer, and _very handsome_."
+
+When Mr. Rabbit said that, Mr. Squirrel sniffed and twitched his nose
+and gave his nice bushy tail a flirt, but he didn't say anything. Mr.
+Rabbit went right on.
+
+"Well, there was one fine, handsome rabbit who had the longest and
+plumiest tail of any of the family, and was very proud of it. He was my
+twenty-seventh great-grandfather, and was called Mr. Hare. He was young
+and smart then, and thought he was a good deal smarter than he really
+was, though he was smart enough and handsome enough to set the style for
+all the other rabbits, and not much ever happened to him, because he
+could beat anything running that there was in the Big Deep Woods.
+
+"That twenty-seventh great-grandfather of mine was very proud of his
+running, and used to brag that in a foot-race he could beat anything
+that lived between the Wide Grass Lands and the Edge of the World. He
+used to talk about it to almost everybody that came along, and one day
+when he met one of the Turtle family who used to be called Mr. Tortoise
+in those days, he stopped and began to brag to him how fast he could run
+and how nobody in the Big Deep Woods dared to race with him.
+
+"But Mr. Turtle, he just smiled a little and said: 'Oh, pshaw! you can't
+run very fast. I believe I can beat you myself!'
+
+"Well, that did make Grandfather Hare laugh--and made him a little mad,
+too.
+
+"'You!' he said. 'Why, I'll give you within ten yards of that rail fence
+of Mr. Man's, half a mile away, and then beat you across it. Just travel
+along, and some time this afternoon, when you get down that way, I'll
+come back and let you see me go by. But you'll have to look quick if you
+see me, for I'll be going fast.'
+
+[Illustration: MR. FOX SAID HE DIDN'T HAVE MUCH TO DO FOR A FEW MINUTES
+AND HE'D ACT AS JUDGE]
+
+"But Mr. Tortoise said he didn't want any start at all, that he was
+ready to begin the race right then; and that made Grandpaw Hare laugh so
+loud that Mr. Fox heard him as he was passing, and came over to see what
+the fun was. Then he said that he hadn't much to do for a few minutes,
+and that he'd stay and act as judge. He thought a race like that
+wouldn't last long; and it didn't, though it wasn't at all the kind of a
+race he had expected.
+
+"Well, he put Mr. Tortoise and my twenty-seventh great-grandfather side
+by side, and then he stood off and said 'Go!' and thought it would all
+be over in a minute.
+
+"Grandpaw Hare gave one great big leap, about twenty feet long, and then
+stopped. He was in no hurry, and he wanted to have some fun with Mr.
+Tortoise. He looked around to where Mr. Tortoise was coming straddling
+and panting along, and he laughed and rolled over to see how solemn he
+looked, and how he was travelling as if he meant to get somewhere before
+dark. He was down on all fours so he could use all his legs at once, and
+anybody would think, to look at him, that he really expected to win that
+race.
+
+"The more my Grandpaw Hare looked at him the more he laughed, and then
+he would make another long leap forward and stop, and look back, and
+wait for Mr. Tortoise to catch up again.
+
+"Then he would call to him, or maybe go back and take roundin's on him,
+and say, 'Come along there, old tobacco-box. Are you tied to something?'
+Mr. Fox would laugh a good deal, too, and he told my ancestor to go on
+and finish the race--that he couldn't wait around there all day. And
+pretty soon he said if they were going to fool along like that, he'd
+just go down to the fence and take a nap till they got there; and for
+Grandpaw Rabbit to call to him when he really started to come, so he
+could wake up and judge the finish.
+
+"Mr. Fox he loped away to the fence and laid down and went to sleep in
+the shade, and Grandpaw Hare thought it would be fun to pretend to be
+asleep, too. I've heard a story told about it that says that he really
+did go to sleep, and that Mr. Tortoise went by him and got to the fence
+before he woke up. But that is not the way it happened. My
+twenty-seventh great-grandfather was too smart to go to sleep, and even
+if he had gone to sleep, Mr. Tortoise made enough noise pawing and
+scratching along through the grass and gravel to wake up forty of our
+family.
+
+"My ancestor would wait until he came grinding along and got up even
+with him, then suddenly he'd sit up as if he'd been waked out of a nice
+dream and say, 'Hello, old coffee-mill! What do you want to wake me up
+for when I'm trying to get a nap?' Then he would laugh a big laugh and
+make another leap, and lie down and pretend again, with his fine plumy
+tail very handsome in the sun.
+
+"But Grandpaw Hare carried the joke a little too far. He kept letting
+Mr. Tortoise get up a little closer and closer every time, until Mr.
+Tortoise would almost step on him before he would move. And that was
+just what Mr. Tortoise wanted, for about the next time he came along he
+came right up behind my ancestor, but instead of stepping on him, he
+gave his head a quick snap, just as if he were catching fish, and
+grabbed my Grandpaw Hare by that beautiful plumy tail, and held on, and
+pinched, and my ancestor gave a squeal and a holler and set out for
+that rail fence, telling his troubles as he came.
+
+[Illustration: SAILING ALONG, JUST TOUCHING THE HIGHEST POINTS]
+
+"Mr. Fox had gone sound asleep and didn't hear the rumpus at first, and
+when he did, he thought grandpaw was just calling to him to wake up and
+be ready to judge the race, so he sat up quick and watched them come. He
+saw my twenty-seventh great-grandfather sailing along, just touching the
+highest points, with something that looked like an old black wash-pan
+tied to his tail.
+
+"When Mr. Fox saw what it was, he just laid down and laughed and rolled
+over, and then hopped up on the top rail and called, out 'All right, I'm
+awake, Mr. Hare! Come right along, Mr. Hare; you'll beat him yet!'
+
+"Then he saw my ancestor stop and shake himself, and paw, and roll over,
+to try to get Mr. Tortoise loose, which of course he couldn't do, for,
+as we all know, whenever any of the Turtle family get a grip they never
+let go till it thunders, and this was a bright day. So pretty soon
+grandpaw was up and running again with Mr. Tortoise sailing out behind
+and Mr. Fox laughing to see them come, and calling out: 'Come right
+along, Mr. Hare! come right along! You'll beat him yet!'
+
+[Illustration: AWAY WENT MR. TORTOISE, CLEAR OVER THE TOP RAIL]
+
+"But Mr. Fox made a mistake about that. Grandpaw Hare was really ahead,
+of course, when he came down the homestretch, but when he got pretty
+close to the fence he made one more try to get Mr. Tortoise loose,
+and gave himself and his tail a great big swing, and Mr. Tortoise
+didn't let go quite quick enough, and off came my twenty-seventh
+great-grandfather's beautiful plumy tail, and away went Mr. Tortoise
+with it, clear over the top rail of the fence, and landed in a brier
+patch on the other side.
+
+"Well, Grandpaw Hare was in such a state as you never heard of! He
+forgot all about the race at first, and just raved about his great loss,
+and borrowed Mr. Fox's handkerchief to tie up what was left, and said
+that he never in the world could show his face before folks again.
+
+"And Mr. Fox stopped laughing as soon as he could, and was really quite
+sorry for him, and even Mr. Tortoise looked through the fence, and asked
+him if he didn't think it could be spliced and be almost as good as
+ever.
+
+"He said he hadn't meant to commit any damage, and that he hoped Mr.
+Hare would live to forgive him, and that now there was no reason why my
+grandpaw shouldn't beat him in the next race.
+
+"Then my ancestor remembered about the race and forgot his other loss
+for a minute, and declared that Mr. Tortoise didn't win the race at
+all--that he couldn't have covered that much ground in a half a day
+alone, and he asked Mr. Fox if he was going to let that great
+straddle-bug ruin his reputation for speed and make him the
+laughing-stock of the Big Deep Woods, besides all the other damage he
+had done.
+
+"Then Mr. Fox scratched his head, and thought about it, and said he
+didn't see how he could help giving the race to Mr. Tortoise, for it was
+to be the first one across the fence, and that Mr. Tortoise was
+certainly the first one across, and that he'd gone over the top rail in
+style.
+
+[Illustration: SET OUT FOR HOME BY A BACK WAY]
+
+"Well, that made Grandpaw Hare madder than ever. He didn't say another
+word, but just picked up his property that Mr. Tortoise handed him
+through the fence, and set out for home by a back way, studying what he
+ought to do to keep everybody from laughing at him, and thinking that if
+he didn't do something he'd have to leave the country or drown himself,
+for he had always been so proud that if people laughed at him he knew he
+could never show his face again.
+
+"And that," said Mr. Rabbit, is the true story of that old race between
+the Hare and the Tortoise, and of how the first Rabbit came to lose his
+tail. I've never told it before, and none of my family ever did; but so
+many stories have been told about the way those things happened that we
+might just as well have this one, which is the only true one so far as I
+know.
+
+Then Mr. Rabbit lit his pipe and leaned back and smoked. Mr. Dog said it
+was a fine story, and he wished he could have seen that race, and Mr.
+Turtle looked as if he wanted to say something, and did open his mouth
+to say it, but Mr. Crow spoke up, and asked what happened after that to
+Mr. Rabbit's twenty-seventh great-grandfather, and how it was that the
+rest of the Rabbits had short tails, too.
+
+Then Mr. Rabbit said that that was another story, and Mr. Squirrel and
+Mr. Robin wanted him to tell it right away, but Mr. Crow said they'd
+better have supper now, and Mr. 'Possum thought that was a good plan,
+and Mr. 'Coon, too, and then they all hurried around to get up some
+sticks of wood from down-stairs, and to set the table, and everybody
+helped, so they could get through early and have a nice long evening.
+
+And all the time the snow was coming down outside and piling higher and
+higher, and they were being snowed in without knowing it, for it was
+getting too dark to see much when they tried again to look out the
+window through the gloom of the Big Deep Woods.
+
+
+
+
+THE FOURTH SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+
+
+
+THE FOURTH SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+MR. JACK RABBIT CONTINUES HIS FAMILY HISTORY
+
+
+"Did they have enough left for supper--enough for all the visitors, I
+mean?" asks the Little Lady the next evening, when the Story Teller is
+ready to go on with the history of the Hollow Tree.
+
+"Oh yes, they had plenty for supper, and more, too. They had been
+getting ready a good while for just such a time as this, and had carried
+in a lot of food, and they had a good many nice things down in the
+store-room where the wood was, but they didn't need those yet. They just
+put on what they had left from their big dinner, and Mr. Crow stirred up
+a pan of hot biscuits by his best receipt, and they passed them back and
+forth across the table so much that Mr. 'Possum said they went like hot
+cakes, sure enough, and always took two when they came his way."
+
+And they talked a good deal about the stories that Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
+Rabbit had told them, and everybody thought how sly and smart Mr. 'Coon
+had been to fool Mr. Dog that way; and Mr. 'Coon said that, now he came
+to think it over, he supposed it was a pretty good trick, though it
+really hadn't seemed so specially great to him at the time. He said he
+didn't think it half as smart as Mr. Tortoise's trick on Mr. Rabbit's
+Grandpaw Hare, when he beat him in the foot-race and went over the fence
+first, taking Mr. Hare's tail with him. And then they wondered if that
+had all really happened as Mr. Rabbit had told it--all but Mr. Turtle,
+who just sat and smiled to himself and didn't say anything at all,
+except "Please pass the biscuits," now and then, when he saw the plate
+being set down in front of Mr. 'Possum.
+
+Then by-and-by they all got through and hurried up and cleared off the
+table, and lit their pipes, and went back to the fire, and pretty soon
+Jack Rabbit began to tell
+
+HOW THE REST OF THE RABBITS LOST THEIR TAILS
+
+"Well," he said, "my twenty-seventh great-grandfather Hare didn't go out
+again for several days. He put up a sign that said 'Not at Home,' on his
+door, and then tried a few experiments, to see what could be done.
+
+[Illustration: TRIED TO SPLICE HIS PROPERTY BACK IN PLACE]
+
+"He first tried to splice his property back into place, as Mr. Tortoise
+had told him he might, but that plan didn't work worth a cent. He never
+could get it spliced on straight, and if he did get it about right, it
+would lop over or sag down or something as soon as he moved, and when he
+looked at himself in the glass he made up his mind that he'd rather do
+without his nice plumy brush altogether than to go out into society with
+it in that condition.
+
+"So he gave it up and put on some nice all-healing ointment, and before
+long what there was left of it was all well, and a nice bunch of soft,
+white cottony fur had grown out over the scar, and Grandpaw Hare thought
+when he looked at himself in the glass that it was really quite
+becoming, though he knew the rest of his family would always be saying
+things about it, and besides they would laugh at him for letting Mr.
+Tortoise beat him in a foot-race.
+
+[Illustration: GRANDFATHER WOULD LIGHT HIS PIPE AND THINK IT OVER]
+
+"Sometimes, when there was nobody around, my grandfather would go out
+into the sun and light his pipe and lean up against a big stone, or
+maybe a stump, and think it over.
+
+"And one morning, as he sat there thinking, he made up his mind what he
+would do. Mr. Lion lived in the Big Deep Woods in those days, and he was
+King. Whenever anything happened among the Deep Woods People that they
+couldn't decide for themselves, they went to where King Lion lived, in a
+house all by himself over by the Big West Hills, and he used to settle
+the question; and sometimes, when somebody that wasn't very old, and
+maybe was plump and tender, had done something that wasn't just right,
+King Lion would look at him and growl and say it was too bad for any one
+so young to do such things, and especially for them to grow up and keep
+on doing them; so he would have him for breakfast, or maybe for dinner,
+and that would settle everything in the easiest and shortest way.
+
+"Of course Grandfather Hare knew very well that Mr. Tortoise and Mr. Fox
+wouldn't go with him to King Lion, for they would be afraid to, after
+what they had done, so he made up his mind to go alone and tell him the
+whole story, because he was as sure as anything that King Lion would
+decide that he had really won the race, and would be his friend, which
+would make all the other Deep Woods People jealous and proud of him
+again, and perhaps make them wish they had nice bunches of white cottony
+fur in the place of long dragging tails that were always in the way.
+
+"And then some day he would show King Lion where Mr. Fox and Mr.
+Tortoise lived.
+
+[Illustration: SET UP HIS EARS AND WENT BY, LICKETY-SPLIT]
+
+"My Grandfather Hare didn't stop a minute after he thought of that, but
+just set out for King Lion's house over at the foot of the Big West
+Hills. He had to pass by Mr. Fox's house, and Mr. Fox called to him, but
+Grandpaw Hare just set up his ears as proud as could be and went by,
+lickety-split, without looking at Mr. Fox at all.
+
+"It was a good way to King Lion's house, but Grandpaw Hare didn't waste
+any time, and he was there almost before he knew it.
+
+"When he got to King Lion's door he hammered on the knocker, and when
+nobody came right away he thought maybe the King was out for a walk. But
+that wasn't so. King Lion had been sick for two or three days, and he
+was still in bed, and had to get up and get something around him before
+he could let Grandpaw in.
+
+"Grandpaw Hare had sat down on the steps to wait, when all at once the
+door opened behind him and he felt something grab him by the collar and
+swing him in and set him down hard on a seat, and then he saw it was
+King Lion, and he didn't much like his looks.
+
+[Illustration: "'GLAD TO SEE YOU,' SAID KING LION; 'I WAS JUST THINKING
+ABOUT HAVING A NICE RABBIT FOR BREAKFAST'"]
+
+"'So it was you, was it, making that noise,' he said. 'Well, I'm glad to
+see you, for I was just thinking about having a nice rabbit for
+breakfast.'
+
+"Then my twenty-seventh great-grandfather knew he'd made a mistake,
+coming to see King Lion when he was feeling that way, and he had to
+think pretty quick to know what to say. But our family have always been
+pretty quick in their thoughts, and Grandpaw Hare spoke right up as
+polite as could be, and said he would do anything he could to find a
+nice young plump rabbit for King Lion, and that he would even be proud
+to be a king's breakfast himself, only he wasn't so very young nor so
+very plump, and, besides, there was that old prophecy about the king and
+the cotton-tailed rabbit, which of course, he said, King Lion must have
+heard about.
+
+"Then King Lion said that my twenty-seventh great-grandfather was plenty
+young enough and plenty plump enough, and that he'd never heard of any
+prophecy about a cotton-tailed rabbit, and that he'd never heard of a
+cotton-tailed rabbit, either.
+
+"Then Grandpaw Hare just got up and turned around, and as he turned he
+said, as solemnly as he could:
+
+  "'When the King eats a hare with a cotton tail,
+  Then the King's good health will fail.
+
+"Well, that scared the King a good deal, for he was just getting over
+one sick spell, and he was afraid if he had another right away he'd die
+sure. He sat down and asked Grandpaw Hare to tell him how he came to
+have a tail like that, and grandpaw told him, and it made the King laugh
+and laugh, until he got well, and he said it was the best joke he ever
+heard of, and that he'd have given some of the best ornaments off of his
+crown to have seen that race.
+
+"And the better King Lion felt the hungrier he got, and when my
+Grandfather Hare asked him if he wouldn't decide the race in his favor,
+he just glared at him and said if he didn't get out of there and hunt
+him up a nice, young, plump, long-tailed rabbit, he'd eat him--cotton
+tail, prophecy, and all--for he didn't go much on prophecies anyway.
+
+"Then Grandpaw Hare got right up and said, 'Good-day' and backed out and
+made tracks for the rest of his family, and told them that King Lion had
+just got up from a sick spell that had given him an appetite for
+long-tailed rabbits. He said that the King had sent him out to get one,
+and that King Lion would most likely be along himself pretty soon. He
+said the sooner the Rabbit family took pattern after the new
+cotton-tailed style the more apt they'd be to live to a green old age
+and have descendants.
+
+"Well, that was a busy day in the Big Deep Woods. The Rabbit family got
+in line by a big smooth stump that they picked out for the purpose, and
+grandpaw attended to the job for them, and called out 'Next!' as they
+marched by. He didn't have to wait, either, for they didn't know what
+minute King Lion might come. Mr. Tortoise and Mr. Fox came along and
+stopped to see the job, and helped grandpaw now and then when his arm
+got tired, and by evening there was a pile of tails by that stump as big
+as King Lion's house, and there never was such a call for the
+all-healing ointment as there was that night in the Big Deep Woods.
+
+"And none of our family ever did have tails after that, for they never
+would grow any more, and all the little new rabbits just had bunches of
+cotton, too, and that has never changed to this day.
+
+"And when King Lion heard how he'd been fooled by Grandpaw Hare with
+that foolish prophecy that he just made up right there, out of his head,
+he knew that everybody would laugh at him as much as he had laughed at
+Mr. Hare, and he moved out of the country and never came back, and
+there's never been a king in the Big Deep Woods since, so my
+twenty-seventh great-grandfather did some good, after all.
+
+"And that," said Mr. Rabbit, "is the whole story of the Hare and the
+Tortoise and how the Rabbit family lost their tails. It's never been
+told outside of our family before, but it's true, for it's been handed
+down, word for word, and if Mr. Fox or Mr. Tortoise were alive now they
+would say so."
+
+Mr. Rabbit filled his pipe and lit it, and Mr. Crow was just about to
+make some remarks, when Mr. Turtle cleared his throat and said:
+
+"The story that Mr. Rabbit has been telling is all true, every word of
+it-- I was there."
+
+Then all the Deep Woods People took their pipes out of their mouths and
+just looked at Mr. Turtle with their mouths wide open, and when they
+could say anything at all, they said:
+
+"_You were there!_"
+
+You see, they could never get used to the notion of Mr. Turtle's being
+so old--as old as their twenty-seventh great-grandfathers would have
+been, if they had lived.
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Turtle, "and it all comes back to me as plain as day. It
+happened two hundred and fifty-eight years ago last June. They used to
+call us the Tortoise family then, and I was a young fellow of
+sixty-seven and fond of a joke. But I was surprised when I went sailing
+over that fence, and I didn't mean to carry off Mr. Hare's tail. Dear
+me, how time passes! I'm three hundred and twenty-five now, though I
+don't feel it."
+
+Then they all looked at Mr. Turtle again, for though they believed he
+was old, and might possibly have been there, they thought it pretty
+strange that he could be the very Mr. Tortoise who had won the race.
+
+Mr. 'Possum said, pretty soon, that when anybody said a thing like that,
+there ought to be some way to prove it.
+
+Then Mr. Turtle got up and began taking off his coat, and all the others
+began to get out of the way, for they didn't know what was going to
+happen to Mr. 'Possum, and they wanted to be safe; and Mr. 'Possum
+rolled under the table, and said that he didn't mean anything--that he
+loved Mr. Turtle, and that Mr. Turtle hadn't understood the way he meant
+it at all.
+
+But Mr. Turtle wasn't the least bit mad. He just laid off his coat,
+quietly, and unbuttoned his shirt collar, and told Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
+Crow to look on the back of his shell.
+
+And then Mr. Dog held a candle, and they all looked, one after another,
+and there, sure enough, carved right in Mr. Turtle's shell, were the
+words:
+
+BEAT MR. HARE
+
+FOOT-RACE
+
+JUNE 10, 1649
+
+"That," said Mr. Turtle, "was my greatest joke, and I had it carved on
+my shell."
+
+And all the rest of the forest people said that a thing like that was
+worth carving on anybody's shell that had one, and when Mr. Turtle put
+on his coat they gave him the best seat by the fire, and sat and looked
+at him and asked questions about it, and finally all went to sleep in
+their chairs, while the fire burned low and the soft snow was banking up
+deeper and deeper, outside, in the dark.
+
+
+
+
+THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB
+
+
+
+
+THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB
+
+MR. RABBIT PROPOSES SOMETHING TO PASS THE TIME
+
+
+"Did the Hollow Tree People and their company sleep in their chairs all
+night?" asks the Little Lady, as soon as she has finished her supper.
+"And were they snowed in when they woke up next morning?"
+
+The Story Teller is not quite ready to answer. He has to fill his pipe
+first, and puff a little and look into the fire before he sits down, and
+the Little Lady climbs into her place. The Little Lady knows the Story
+Teller, and waits. When he begins to rock a little she knows he has
+remembered, and then pretty soon he tells her about the Snowed-In
+Literary Club.
+
+Well, the Hollow Tree People went to sleep there by the fire and they
+stayed asleep a long while, for they were tired with all the good times
+and all the good things to eat they had been having. And when they woke
+up once, they thought it was still night, for it was dark, though they
+thought it must be about morning, because the fire was nearly out, and
+Mr. 'Possum said if there was anybody who wasn't too stiff he wished
+they'd put on a stick of wood, as he was frozen so hard that he knew if
+he tried to move he'd break.
+
+So Mr. Turtle, who had been drawn up mostly into his shell, and Mr. Dog,
+who was used to getting up at all hours of the night, stretched and
+yawned and crept down after some sticks and dry pieces and built up a
+good fire, and pretty soon they were all asleep again, as sound as ever.
+
+And when they woke up next time it was still just as dark, and the fire
+had gone almost out again, and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. Crow, too, said they
+didn't understand it, at all, for a fire like that would generally keep
+all night and all day too, and here two fires had burned out and it was
+still as dark as ever. Then Mr. Crow lit a splinter and looked at the
+clock, and said he must have forgotten to wind it, or maybe it was
+because it was so cold, as it had stopped a little after twelve, and Mr.
+'Possum said that from the way he felt it was no wonder the clock had
+stopped, for if he could tell anything by his feelings it must be at
+least day after to-morrow. He said he felt so empty that every time he
+breathed he could hear the wind whistle through his ribs.
+
+That made Mr. Rabbit think of something, and he stepped over to the
+window. Then he pushed it up a little, and put out his hand. But he
+didn't put it out far, for it went right into something soft and cold.
+Mr. Rabbit came over to where Mr. Crow was poking up the fire, bringing
+some of the stuff with him.
+
+"Now," he said, "you can all see what's the matter. We're snowed in. The
+snow is up over the window, and that's why it's so dark. It may be up
+over the top of the tree, and we may have been asleep here for a week,
+for all we know."
+
+Then they all gathered around to look at the snow, and went to the
+window and got some more, and tried to tell whether it was day or night,
+and Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum ran up-stairs to their rooms,
+and called back that it was day, for the snow hadn't come quite up to
+the tops of their windows.
+
+And it _was_ day, sure enough, and quite late in the afternoon at that,
+but they couldn't tell just what day it was, or whether they had slept
+one night, or two nights, or even longer.
+
+Well, of course the first thing was to get something to eat and a big
+fire going, and even Mr. 'Possum scrambled around and helped carry
+wood, so he could get warm quicker. They still had a good deal to eat in
+the Hollow Tree, and they were not much worried. Mr. 'Possum and Mr.
+'Coon remembered another time they were snowed in, when Mr. Crow had fed
+them on Johnnie cake and gravy, and they thought that if everything else
+gave out it would be great fun to live like that again.
+
+When they had finished eating breakfast, or dinner, or whatever it was,
+for it was nearer supper-time than anything else, they began to think of
+things to do to amuse themselves, and they first thought they'd have
+some more stories, like Mr. Rabbit's.
+
+But Mr. Rabbit, who is quite literary, and a good poet, said it would be
+better to make it a kind of a club, and each have a poem, or a story, or
+a song; or if anybody couldn't do any of those he must dance a jig.
+
+[Illustration: GOT AROUND THE TABLE AND BEGAN TO WORK]
+
+Then they all remembered a poetry club that Mr. Rabbit had got up once
+and how nice it was, and they all said that was just the thing, and they
+got around the table and began to work away at whatever they were going
+to do for the "Snowed-In" Literary Club.
+
+Mr. Rabbit wasn't very long at his piece, and pretty soon he jumped up
+and said he was through, and Mr. 'Possum said that if that was so, he
+might go down and bring up some wood and warm up the brains of the rest
+of them. So Mr. Rabbit stirred up the fire, and sat down and looked
+into it, and read over his poem to himself and changed a word here and
+there, and thought how nice it was; and by-and-by Mr. Dog said he was
+through, and Mr. Robin said he was through, too.
+
+Then Mr. Rabbit said he thought that would be more than enough for one
+evening anyway, and that the others might finish their pieces to-morrow
+and have them ready for the next evening.
+
+So then they all gathered around the fire again, and everybody said that
+as Mr. Rabbit had thought of the club first he must be the first to read
+his piece.
+
+Mr. Rabbit said he was sure it would be more modest for some one else to
+read first, but that he was willing to start things going if they wanted
+him to. Then he stood up, and turned a little to the light, and took a
+nice position, and read his poem, which was called
+
+SNOWED IN
+
+_By J. Rabbit_
+
+  Oh, the snow lies white in the woods to-night--
+    The snow lies soft and deep;
+  And under the snow, I know, oh, ho!
+    The flowers of the summer sleep.
+  The flowers of the summer sleep, I know,
+    Snowed in like you and me--
+  Under the sheltering leaves, oh, ho,
+    As snug and as warm as we--
+  As snug and as warm from the winter storm
+    As we of the Hollow Tree.
+  Snowed in are we in the Hollow Tree,
+  And as snug and as warm as they we be--
+    Snowed in, snowed in,
+  Are we, are we,
+  And as snug as can be in the Hollow Tree,
+    The wonderful Hollow Tree.
+
+  Oh, the snow lies cold on wood and wold,
+    But never a bit comes in,
+  As we smoke and eat, and warm our feet,
+    And sit by the fire and spin:
+  And what care we for the winter gales,
+    And what care we for the snow--
+  As we sit by the fire and spin our tales
+    And think of the things we know?
+  As we spin our tales in the winter gales
+    And wait for the snow to go?
+  Oh, the winds blow high and the winds blow low,
+  But what care we for the wind and snow,
+  Spinning our tales of the long ago
+    As snug as snug can be?
+  For never a bit comes in, comes in,
+  As we sit by the fire and spin, and spin
+  The tales we know, of the long ago,
+    In the wonderful Hollow Tree.
+
+Mr. Rabbit sat down then, and of course everybody spoke up as soon as
+they could get their breath and said how nice it was, and how Mr. Rabbit
+always expressed himself better in poetry than anybody else could in
+prose, and how the words and rhymes just seemed to flow along as if he
+were reeling it off of a spinning-wheel and could keep it up all day.
+
+And Mr. Rabbit smiled and said he supposed it came natural, and that
+sometimes it was harder to stop than it was to start, and that he
+_could_ keep it up all day as easy as not.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum said he'd been afraid that was what _would_ happen, and
+that if Mr. Rabbit hadn't stopped pretty soon that he--Mr. 'Possum, of
+course--would have been so tangled up in his mind that somebody would
+have had to come and undo the knot.
+
+[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM WANTED TO KNOW WHAT MR. RABBIT MEANT BY
+SPINNING THEIR TAILS]
+
+Then he said he wanted to ask some questions. He said he wanted to know
+what "wold" meant, and also what Mr. Rabbit meant by spinning their
+tails. He said he hadn't noticed that any of them were spinning their
+tails, and that he couldn't do it if he tried. He said that he could
+curl his tail and hang from a limb or a peg by it, and he had found it a
+good way to go to sleep when things were on his mind, and that he
+generally had better dreams when he slept that way.
+
+He said that of course Mr. Rabbit's poem had been about tails of the
+long ago, and he supposed that he meant the ones which his family had
+lost about three hundred years ago, according to Mr. Turtle, but that he
+didn't believe they ever could spin them much, or that Mr. Rabbit could
+spin what he had left.
+
+Mr. 'Possum was going on to say a good deal more on the subject, but Mr.
+Rabbit interrupted him.
+
+He said he didn't suppose there was anybody else in the world whose food
+seemed to do him so little good as Mr. 'Possum's, and that very likely
+it was owing to the habit he had of sleeping with his head hanging down
+in that foolish way. He said he had never heard of anybody who ate so
+much and knew so little.
+
+Of course, he said, everybody might not know what "wold" meant, as it
+wasn't used much except by poets who used the best words, but that it
+meant some kind of a field, and it was better for winter use, as it
+rhymed with cold and was nearly always used that way. As for Mr.
+'Possum's other remark, he said he couldn't imagine how anybody would
+suppose that the tales he meant were those other tails which were made
+to wave or wag or flirt or hang from limbs by, instead of being stories
+to be told or written, just as the Deep Woods People were telling and
+writing them now. He said there was an old expression about having a
+peg to hang a tale on, and that it was most likely gotten up by one of
+Mr. 'Possum's ancestors or somebody who knew as little about such things
+as Mr. 'Possum, and that another old expression which said "Thereby
+hangs a tale" was just like it, because the kind of tales he meant
+didn't hang, but were always told or written, while the other kind
+always did hang, and were never told or written, but were only sometimes
+told or written about, and it made him feel sad, he said, to have to
+explain his poem in that simple way.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum said that he was sorry Mr. Rabbit felt that way,
+because he didn't feel at all that way himself, and had only been trying
+to discuss Mr. Rabbit's nice poem. He said that of course Mr. Rabbit
+couldn't be expected to know much about tails, never having had a real
+one himself, and would be likely to get mixed up when he tried to write
+on the subject. He said he wouldn't mention such things again, and that
+he was sorry and hoped that Mr. Rabbit would forgive him.
+
+And Mr. Rabbit said that he was sorry, too--sorry for Mr. 'Possum--and
+that he thought whoever was ready had better read the next piece.
+
+[Illustration: MR. DOG SAID HE HAD MADE A FEW SKETCHES]
+
+Then Mr. Dog said that he supposed that he was as ready as he'd ever be,
+and that he'd like to read his and get it off his mind, so he wouldn't
+be so nervous and could enjoy listening to the others. He wasn't used to
+such things, he said, and couldn't be original like Mr. Rabbit, but he
+knew a story that was told among the fowls in Mr. Man's barnyard, and
+that he had tried to write it in a simple way that even Mr. 'Possum
+would understand. His story was about a duck--a young and foolish
+duck--who got into trouble, and Mr. Dog said he had made a few sketches
+to go with it, and that they could be handed around while he was
+reading. Now he would begin, he said, and the name of his story was
+
+ERASTUS, THE ROBBER DUCK
+
+_By Mr. Dog, with Sketches_
+
+Once upon a time there was a foolish young duck named Erastus (called
+'Rastus, for short). He was an only child, and lived with his mother in
+a small house on the bank of a pond at the foot of the farm-yard.
+
+Erastus thought himself a brave duck; he would chase his shadow, and was
+not afraid of quite a large worm.
+
+As he grew older he did not tell his mother everything. Once he slipped
+away, and went swimming alone. Then a worm larger than any he had ever
+seen came up out of the water, and would have swallowed Erastus if he
+had not reached the shore just in time, and gone screaming to his
+mother.
+
+His mother said the great worm was a water-snake, and she told Erastus
+snake-stories which gave him bad dreams.
+
+Erastus grew quite fast, and soon thought he was nearly grown up. Once
+he tried to smoke with some other young ducks behind the barn. It made
+Erastus sick, and his mother found it out. She gave Erastus some
+unpleasant medicine, and made him stay in bed a week.
+
+Erastus decided that he would run away. While his mother was taking her
+morning bath he packed his things in a little valise she had given him
+for Christmas. Then he slipped out the back door and made for the woods
+as fast as he could go. He had made up his mind to be a robber, and make
+a great deal of money by taking it away from other people.
+
+He had begun by taking a small toy pistol which belonged to Mr. Man's
+little boy. He wore it at his side. His mother had read to him about
+robbers. Erastus also had on his nice new coat and pretty vest.
+
+He did not rob anybody that day. There was nothing in the woods but
+trees and vines. Erastus tripped over the vines and hurt himself, and
+lost the toy pistol.
+
+Then it came night, and he was very lonesome. For the first time in his
+life Erastus missed his mother. There was a nice full moon, but Erastus
+did not care for it. Some of the black shadows about him looked as if
+they might be live things. By-and-by he heard a noise near him.
+
+Erastus the Robber Duck started to run; but he was lost, and did not
+know which way to go. All at once he was face to face with some large
+animal. It wore a long cape and a mask. It also carried a real pistol
+which it pointed at Erastus and told him to hold up his wings. Erastus
+the Robber Duck held up his wings as high as possible, and tried to get
+them higher. It did not seem to Erastus that he could hold them up high
+enough. His mother had read to him about robbers.
+
+Then the robber took all the things that Erastus had in his pockets. He
+took his new knife and his little watch; also the nice bag which his
+mother had given him for Christmas.
+
+Erastus kept his wings up a good while after the robber had gone. He was
+afraid the robber had not gone far enough. When he put them down they
+were cramped and sore. Then he heard something again, and thought it was
+the robber coming back after his clothes.
+
+Erastus fled with great speed, taking off his garments as he ran. At
+last he reached the edge of the wood, not far from where he lived. It
+was just morning, and his mother saw him coming. She looked sad, and
+embraced him.
+
+It was the first time Erastus had been out all night.
+
+Erastus was not allowed to go swimming or even to leave the yard for a
+long time. Whenever he remembered that night in the woods he shivered,
+and his mother thought he had a chill. Then she would put him to bed
+and give him some of the unpleasant medicine.
+
+Erastus did not tell his mother _all_ that had happened that night for a
+good while. He was ashamed to do so. But one day when he seemed quite
+sick and his mother was frightened, he broke down and told her all about
+it. Then his mother forgave him, and he got well right away.
+
+After that Erastus behaved, and grew to be the best and largest duck in
+Mr. Man's farm-yard.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+While Mr. Dog had been reading his story the Hollow Tree People--the
+'Coon and the 'Possum and the Old Black Crow--had been leaning forward
+and almost holding their breath, and Mr. Dog felt a good deal flattered
+when he noticed how interested they were. When he sat down he saw that
+Mr. 'Possum's mouth was open and his tongue fairly hanging out with
+being so excited.
+
+[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM SAID IT MIGHT BE A GOOD ENOUGH STORY, BUT IT
+COULDN'T BE TRUE]
+
+Then before any of the others could say a word, Mr. 'Possum said that it
+might be a good enough story, but that it couldn't be true. He said that
+he wasn't a judge of stories, but that he was a judge of ducks--young
+ducks, or old either--and that no young duck could pass the night in the
+Big Deep Woods and get home at sunrise or any other time, unless all the
+other animals were snowed in or locked up in a menagerie, and that the
+animal that had met Erastus might have robbed him, of course, but he
+would have eaten him first, and then carried off what was left, unless,
+of course, that robber was a rabbit, and he said that he didn't believe
+any rabbit would have spunk enough to be in that business.
+
+Mr. Rabbit was about to say something just then, but Mr. Crow and Mr.
+'Coon both interrupted and said they thought Mr. 'Possum was right for
+once, except about Mr. Rabbit, who was plenty brave enough, but too much
+of a gentleman to be out robbing people at night when he could be at
+home in bed asleep. Then Mr. Dog said:
+
+"I don't know whether the story is true or not. I wrote it down as I
+heard it among Mr. Man's fowls, and I know the duck that they still call
+Erastus, and he's the finest, fattest--"
+
+But Mr. Dog didn't get any further. For the Hollow Tree People broke in
+and said, all together:
+
+"Oh, take us to see him, Mr. Dog! Or perhaps you could bring him to see
+us. Invite him to spend an evening with us in the Hollow Tree. Tell him
+we will have him for dinner and invite our friends. Oh, do, Mr. Dog!"
+
+But Mr. Dog knew what they meant by having him for dinner, and he said
+he guessed Mr. Man would not be willing to have Erastus go out on an
+invitation like that, and that if Erastus came, Mr. Man might take a
+notion to visit the Hollow Tree himself. Then the Hollow Tree People
+all said, "Oh, never mind about Erastus! He's probably old and
+disagreeable anyway. We don't think we would care for him. But it was a
+nice story--very nice, indeed."
+
+And pretty soon Mr. Dog said he'd been thinking about the robber animal,
+too, and had made up his mind that it might have been one of Mr. Cat's
+family--for Mr. Man's little boy and girl had a book with a nice poem in
+it about a robber cat, and a robber dog, too, though he didn't think
+that the dog could have been any of _his_ family. Mr. Cat, he said,
+would not be likely to care for Erastus, feathers and all, that way, and
+no doubt it really was Mr. Cat who robbed him. Mr. Dog said that he had
+once heard of a Mr. Cat who wanted to be king--perhaps after Mr. Lion
+had gone out of the king business, and that there was an old poem about
+it that Mr. Dog's mother used to sing to him, but he didn't think it had
+ever been put into a book. He said there were a good many things in it
+he didn't suppose the Hollow Tree People would understand because it was
+about a different kind of a country--where his mother had been born--but
+that if they really would like to hear it he would try to remember it
+for them, as it would be something different from anything they had been
+used to. Then the Hollow Tree People and their friends all said how glad
+they would be to hear it, for they always liked to hear about new
+things and new parts of the country; so Mr. Dog said that if some of the
+others would read or sing or dance their jigs first, perhaps it would
+come to him and he would sing it for them by and by.
+
+Then Mr. Robin spoke up and said that he thought Mr. Dog's story had a
+good moral in it, and he said that _his_ story (Mr. Robin's, of course)
+was that kind of a story, too. Perhaps he'd better tell it now, he said,
+while their minds were running that way, though as for Mr. 'Possum's
+mind it seemed to be more on how good Erastus might be cooked than how
+good he had become in his behavior. He was sorry, he said, that his
+story didn't have any ducks in it, young or old, but that perhaps Mr.
+'Possum and the others would be willing to wait for the nice pair of
+cooked ones now hanging in Mr. Crow's pantry, to be served at the end of
+the literary exercises.
+
+But Mr. 'Possum said "No," he wasn't willing to wait any longer--that
+Mr. Dog's story and the mention of those nice cooked fowls was more than
+he could bear, and that if it was all the same to Mr. Robin and the
+others he voted to have supper first, and then he'd be better able to
+stand a strictly moral story on a full stomach.
+
+Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon said that was a good idea, and Mr. Rabbit said he
+thought they'd better postpone Mr. Robin's story until the next evening,
+as Mr. 'Possum had taken up so much time with his arguments that he
+must be hungrier than usual, and if he put in as much more time eating,
+it would be morning before they were ready to go on with the literary
+programme.
+
+Then they all looked at the clock and saw that it really was getting
+late, though that was the only way they could tell, for the snow covered
+all the windows and made no difference between day and night in the
+Hollow Tree.
+
+
+
+
+THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB--Part II
+
+
+
+
+THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB
+
+PART II
+
+MR. RABBIT STARTS SOME NEW AMUSEMENTS
+
+
+It was still dark in the Hollow Tree when the Deep Woods People woke up
+next morning, but they knew what was the matter now, and could tell by
+the clock and the fire that it was day outside, even before Mr. 'Possum
+ran up to his room and looked out the window and came back shivering,
+because he said the snow was blowing and drifting and some had drifted
+in around his windows and made his room as cold as all outdoors. He said
+he was willing to stay by the fire while this spell lasted, and take
+such exercise as he needed by moving his chair around to the table when
+he wanted to eat.
+
+Mr. 'Coon said that Mr. 'Possum might exercise himself on a little wood
+for the cook-stove in Mr. Crow's kitchen if he wanted any breakfast,
+and that if this spell kept up long enough, they wouldn't have anything
+left but exercise to keep them alive.
+
+So Mr. 'Possum went down-stairs after an armful of stove-wood, and he
+stayed a good while, though they didn't notice it at the time. Then they
+all helped with the breakfast, and after breakfast they pushed back all
+the things and played Blind Man's Buff, for Mr. Rabbit said that even if
+moving his chair from the fire to the table and back again was enough
+exercise for Mr. 'Possum, it wasn't enough for _him_, and the others
+said so, too.
+
+[Illustration: SO THEN MR. RABBIT SAID THEY MUST CHOOSE WHO WOULD BE
+"IT"]
+
+So then Mr. Rabbit said they must choose who would be It first, and they
+all stood in a row and Mr. Rabbit said:
+
+  "Hi, ho, hickory dee
+  One for you and one for me;
+  One for the ones you try to find,
+  And one for the one that wears the blind,"
+
+which was a rigmarole Mr. Rabbit had made up himself to use in games
+where somebody had to be "It," and Mr. Rabbit said it around and around
+the circle on the different ones--one word for each one--until he came
+to the word blind and that was Mr. 'Possum, who had to put on the
+handkerchief and do more exercising than any of them, until he caught
+Mr. Turtle, who had to be "It" quite often, because he couldn't get
+out of the way as well as the others.
+
+[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM HAD TO PUT ON THE HANDKERCHIEF AND DO MORE
+EXERCISING THAN ANY OF THEM]
+
+And Mr. 'Possum was "It" a good deal, too, and Mr. 'Coon, and all the
+rest, though Mr. Robin was "It" less than anybody, because he was so
+little and spry that he could get out of the way.
+
+Then when they were tired of "Blind Man's Bluff" they played "Pussy
+Wants a Corner" and "Forfeits," and Mr. 'Possum had to make a speech to
+redeem his forfeit, and he began:
+
+"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN" (though there were no ladies present)--"I am
+pleased to see you all here this evening" (though it wasn't evening)
+"looking so well dressed and well fed. It is better to be well fed than
+well dressed. It is better to be well dressed than not dressed at all.
+It is better to be not dressed at all than not fed at all. Ladies and
+gentlemen, I thank you for your kind attention and applause"--though
+they hadn't applauded yet, but they did, right away, and said it was a
+good speech, and Mr. Crow said it reminded him that it was about
+dinner-time, and that he would need some more wood.
+
+So Mr. 'Possum got right up to get the stove-wood again, which everybody
+thought was very good of Mr. 'Possum, who wasn't usually so spry and
+willing.
+
+Then in the afternoon they had games again, but nice quiet games, for
+they were all glad to sit down, and they played "Button! Button! Who's
+Got the Button?" and nobody could tell when Mr. 'Possum had the button,
+for his face didn't show it, because he was nearly always looking
+straight into the fire, and seemed to be thinking about something away
+off. And when the fire got low, he always jumped up and offered to go
+down into the store-room after the wood, and they all said how willing
+and spry Mr. 'Possum was getting all at once, and when he stayed a good
+while down-stairs they didn't think anything about it--not at the
+time--or if they did they only thought he was picking out the best
+pieces to burn. They played "Drop the Handkerchief", too, and when they
+got through Mr. Rabbit performed some tricks with the handkerchief and
+the button that made even Mr. 'Possum pay attention because they were so
+wonderful.
+
+There was one trick especially that Mr. Rabbit did a great many times
+because they liked it so much, and were so anxious to guess how it was
+done. Mr. Rabbit told them it was a trick that had come down to him from
+his thirty-second great-grandfather, and must never be told to any one.
+
+[Illustration: WOULD FIND IT ON THE MANTEL-SHELF OR PERHAPS ON MR.
+CROW'S BALD HEAD]
+
+It was a trick where he laid the button in the centre of the
+handkerchief and then folded the corners down on it, and pressed them
+down each time so that they could see that the button was still there,
+and he would let them press on it, too, to prove it, and then when he
+would lift up the handkerchief by the two corners nearest him there
+would be no button at all, and he would find it on the mantel-shelf or
+perhaps on Mr. Crow's bald head, or in Mr. 'Possum's pocket, or some
+place like that. But one time, when Mr. Rabbit had done it over and
+over, and maybe had grown a little careless, he lifted the handkerchief
+by the corners nearest him, and there was the button sticking fast,
+right in the centre of the handkerchief, for it had a little beeswax on
+it, to make it stick to one of the corners next to Mr. Rabbit, and by
+some mistake Mr. Rabbit had turned the button upside down!
+
+Then they all laughed, and all began to try it for themselves, and Mr.
+Rabbit laughed too, though perhaps he didn't feel much like it, and told
+them that they had learned one of the greatest secrets in his family,
+and that he would now tell them the adage that went with it if they
+would promise never to tell either the secret or the adage, and they all
+promised, and Mr. Rabbit told them the adage, which was:
+
+  "When beeswax grows on the button-tree,
+  No one knows what the weather'll be."
+
+"That," said Mr. Rabbit, "is a very old adage. I don't know what it
+means exactly, but I'm sure it means something, because old adages
+always do mean something, though often nobody can find out just what
+it is, and the less they seem to mean the better they are, as adages.
+There are a great many old adages in our family, and they have often got
+my ancestors out of trouble. When we didn't have an old one to fit the
+trouble we made a new one, and by-and-by it got old too, and useful in
+different ways, because by that time it didn't seem to mean anything
+special, and could be used almost anywhere."
+
+Then the Deep Woods People all said there was never anybody who knew so
+much and could do so many things as Mr. Jack Rabbit, and how proud they
+all were to have him in their midst, and Mr. Rabbit showed them how to
+do all the tricks he knew, and they all practised them and tried them on
+each other until Mr. Crow said he must look after the supper, and Mr.
+'Possum ran right off after an armful of stove-wood, and everybody
+helped with everything there was to do, for they were having such a good
+time and were so hungry.
+
+And after supper they all sat around the fire again and smoked a little
+before anybody said anything, until by-and-by Mr. Rabbit said that they
+would go on now with the literary club, and that Mr. Robin might read
+the story he had mentioned the night before.
+
+So Mr. Robin got up, and stood on a chair, and made a nice bow. He said
+it was not really his own story he had written, but one that his
+grandmother used to tell him sometimes, though he didn't think it had
+ever been put into a book.
+
+Then Mr. Rabbit spoke up and said that that didn't matter, that of
+course everybody couldn't be original, and that the story itself was the
+main thing and the way you told it. He said if Mr. Robin would go right
+on with the story now it would save time. So then they all knocked the
+ashes out of their pipes--all except Mr. Robin, who began right off to
+read his story:
+
+
+
+
+THE DISCONTENTED FOX
+
+
+
+
+THE DISCONTENTED FOX
+
+MR. ROBIN TELLS HOW A FOX LEARNED A GOOD LESSON BY TAKING A LONG JOURNEY
+
+
+Once upon a time there was a Fox who lived at the foot of a hill and had
+a _nice garden_. One morning when he began to hoe in it he got tired,
+and the sun was _very hot_. Then the Fox didn't like to hoe any more,
+and made up his mind that it wasn't very pleasant to have a garden,
+anyway.
+
+So then he started out to travel and find _pleasant things_. He put on
+his best clothes, and the first house he came to belonged to a Rabbit
+who kept bees. And the Rabbit showed the Fox his bees and how to take
+out the honey. And the Fox said, "What _pleasant work_!" and wanted to
+take out honey too. But when he did there was a bee on the honey, and it
+stung the Fox on the nose. And that hurt the Fox, and his nose began to
+swell up, and he said:
+
+"This is not pleasant work _at all_!" and of course it wasn't--not for
+_him_--though the Rabbit seemed to enjoy it _more than ever_.
+
+So the Fox travelled on, and the next house he came to belonged to a
+Crow who made pies. And the Fox looked at him awhile and said, "What
+_pleasant work_!" And the Crow let the Fox help him, and when the Fox
+went to take a pie out of the oven he burnt his fingers _quite badly_.
+Then he said, "No, it is _not_ pleasant work--not for _me_!" and that
+was true, though the Crow seemed to enjoy it _more than ever_.
+
+So the Fox went on again, and the next house he came to belonged to a
+'Coon who milked cows. And the Fox watched him milk, and pretty soon he
+said: "What pleasant work that _is_! Let _me_ milk." So the 'Coon let
+the Fox milk, and the Cow put her foot in the milk-pail and upset it
+_all over_ the Fox's nice _new clothes_. And the Fox was mad, and said:
+"This work is not in the _least_ pleasant!" and he _hurried away_,
+though the 'Coon seemed to enjoy it _more than ever_.
+
+And the next house the Fox came to belonged to a Cat who played the
+fiddle. And the Fox listened awhile and said: "What pleasant work that
+_must be_!" and he borrowed the Cat's fiddle. But when he started down
+the road playing, a Man ran around the corner and shot a loud gun at
+him, and that was not pleasant, _either_, though the Cat seemed to enjoy
+it _more than ever_.
+
+So the Fox kept on travelling and _doing_ things that he thought would
+be _pleasant_, but that did not turn out to _be_ pleasant--not for
+_him_--until by-and-by he had travelled _clear around the world_ and had
+come up on the other side, _back_ to his _own garden_ again. And his
+garden was just the same as he had left it, only the things had grown
+bigger, and there were _some weeds_.
+
+And the Fox jumped over the fence and commenced to _hoe_ the _weeds_,
+and pretty soon he said, "Why, this is _pleasant_!" Then he hoed some
+more, and said, "Why, what pleasant work _this is_!"
+
+So he kept on hoeing and finding it pleasant until by-and-by the weeds
+were _all gone_, and the _Rabbit_ and the _Crow_ and the _Cat_ and the
+_'Coon_ came and traded him honey and pies and milk and music for
+vegetables, because he had the best garden in the world. And he _has
+yet_!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Mr. Robin got through and sat down, Mr. Squirrel spoke up and said
+it was a good story because it had a moral lesson in it and taught folks
+to like the things they knew best how to do, and Mr. 'Possum said yes,
+that might be so, but that the story couldn't be true, because none of
+those animals would have enjoyed seeing that Fox leave them, but would
+have persuaded him to stay and help them, and would have taught him to
+do most of the work.
+
+Then Mr. Robin spoke up and said that Mr. 'Possum thought everybody was
+like himself, and that anyway Mr. 'Possum didn't need the lesson in that
+story, for he already liked to do the things he could do best, which
+were to eat and sleep and let other people do the work, though of course
+he had been very good about getting the wood, lately, which certainly
+was unusual.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum said he didn't see why Mr. Robin should speak in that
+cross way when he had only meant to be kind and show him the mistake in
+his story, so he could fix it right. And Mr. Rabbit said that as Mr.
+'Possum seemed to know so much how stories and poems ought to be
+written, perhaps he'd show now what he could do in that line himself.
+
+Mr. 'Possum said he hadn't written anything because it was too much
+trouble, but that he would tell them a story if they would like to hear
+it--something that had really happened, because he had been there, and
+was old enough to remember.
+
+But before he began Mr. Robin said that as they had not cared much about
+his story he would like to recite a few lines he had thought of, which
+would perhaps explain how he felt, and all the animals said, "Of course,
+go right on," and Mr. Robin bowed and recited a little poem he had made,
+called
+
+ONLY ME
+
+_By C. Robin_
+
+  How came a little bird like me
+    A place in this fine group to win?
+  My mind is small--it has to be--
+    The little place I keep it in.
+  How came a little bird like me
+  To be here in the Hollow Tree?
+
+  When all the others know so much,
+    And are so strong and gifted too,
+  How can I dare to speak of such
+    As I can know, and think, and do?
+  How can a little bird like me
+  Belong here in the Hollow Tree?
+
+[Illustration: MR. POSSUM SAID HE HADN'T MEANT ANYTHING AT ALL BY WHAT
+HE HAD SAID ABOUT THE STORY]
+
+Well, when Mr. Robin finished that, all the others spoke right up and
+said that Mr. Robin must never write anything so sad as that again. They
+said his story was just as good as it could be, and that Mr. Robin was
+one of the smartest ones there; and Mr. 'Possum burst into tears, and
+said that he hadn't meant anything at all by what he had said about the
+story, and that some time, when they were all alone, Mr. Robin must
+tell it to him again, and he would try to have sense enough to
+understand it.
+
+Then he ran over to Mr. Robin, and was going to embrace him and weep on
+his shoulder, and would very likely have mashed him if Mr. Turtle hadn't
+dragged him back to his seat and told him that he had done damage enough
+to people's feelings without killing anybody, and the best thing he
+could do now would be to go on with a story of his own if he had any.
+
+But Mr. 'Possum said he was too sleepy now, so Mr. Dog sang the poem
+which he had promised the evening before because, he said, singing would
+be a nice thing to go to sleep on. Mr. Dog's song was called
+
+THE CAT WHO WOULD BE KING
+
+  There was cat who kept a store,
+      With other cats for customers.
+        His milk and mice
+        All packed in ice
+      His catnip all in canisters.
+
+[Illustration: AND SO THIS CAT GREW RICH AND FAT]
+
+  Fresh milk he furnished every day--
+      Two times a day and sometimes three--
+        And so this cat
+        Grew rich and fat
+      And proud as any cat could be.
+
+  But though so fat and rich he grew
+      He was not satisfied at all--
+        At last quoth he,
+        "A king I'll be
+      Of other cats both great and small."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  Then hied he to the tinner cat,
+      Who made for him a tinsel crown,
+        And on the street,
+        A king complete,
+      He soon went marching up and down.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  Now, many cats came out to see,
+      And some were filled with awe at him;
+        While some, alack,
+        Behind his back
+      Did laugh and point a paw at him.
+
+  Mice, milk, and catnip did he scorn;
+      He went to business less and less--
+        And everywhere
+        He wore an air
+      Of arrogance and haughtiness.
+
+[Illustration: HIS CLERKS]
+
+  His clerks ate catnip all day long--
+      They spent much time in idle play;
+        They left the mice
+        From off the ice--
+      They trusted cats who could not pay.
+
+  While happy in his tin-shop crown
+      Each day the king went marching out,
+        Elate because
+        He thought he was
+      The kind of king you read about.
+
+[Illustration: A SOLEMN LOOK WAS IN HIS FACE]
+
+  But lo, one day, he strolled too far,
+      And in a dim and dismal place
+        A cat he met,
+        Quite small, and yet
+      A solemn look was in his face.
+
+  One fiery eye this feline wore--
+      A waif he was of low degrees--
+        No gaudy dress
+        Did he possess,
+      Nor yet a handsome cat was he.
+
+  But lo, he smote that spurious king
+      And stripped him of his tinsel crown,
+        Then like the wind
+        Full close behind
+      He chased His Highness into town.
+
+  With cheers his subjects saw him come.
+      He did not pause--he did not stop,
+        But straight ahead
+        He wildly fled
+      Till he was safe within his shop.
+
+  He caught his breath and gazed about--
+      A sorry sight did he behold:
+        No catnip there
+        Or watchful care--
+      No mice and milk and joy of old.
+
+[Illustration: QUOTH HE, "MY PRIDE IS SATISFIED; THIS KINGDOM BUSINESS
+DOES NOT PAY"]
+
+  He heaved a sigh and dropped a tear--
+      He sent those idle clerks away--
+        Quoth he, "My pride
+        Is satisfied;
+      This kingdom business does not pay."
+
+  With care once more he runs his store,
+      His catnip all in canisters--
+        His milk and mice
+        All packed in ice,
+      And humbly serves his customers.
+
+
+
+
+MR. 'POSSUM'S GREAT STORY
+
+
+
+
+MR. 'POSSUM'S GREAT STORY
+
+MR. 'POSSUM TELLS THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF THE 'POSSUM FAMILY, TO THE
+SURPRISE OF HIS FRIENDS
+
+
+"Now this," said the Story Teller, "is the story that Mr. Possum told
+the Snowed-In Literary Club in the Hollow Tree. It must be a true story,
+because Mr. 'Possum said so, and, besides, anybody that knows Mr.
+'Possum would know that he could never in the world have made it up out
+of his head."
+
+The Little Lady doesn't quite like that.
+
+"But Mr. 'Possum is smart," she says. "He knows ever so much."
+
+"Oh yes, of course, and that's why he never _has_ to make up things. He
+just tells what he knows, and this time he told
+
+"HOW UNCLE SILAS AND AUNT MELISSY MOVED
+
+"You may remember," he said, "my telling you once about Uncle Silas and
+Aunt Melissy Lovejoy, who lived in a nice place just beyond the Wide
+Paw-paw Hollows, and how Uncle Silas once visited Cousin Glenwood in
+town and came home all dressed up, leading a game chicken, and with a
+bag of shinny-sticks, and a young man to wait on him; and how Aunt
+Melissy--instead of being pleased, as Uncle Silas thought she would
+be--got mad when she saw him, and made him and the young man take off
+all their nice clothes and go to work in the garden, and kept them at it
+with that bag of shinny-sticks until fall.[2]
+
+"Well, this story is about them, too. I went to live with them soon
+after that, because I lost both of my parents one night when Mr. Man was
+hunting in the Black Bottoms for something to put in a pan with some
+sweet potatoes he had raised that year, and I suppose I would have been
+used with sweet potatoes too if I hadn't come away from there pretty
+lively instead of trying our old playing-dead trick on Mr. Man and his
+friends.
+
+"I thought right away that Mr. Man might know the trick, so I didn't
+wait to try it myself, but took out for the Wide Paw-paw Hollows, to
+visit Uncle Silas Lovejoy, who was an uncle on my mother's side, and
+Aunt Melissy and my little cousins; and they all seemed glad to see me,
+especially my little cousins, until they found they had to give me some
+of their things and most of their food, because I was young and
+growing, besides being quite sad about my folks, and so, of course, had
+to eat a good deal to keep well and from taking my loss too hard.
+
+"But by-and-by Uncle Lovejoy said that he didn't believe that he and the
+hired man--who was the same one he had brought home to wait on him when
+he came from town--to be his valet, he said--though he got to be a hired
+man right after Aunt Melissy met him and got hold of the
+shinny-sticks--Aunt Melissy being a spry, stirring person who liked to
+see people busy. I remember how she used to keep me and my little
+cousins busy until sometimes I wished I had stayed with my folks and put
+up with the sweet potatoes and let Uncle Silas and his family alone."
+
+Mr. 'Possum stopped to light his pipe, and Mr. Rabbit said that he
+supposed, of course, Mr. 'Possum knew his story and how to tell it, but
+that if he ever intended to finish what Uncle Lovejoy had said about
+himself and the hired man he wished he'd get at it pretty soon.
+
+Mr. 'Possum said of course he meant to, as soon as he could get his
+breath, and think a minute. "Well, then," he said, "Uncle Silas told
+Aunt Melissy that he didn't believe he and the hired man could raise and
+catch enough for the family since I had come to stay with them, and he
+thought they had better move farther west to a place where the land was
+better and where Mr. Man's chickens were not kept up in such close,
+unhealthy places, but were allowed to roost out in the open air, on the
+fences and in the trees. He said he didn't think their house was quite
+stylish enough either, which he knew would strike Aunt Melissy, who was
+a Glenwood, and primpy, and fond of the best things.
+
+"So then we began to pack up right away, and Uncle Silas and Aunt
+Melissy quarrelled a good deal about what was worth taking and what
+wasn't, and they took turns scolding the hired man about a good many
+things he didn't do and almost all of the things he did do, and my
+little cousins and I had a fine time running through the empty rooms and
+playing with things we had never seen before, but we had to keep out of
+Aunt Melissy's reach if we wanted to enjoy it much.
+
+[Illustration: AUNT MELISSY HAD ARRANGED A BUNDLE FOR UNCLE SILAS, AND
+SHE HAD FIXED UP THE HIRED MAN TOO]
+
+"Well, by-and-by we were all packed up and ready to start. We had
+everything in bundles or tied together, and Aunt Melissy had arranged a
+big bundle for Uncle Silas to carry, and several things to tie and hang
+about on his person in different places, and she had fixed up the hired
+man too, besides some bundles for me and my little cousins.
+
+[Illustration: DIDN'T LOOK AS IF SHE BELONGED TO THE REST OF OUR CROWD]
+
+"Aunt Melissy said she would take charge of the lunch-basket and lead
+the way, and she was all dressed up and carried an umbrella, and didn't
+look much as if she belonged to the rest of our crowd.
+
+"It was pretty early when we started, for it was getting dangerous to
+camp out in that section, and we wanted to get as far as we could the
+first day, though we didn't any of us have any idea then how long a trip
+we _would_ make that day, nor of the way we were going to make it.
+Nobody could guess a guess like that, even if he was the best guesser in
+the world and made his living that way."
+
+Mr. 'Possum stopped to light his pipe again, and said that if anybody
+wanted a chance to guess how far they went that first day and how they
+travelled, they could guess now. But the Hollow Tree People said they
+didn't want to guess, and they did want Mr. 'Possum to go ahead and tell
+them about it.
+
+"Well," said Mr. 'Possum, "we travelled fifty miles that first day, and
+we travelled it in less than two hours."
+
+"Fifty miles in two hours!" said all the Hollow Tree People. And Jack
+Rabbit said:
+
+"Why, a menagerie like that couldn't travel fifty miles in two years!"
+
+"But we did, though," said Mr. 'Possum; "we travelled it in a balloon."
+
+"In a balloon!"
+
+"Well, not exactly in a balloon, but _with_ a balloon. It happened just
+as I'm going to tell you.
+
+"We went along pretty well until we got to the Wide Grass Lands, though
+Aunt Melissy scolded Uncle Silas a good deal because he got behind and
+didn't stand up in a nice stylish way with all the things he had to
+carry, and she used her umbrella once on the hired man because he
+dropped the clock.
+
+"When we got out to the Wide Grass Lands there was a high east wind
+blowing, getting ready for a storm, and when we got on top of a little
+grassy hill close to the Wide Blue Water it blew Uncle Silas and the
+hired man so they could hardly stand up, and it turned Aunt Melissy's
+umbrella wrong side out, which made her mad, and she said that it was
+Uncle Silas's fault and mine, and that she had never wanted to move
+anyway.
+
+"But just then one of my little cousins looked up in the sky and said,
+'Oh, look at that funny bird!' and we all looked up, and there was a
+great big long bag of a thing coming right toward us, not very high up,
+and Uncle Silas spoke up and said 'That's a balloon,' for Uncle Silas
+had seen one in town when he was there visiting Cousin Glenwood, and the
+hired man, too. Then while we were all standing there watching it, we
+saw that there was a long rope that hung from the balloon most to the
+ground, and that it had something tied to the end of it (a big iron
+thing with a lot of hooks on it), and that it was swooping down straight
+toward us.
+
+"Uncle Silas called out as loud as he could, 'That's the anchor! Look
+out!' but it was too late to look out, for it was coming as fast as the
+wind blew the balloon, and Uncle Silas and the hired man being loaded
+with the things couldn't move very quick, and the rest of us were too
+scared to know which way to jump, and down came that thing right among
+us, and I saw it catch among Uncle Silas's furniture and the hired
+man's, and I heard Uncle Silas say, 'Grab hold, all of you' and we all
+did, some one way and some another, and away we went.
+
+"Well, it was certainly very curious how we all were lucky enough to get
+hold of that anchor, with all our bundles and things; but of course we
+could do it better than if we had not been given those nice useful tails
+which belong to our family. I had hold that way, and some of the others
+did, too. Uncle Silas didn't need to hold on at all, for some of the
+furniture was tied to him, and he just sat back in a chair that was hung
+on behind and took it easy, though he did drop some of his things when
+he first got aboard, and Aunt Melissy scolded him for that as soon as
+she caught her breath and got over being frightened and was sitting up
+on her part of the anchor enjoying the scenery.
+
+[Illustration: THE BALLOON WENT OVER THE WIDE BLUE WATER JUST AFTER IT
+GOT OUR FAMILY]
+
+"I never had such a trip as that before, and never expect to have one
+again. The balloon went over the Wide Blue Water just after it got our
+family, and we were all afraid we would be let down in it and drowned;
+but the people who were in the balloon threw out something heavy which
+we thought at first they were throwing at us, but it must have been
+something to make the balloon go up; for we did go up until Aunt Melissy
+said if we'd just get a little nearer one of those clouds she'd step out
+on it and live there, as she'd always wanted to do since she was a
+child.
+
+"Then we all sat up and held on tight, above and below, and said what a
+nice day it was to travel, and that we'd always travel that way
+hereafter; and Uncle Silas and the hired man unhooked their furniture,
+so they could land easier when the time came, and Aunt Melissy passed
+around the lunch, and we looked down and saw the water and the land
+again and a lot of houses and trees, and Aunt Melissy said that nobody
+could ever make her believe the world was that big if she hadn't seen it
+with her own eyes.
+
+"And Uncle Silas and the hired man said that of course this was going
+pretty fast, but that they had travelled a good deal faster sometimes
+when they were in town with Cousin Glenwood, and pretty soon he showed
+us the town where Cousin Glenwood lived, and he and the hired man tried
+to point out the house to us, but they couldn't agree about which it was
+because the houses didn't look the same from up there in the air as they
+did from down on the ground.
+
+"I know I shall never forget that trip. We saw ever so many different
+Mr. Men and Mr. Dogs, and animals of every kind, and houses that had
+chimneys taller than any tree, and a good many things that even Uncle
+Silas did not know about. Then by-and-by we came to some woods
+again--the biggest kind of Big Deep Woods--and we saw that we were
+getting close to the tree-tops, and we were all afraid we would get hit
+by the branches and maybe knocked off with our things.
+
+"And pretty soon, sure enough, that anchor did drop right down among the
+trees, and such a clapping and scratching as we did get!
+
+"We shut our eyes and held on, and some of our furniture was brushed off
+of Uncle Silas and the hired man, and Aunt Melissy lost her umbrella,
+and I lost a toy chicken, which I could never find again. Then all at
+once there was a big sudden jerk that jarred Uncle Silas loose, and made
+Aunt Melissy holler that she was killed, and knocked the breath out of
+the rest of us for a few minutes.
+
+"But we were all there, and the anchor was fast on the limb of a big
+tree--a tree almost as big as the Hollow Tree, and hollow, just like it,
+with a nice handy place to go in.
+
+"So when we got our senses back we picked up all our things that we
+could find, and moved into the new place, and Aunt Melissy looked at the
+clock, which was still running, and it was just a little over two hours
+since we started.
+
+"Then pretty soon we heard Mr. Man and his friends who had been up in
+the balloon coming, and we stayed close inside till they had taken the
+anchor and everything away, and after that, when it was getting dark,
+Uncle Silas and the hired man went out and found, not very far off,
+where there were some nice chickens that roosted in handy places, and
+brought home two or three, and Aunt Melissy set up the stove and cooked
+up a good supper, and we all sat around the kitchen fire, and the storm
+that the east wind had been blowing up came along sure enough and it
+rained all night, but we were snug and dry, and went to sleep mostly in
+beds made down on the floor, and lay there listening to the rain and
+thinking what a nice journey we'd had and what a good new home we'd
+found.
+
+"And it _was_ a good place, for I lived there till I grew up, and if I'm
+not mistaken some of Uncle Silas's and Aunt Melissy's children live
+there still. I haven't heard from any of them for a long time, but I am
+thinking of going on a visit over that way in the spring, and if that
+balloon is still running I'm going to travel with it.
+
+"And that," said Mr. 'Possum, "is a true story--all true, every word,
+for I was there."
+
+Nobody said anything for a minute or two after Mr. 'Possum had finished
+his story--nobody _could_ say anything.
+
+Then Mr. Rabbit coughed a little and remarked that he was glad that Mr.
+'Possum said that the story was true, for no one would ever have
+suspected it. He said if Mr. 'Possum hadn't said it was true he would
+have thought it was one of those pleasant dreams that Mr. 'Possum had
+when he slept hanging to a peg head down.
+
+[Illustration: MR. TURTLE SAID THAT WHAT MR. 'POSSUM HAD TOLD THEM WAS
+TRUE]
+
+But Mr. Turtle, who had been sitting with his eyes shut and looking as
+if he were asleep, knocked the ashes out of his pipe, and said that what
+Mr. 'Possum had told them was true--at least, _some_ of it was true; for
+he himself had been sitting in the door of his house on the shore of the
+Wide Blue Water when the balloon passed over, and he had seen Uncle
+Silas Lovejoy's family sitting up there anchored and comfortable; and he
+had picked up a chair that Uncle Silas had dropped, and he had it in his
+house to this day, it being a good strong chair and better than any that
+was made nowadays.
+
+Well, of course after that nobody said anything about Mr. 'Possum's
+story not being true, for they remembered how old and wise Mr. Turtle
+was and could always prove things, and they all talked about it a great
+deal, and asked Mr. 'Possum a good many questions.
+
+They said how nice it was to know somebody who had had an adventure like
+that, and Mr. Rabbit changed his seat so he could be next to Mr.
+'Possum, because he said he wanted to write it all down to keep.
+
+And Mr. 'Possum said he never would forget how good those chickens
+tasted that first night in the new home, and that Mr. Rabbit mustn't
+forget to put them in.
+
+Then they all remembered that they were hungry now, and Mr. Crow and Mr.
+Squirrel and Mr. Robin hustled around to get a bite to eat before
+bedtime, and Mr. 'Possum hurried down to bring up the stove-wood, and
+was gone quite awhile, though nobody spoke of it--not then--even if they
+did wonder about it a little--and after supper they all sat around the
+fire again and smoked and dropped off to sleep while the clock ticked
+and the blaze flickered about and made queer shadows on the wall of the
+Hollow Tree.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[2] _Hollow Tree and Deep Woods Book_.
+
+
+
+
+THE BARK OF OLD HUNGRY-WOLF
+
+
+
+
+THE BARK OF OLD HUNGRY-WOLF
+
+HOW THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE HAVE A MOST UNWELCOME VISITOR, AND WHAT
+BECOMES OF HIM
+
+
+"What made Mr. 'Possum so anxious to get the wood, and what made him
+stay down-stairs so long when he went after it?" asks the Little Lady
+next evening, when the Story Teller is lighting his pipe and getting
+ready to remember the history of the Hollow Tree.
+
+"We're coming to that. You may be sure there was some reason for it, for
+Mr. 'Possum doesn't hurry after wood or stay long in a cold place if he
+can help it, unless he has something on his mind. Perhaps some of the
+Deep Woods People thought of that too, but if they did they didn't say
+anything--not at the time. I suppose they thought it didn't matter much,
+anyhow, if they got the wood."
+
+So they went right on having a good time, keeping up a nice fire, and
+eating up whatever they had; for they thought the big snow couldn't last
+as long as their wood and their things to eat, and every day they went
+up to look out of the up-stairs windows to see how much had melted, and
+every day they found it just about the same, only maybe a little
+crustier on top, and the weather stayed _very cold_.
+
+But they didn't mind it so long as they were warm and not hungry, and
+they played games, and recited their pieces, and sang, and danced, and
+said they had never had such a good time in all their lives.
+
+[Illustration: ONE DAY MR. CROW FOUND HE WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL
+OF EVERYTHING]
+
+But one day when Mr. Crow went down into the store-room for supplies he
+found that he was at the bottom of the barrel of everything they had,
+and he came up looking pretty sober, though he didn't say anything about
+it--not then, for he knew there were plenty of bones and odds and ends
+he could scrape up, and he had a little flour and some meal in his
+pantry; so he could make soup and gravy and johnny-cake and hash, which
+he did right away, and they all said how fine such things were for a
+change, and told Mr. Crow to go right on making them as long as he
+wanted to, even if the snow stayed on till spring. And Mr. 'Possum and
+Mr. 'Coon said it was like old times, and that Mr. Crow was probably the
+very best provider in the Big Deep Woods.
+
+Mr. Crow smiled, too, but he didn't feel like it much, for he knew that
+even johnny-cake and gravy wouldn't last forever, and that unless the
+snow went away pretty soon they would all be hungry and cold, for the
+wood was getting low, too.
+
+And one morning, when Mr. Crow went to his meal-sack and his flour-bag
+and his pile of odds and ends there was just barely enough for
+breakfast, and hardly that. And Mr. Crow didn't like to tell them about
+it, for he knew they all thought he could keep right on making
+johnny-cake and gravy forever, because they didn't have to stop to think
+where things came from, as he did, and he was afraid they would blame
+him when there was nothing more left.
+
+So the Old Black Crow tried to step around lively and look pleasant, to
+keep anybody from noticing, because he thought it might turn warm that
+day and melt the snow; and when breakfast was ready he put on what there
+was and said he hadn't cooked very much because he had heard that light
+breakfasts were better for people who stayed in the house a good deal,
+and as for himself, he said he guessed he wouldn't eat any breakfast
+that morning at all.
+
+Then while the others were eating he crept down-stairs and looked at the
+empty boxes and barrels and the few sticks of wood that were left, and
+he knew that if that snow didn't melt off right away they were going to
+have a _very hard time_. Then he came back up in the big living-room and
+went on up-stairs to his own room, to look out the window to see if it
+wasn't going to be a warm, melting day. But Mr. Crow came back pretty
+soon. He came back in a hurry, too, and he slammed his door and locked
+it, and then let go of everything and just slid down-stairs. Then the
+Deep Woods People jumped up quick from the table and ran to him, for
+they thought he was having a fit of some kind, and they still thought so
+when they looked into his face: for Mr. Crow's eyes were rolled up and
+his bill was pale, and when he tried to speak he couldn't. And Mr.
+Rabbit said it was because Mr. Crow had done without his breakfast, and
+he ran to get something from the table; but Mr. Crow couldn't eat, and
+then they saw that some of the feathers on top of his head were turning
+gray, and they knew he had seen some awful thing just that little moment
+he was in his room.
+
+So then they all looked at one another and wondered what it was, and
+they were glad Mr. Crow had locked the door. Then they carried him over
+to the fire, and pretty soon he got so he could whisper a little, and
+when they knew what he was saying they understood why he was so scared
+and why he had locked the door; for the words that Mr. Crow kept
+whispering over and over were: "Old Hungry-Wolf! Old Hungry-Wolf! Old
+Hungry-Wolf!"
+
+All the Deep Woods People know what that means. They know that when Old
+Hungry-Wolf comes, or even when you hear him bark, it means that there
+is no food left in the Big Deep Woods for anybody, and that nobody can
+tell how long it will be before there _will_ be food again. And all the
+Deep Woods People stood still and held their breath and listened for the
+bark of Old Hungry-Wolf, because they knew Mr. Crow had seen his face
+looking in the window. And they all thought they heard it, except Mr.
+'Possum, who said he didn't believe it was Old Hungry-Wolf at all that
+Mr. Crow had seen, but only Mr. Gray Wolf himself, who had perhaps
+slipped out and travelled over the snow to see if they were all at home
+and comfortable.
+
+But Mr. Crow said:
+
+"No, no; it was Old Hungry-Wolf! He was big and black, and I saw his
+great fiery eyes!"
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum looked very brave, and said he would see if Old
+Hungry-Wolf was looking into his window too, and he went right up, and
+soon came back and said there wasn't any big black face at his window,
+and he thought that Mr. Crow's empty stomach had made him imagine
+things.
+
+So then Mr. 'Coon said that he would go up to _his_ room if the others
+would like to come along, and they could see for themselves whether Old
+Hungry-Wolf was trying to get in or not.
+
+[Illustration: THEN MR. 'COON SLAMMED HIS DOOR]
+
+Then they all went very quietly up Mr. 'Coon's stair (all except Mr.
+'Possum, who stayed with Mr. Crow), and they opened Mr. 'Coon's door
+and took one look inside, and then Mr. 'Coon he slammed _his_ door shut,
+and locked it, and they all let go of everything and came sliding down
+in a heap, for they had seen the great fiery eyes and black face of Old
+Hungry-Wolf glaring in at Mr. 'Coon's window.
+
+So they all huddled around the fire and lit their pipes--for they still
+had some tobacco--and smoked, but didn't say anything, until by-and-by
+Mr. Crow told them that there wasn't another bite to eat in the house
+and very little wood, and that that was the reason why Old Hungry-Wolf
+had come. And they talked about it in whispers--whether they ought to
+exercise any more, because though exercise would help them to keep warm
+and save wood, it would make them hungrier. And some of them said they
+thought they would try to go to sleep like Mr. Bear, who slept all
+winter and never knew that he was hungry until spring. So they kept
+talking, and now and then they would stop and listen, and they all said
+they could hear the bark of Old Hungry-Wolf--all except Mr. 'Possum,
+which was strange, because Mr. 'Possum is fond of good things and would
+be apt to be the very first to hear Old Hungry's bark.
+
+[Illustration: Mr. 'POSSUM SAID NOT TO MOVE, THAT HE WOULD GO AFTER A
+PIECE OF WOOD]
+
+And when the fire got very low and it was getting cold, Mr. 'Possum said
+for them not to move; that he would go down after a piece of wood, and
+he would attend to the fire as long as the wood lasted, and try to
+make it last as long as possible. And every time the fire got very low
+Mr. 'Possum would bring a piece of wood, and sometimes he stayed a good
+while (just for one piece of wood), but they still didn't think much
+about it--not then. What they did think about was how hungry they were,
+and Mr. Crow said he knew he could eat as much as the old ancestor of
+his that was told about in a book which he had once borrowed from Mr.
+Man's little boy who had left it out in the yard at dinner-time.
+
+Then they all begged Mr. Crow to get the book and read it to them, and
+perhaps they could imagine they were not so hungry. So Mr. Crow brought
+the book and read them the poem about
+
+THE RAVENOUS RAVEN
+
+[Illustration: HE WOULD SMOKE IN THE SUN WHEN THE MORNINGS WERE FAIR]
+
+  Oh, there was an old raven as black as could be,
+  And a wonderful sort of a raven was he;
+  For his house he kept tidy, his yard he kept neat,
+  And he cooked the most marvellous dainties to eat.
+  He could roast, he could toast, he could bake, he could fry,
+  He could stir up a cake in the wink of an eye,
+  He could boil, he could broil, he could grill, he could stew
+  Oh, there wasn't a thing that this bird couldn't do.
+  He would smoke in the sun when the mornings were fair,
+  And his plans for new puddings and pies would prepare;
+  But, alas! like the famous Jim Crow with his shelf,
+  He was greedy, and ate all his dainties himself.
+
+[Illustration: WITH A LOOK AND A SIGH THEY WOULD STAND AND BEHOLD]
+
+  It was true he was proud of the things he could cook,
+  And would call in his neighbors sometimes for a look,
+  Or a taste, it may be, when his pastry was fine;
+  But he'd never been known to invite them to dine.
+  With a look and a sigh they could stand and behold
+  All the puddings so brown and the sauces of gold;
+  With a taste and a growl they'd reluctantly go
+  Praying vengeance to fall on that greedy old crow.
+
+[Illustration: THE TASTIEST PASTRY THAT EVER WAS KNOWN]
+
+  Now, one morning near Christmas when holly grows green,
+  And the best of good things in the markets are seen,
+  He went out for a smoke in the crisp morning air,
+  And to think of some holiday dish to prepare.
+  Mr. Rabbit had spices to sell at his store,
+  Mr. Reynard had tender young chicks by the score,
+  And the old raven thought, as he stood there alone,
+  Of the tastiest pastry that ever was known.
+
+  Then away to the market he hurried full soon,
+  Dropping in for a chat with the 'possum and 'coon
+  Just to tell them his plans, which they heard with delight,
+  And to ask them to call for a moment that night
+  For a look and a taste of his pastry so fine,
+  And he hinted he might even ask them to dine.
+  Then he hurried away, and the rest of the day
+  Messrs. 'Possum and 'Coon were expectant and gay.
+
+[Illustration: THEN TO STIR AND TO BAKE HE BEGAN RIGHT AWAY]
+
+  Oh, he hurried away and to market he went,
+  And his money for spices and poultry he spent,
+  While behind in the market were many, he knew,
+  Who would talk of the marvellous things he would do;
+  So with joy in his heart and with twinkling eye
+  He returned to his home his new project to try,
+  Then to stir and to bake he began right away,
+  And his dish was complete at the end of the day.
+
+  Aye, the marvel was done--'twas a rich golden hue,
+  And its smell was delicious--the old raven knew
+  That he never had made such a pastry before,
+  And a look of deep trouble his countenance wore;
+  "For," thought he, "I am certain the' possum and 'coon
+  That I talked with to-day will be coming here soon,
+  And expect me to ask them to dine, when, you see,
+  There is just a good feast in this dainty for me."
+
+  Now, behold, he'd scarce uttered his thoughts when he heard
+  At the casement a tapping--this greedy old bird--
+  And the latch was uplifted, and gayly strode in
+  Both the 'coon and the 'possum with faces agrin.
+  They were barbered and brushed and arrayed in their best,
+  In the holiday fashion their figures were dressed,
+  While a look in each face, to the raven at least,
+  Said, "We've come here to-night, sir, prepared for a feast."
+
+  And the raven he smiled as he said, "Howdy-do?"
+  For he'd thought of a plan to get rid of the two;
+  And quoth he, "My dear friends, I am sorry to say
+  That the wonderful pastry I mentioned to-day
+  When it came to be baked was a failure complete,
+  Disappointing to taste and disturbing to eat.
+  I am sorry, dear friends, for I thought 'twould be fine;
+  I am sorry I cannot invite you to dine."
+
+  And the 'coon and the 'possum were both sorry, too,
+  And suspicious, somewhat, for the raven they knew.
+  They declared 'twas too bad all that pudding to waste,
+  And they begged him to give them at least just a taste,
+  But he firmly refused and at last they departed,
+  While the greedy old crow for the dining-room started,
+  And the pie so delicious he piled on his plate,
+  And he ate, and he ate, and he ate, and he ate!
+
+[Illustration: THE GREEDY OLD RAVEN, BUT GREEDY NO MORE]
+
+  Well, next morn when the 'possum and 'coon passed along
+  They could see at the raven's that something was wrong,
+  For no blue curling smoke from the chimney-top came;
+  So they opened his door and they called out his name,
+  And they entered inside, and behold! on the floor
+  Was the greedy old raven, but greedy no more:
+  For his heart it was still--not a flutter was there--
+  And his toes were turned up and the table was bare;
+  Now his epitaph tells to the whole country-side
+  How he ate, and he ate, and he ate till he died.
+
+When Mr. Crow finished, Mr. Rabbit said it was certainly an interesting
+poem, and if he just had a chance now to eat till he died he'd take it,
+and Mr. 'Coon said he'd give anything to know how that pie had tasted,
+and he didn't see how any _one_ pie could be big enough to kill anybody
+that felt as hungry as _he_ did now. And Mr. 'Possum didn't say much of
+anything, but only seemed drowsy and peaceful-like, which was curious
+for _him_ as things were.
+
+Well, all that day, and the next day, and the next, there wasn't
+anything to eat, and they sat as close as they could around the little
+fire and wished they'd saved some of the big logs and some of the food,
+too, that they had used up so fast when they thought the big snow would
+go away. And the bark of Old Hungry-Wolf got louder and louder, and he
+began to gnaw, too, and they all heard it, day and night--all except Mr.
+'Possum, who said he didn't know why, but that for some reason he
+couldn't hear a sound like that at all, which was _very_ strange,
+indeed.
+
+But there was something else about Mr. 'Possum that was strange. He
+didn't get any thinner. All the others began to show the change right
+away, but Mr. 'Possum still looked the same, and still kept cheerful,
+and stepped around as lively as ever, and that was _very strange_.
+
+By-and-by, when Mr. 'Possum had gone down-stairs for some barrel staves
+to burn, for the wood was all gone, Mr. Rabbit spoke of it, and said he
+couldn't understand it; and then Mr. 'Coon, who had been thinking about
+it too, said he wondered why it sometimes took Mr. 'Possum so long to
+get a little bit of wood. Then they all remembered how Mr. Possum had
+stayed so long down-stairs whenever he went, even before Old Hungry-Wolf
+came to the Hollow Tree, and they couldn't understand it _at all_.
+
+And just then Mr. 'Possum came up with two little barrel staves which he
+had been a long time getting, and they all turned and looked at him very
+closely, which was a thing they had never done until that time. And
+before Mr. 'Possum noticed it, they saw him chew--a kind of last,
+finishing chew--and then give a little swallow--a sort of last,
+finishing swallow--and just then he noticed them watching him, and he
+stopped right in his tracks and dropped the two little barrel staves and
+looked very scared and guilty, which was strange, when he had always
+been so willing about the wood.
+
+[Illustration: LOOKED STRAIGHT AT MR. 'POSSUM AND SAID, "WHAT WAS THAT
+YOU WERE CHEWING JUST NOW?"]
+
+Then they all got up out of their chairs and looked straight at Mr.
+'Possum, and said:
+
+"What was that you were chewing just now?"
+
+And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
+
+Then they all said:
+
+"What was that you were swallowing just now?"
+
+And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
+
+Then they all said:
+
+"Why do you always stay so long when you go for wood?"
+
+And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
+
+Then they all said:
+
+"Why is it that you don't get thin, like the rest of us?"
+
+And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
+
+Then they all said:
+
+"Why is it you never hear the bark of Old Hungry-Wolf?"
+
+And Mr. 'Possum said, very weakly:
+
+"I did think I heard it a little while ago."
+
+Then they all said:
+
+"And was that why you went down after wood?"
+
+And once more Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
+
+Then they all said:
+
+"What have you got _down there_ to eat? And _where_ do you keep it?"
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum seemed to think of something, and picked up the two
+little barrel staves and brought them over to the fire and put them on,
+and looked very friendly, and sat down and lit his pipe and smoked a
+minute, and said that climbing the stairs had overcome him a little, and
+that he wasn't feeling very well, but if they'd let him breathe a
+minute he'd tell them all about it, and how he had been preparing a nice
+surprise for them, for just such a time as this; but when he saw they
+had found out something, it all came on him so sudden that, what with
+climbing the stairs and all, he couldn't quite gather himself, but that
+he was all right now, and the surprise was ready.
+
+"Of course you know," Mr. 'Possum said, "that I have travelled a good
+deal, and have seen a good many kinds of things happen, and know about
+what to expect. And when I saw how fast we were using up the food, and
+how deep the snow was, I knew we might expect a famine that even Mr.
+Crow's johnny-cake and gravy wouldn't last through; and Mr. Crow
+mentioned something of the kind once himself, though he seemed to forget
+it right away again, for he went on giving us just as much as ever. But
+I didn't forget about it, and right away I began laying aside in a quiet
+place some of the things that would keep pretty well, and that we would
+be glad to have when Old Hungry-Wolf should really come along and we had
+learned to live on lighter meals and could make things last."
+
+Mr. 'Possum was going right on, but Mr. 'Coon interrupted him, and said
+that Mr. 'Possum could call it living on lighter meals if he wanted to
+but that he hadn't eaten any meal at all for three days, and that if Mr.
+'Possum had put away anything for a hungry time he wished he'd get it
+out right now, without any more explaining, for it was food that he
+wanted and not explanations, and all the others said so too.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum said he was just coming to that, but he only wished to
+say a few words about it because they had seemed to think that he was
+doing something that he shouldn't, when he was really trying to save
+them from Old Hungry-Wolf, and he said he had kept his surprise as long
+as he could, so it would last longer, and that he had been pretending
+not to hear Old Hungry's bark just to keep their spirits up, and he
+supposed one of the reasons why he hadn't got any thinner was because he
+hadn't been so worried, and had kept happy in the nice surprise he had
+all the time, just saving it for when they would begin to need it most.
+As to what he had been chewing and swallowing when he came up-stairs,
+Mr. 'Possum said that he had been taking just the least little taste of
+some of the things to see if they were keeping well--some nice cooked
+chickens, for instance, from a lot that Mr. Crow had on hand and didn't
+remember about, and a young turkey or two, and a few ducks, and a bushel
+or so of apples, and a half a barrel of doughnuts, and--
+
+But Mr. 'Possum didn't get any further, for all the Deep Woods People
+made a wild scramble for the stairs, with Mr. 'Possum after them, and
+when they got down in the store-room he took them behind one of the big
+roots of the Hollow Tree, and there was a passageway that none of them
+had ever suspected, and Mr. 'Possum lit a candle and led them through it
+and out into a sort of cave, and there, sure enough, were all the things
+he had told them about and some mince-pies besides. And there was even
+some wood, for Mr. 'Possum had worked hard to lay away a supply of
+things for a long snowed-in time.
+
+Then all the Hollow Tree People sat right down there and had some of the
+things, and by-and-by they carried some more up-stairs, and some wood,
+too, and built up a fine big fire, and lit their pipes and smoked, and
+forgot everything unpleasant in the world. And they all said how smart
+and good Mr. 'Possum was to save all that food for the very time when
+they would need it most, when all the rest of them had been just eating
+it up as fast as possible and would have been now without a thing in the
+world except for Mr. 'Possum.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum asked them if they could hear Old Hungry-Wolf any more,
+and they listened but they couldn't hear a sound, and then they went up
+into Mr. Crow's room, and into Mr. Coon's room, and into Mr. 'Possum's
+room, and they couldn't see a thing of him anywhere, though it was just
+the time of day to see him, for it was late in the evening--the time
+Old Hungry-Wolf is most likely to look in the window.
+
+And that night it turned warm, and the big snow began to thaw; and it
+thawed, and it thawed, and all the brooks and rivers came up, and even
+the Wide Blue Water rose so that the Deep Woods Company had to stay a
+little longer in the Hollow Tree, even when all the snow was nearly
+gone. Mr. Rabbit was pretty anxious to get home, and started out one
+afternoon with Mr. Turtle along, because Mr. Turtle is a good swimmer.
+But there was too much water to cross and they came back again just at
+sunset, and Mr. Crow let them in,[3] so they had to wait several days
+longer. But Mr. 'Possum's food lasted, and by the time it was gone they
+could get plenty more; and when they all went away and left the three
+Hollow Tree People together again, they were very happy because they had
+had such a good time; and the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow
+were as good friends as ever, though the gray feathers on the top of Mr.
+Crow's head never did turn quite black again, and some of the Deep Woods
+People call him Silver-Top to this day.
+
+The Little Lady looks anxiously at the Story Teller.
+
+"Did Old Hungry-Wolf ever get inside of the Hollow Tree?" she asks.
+
+"No, he never did get inside; they only saw him through the window, and
+heard him bark."
+
+"And why couldn't Mr. 'Possum ever hear him sometimes?"
+
+"Well, you see, Old Hungry isn't a real wolf, but only a shadow
+wolf--the shadow of famine. He only looks in when people dread famine,
+and he only barks and gnaws when they feel it. A famine, you know, is
+when one is very hungry and there is nothing to eat. I don't think Mr.
+'Possum was very hungry, and he had all those nice things laid away, so
+he would not care much about that old shadow wolf, which is only another
+name for hunger."
+
+The Little Lady clings very close to the Story Teller.
+
+"Will we ever see Old Hungry-Wolf and hear his bark?"
+
+The Story Teller sits up quite straight, and gathers the Little Lady
+tight.
+
+"Good gracious, no!" he says. "He moved out of our part of the country
+before you were born, and we'll take good care that he doesn't come back
+any more."
+
+"I'm glad," says the Little Lady. "You can sing now--you know--the
+'Hollow Tree Song.'"
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[3] See picture on cover.
+
+
+
+
+AN EARLY SPRING CALL ON MR. BEAR
+
+
+
+
+AN EARLY SPRING CALL ON ON MR. BEAR
+
+MR. 'POSSUM'S CURIOUS DREAM AND WHAT CAME OF IT
+
+
+"What did they do then?" asks the Little Lady. "What did the Deep Woods
+People all do after they got through being snowed in?"
+
+"Well, let's see. It got to be spring then pretty soon--early spring--of
+course, and Mr. Jack Rabbit went to writing poetry and making garden;
+Mr. Robin went to meet Mrs. Robin, who had been spending the winter down
+South; Mr. Squirrel, who is quite young, went to call on a very nice
+young Miss Squirrel over toward the Big West Hills; Mr. Dog had to help
+Mr. Man a good deal with the spring work; Mr. Turtle got out all his
+fishing-things and looked them over, and the Hollow Tree People had a
+general straightening up after company. They had a big house-cleaning,
+of course, with most of their things out on the line, and Mr. 'Possum
+said that he'd just about as soon be snowed-in for good as to have to
+beat carpets and carry furniture up and down stairs all the rest of his
+life."
+
+But they got through at last, and everything was nice when they were
+settled, only there wasn't a great deal to be had to eat, because it had
+been such a long, cold winter that things were pretty scarce and hard to
+get.
+
+One morning Mr. 'Possum said he had had a dream the night before, and he
+wished it would come true. He said he had dreamed that they were all
+invited by Mr. Bear to help him eat the spring breakfast which he takes
+after his long winter nap, and that Mr. Bear had about the best
+breakfast he ever sat down to. He said he had eaten it clear through,
+from turkey to mince-pie, only he didn't get the mince-pie because Mr.
+Bear had asked him if he'd have it hot or cold, and just as he made up
+his mind to have some of both he woke up and didn't get either.
+
+Then Mr. 'Coon said he wished he could have a dream like that; that he'd
+take whatever came along and try to sleep through it, and Mr. Crow
+thought a little while and said that sometimes dreams came true,
+especially if you helped them a little. He said he hadn't heard anything
+of Mr. Bear this spring, and it was quite likely he had been taking a
+longer nap than usual. It might be a good plan, he thought, to drop over
+that way and just look in in passing, because if Mr. Bear should be
+sitting down to breakfast he would be pretty apt to ask them to sit up
+and have a bite while they told him the winter news.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum said that he didn't believe anybody in the world but
+Mr. Crow would have thought of that, and that hereafter he was going to
+tell him every dream he had. They ought to start right away, he said,
+because if they should get there just as Mr. Bear was clearing off the
+table it would be a good deal worse than not getting the mince-pie in
+his dream.
+
+So they hurried up and put on their best clothes and started for Mr.
+Bear's place, which is over toward the Edge of the World, only farther
+down, in a fine big cave which is fixed up as nice as a house and nicer.
+But when they got pretty close to it they didn't go so fast and
+straight, but just sauntered along as if they were only out for a little
+walk and happened to go in that direction, for they thought Mr. Bear
+might be awake and standing in his door.
+
+They met Mr. Rabbit about that time and invited him to go along, but Mr.
+Rabbit said his friendship with Mr. Bear was a rather distant one, and
+that he mostly talked to him from across the river or from a hill that
+had a good clear running space on the other slope. He said Mr. Bear's
+taste was good, for he was fond of his family, but that the fondness had
+been all on Mr. Bear's side.
+
+[Illustration: THEY WENT ALONG, SAYING WHAT A NICE MAN THEY THOUGHT MR.
+BEAR WAS]
+
+So the Hollow Tree People went along, saying what a nice man they
+thought Mr. Bear was, and saying it quite loud, and looking every which
+way, because Mr. Bear might be out for a walk too.
+
+But they didn't see him anywhere, and by-and-by they got right to the
+door of his cave and knocked a little, and nobody came. Then they
+listened, but couldn't hear anything at first, until Mr. 'Coon, who has
+very sharp ears, said that he was sure he heard Mr. Bear breathing and
+that he must be still asleep. Then the others thought they heard it,
+too, and pretty soon they were sure they heard it, and Mr. 'Possum said
+it was too bad to let Mr. Bear oversleep himself this fine weather, and
+that they ought to go in and let him know how late it was.
+
+[Illustration: SLEEP RIGHT WHERE HE WAS]
+
+So then they pushed open the door and went tiptoeing in to where Mr.
+Bear was. They thought, of course, he would be in bed, but he wasn't. He
+was sitting up in a big arm-chair in his dressing-gown, with his feet up
+on a low stool, before a fire that had gone out some time in December,
+with a little table by him that had a candle on it which had burned down
+about the time the fire went out. His pipe had gone out too, and they
+knew that Mr. Bear had been smoking, and must have been very tired and
+gone to sleep right where he was, and hadn't moved all winter long.
+
+It wasn't very cheerful in there, so Mr. 'Possum said maybe they'd
+better stir up a little fire to take the chill off before they woke
+Mr. Bear, and Mr. 'Coon found a fresh candle and lighted it, and Mr.
+Crow put the room to rights a little, and wound up the clock, and set
+it, and started it going. Then when the fire got nice and bright they
+stood around and looked at Mr. Bear, and each one said it was a good
+time now to wake him up, but nobody just wanted to do it, because Mr.
+Bear isn't always good-natured, and nobody could tell what might happen
+if he should wake up cross and hungry, and he'd be likely to do that if
+his nap was broken too suddenly. Mr. Possum said that Mr. Crow was the
+one to do it, as he had first thought of this trip, and Mr. Crow said
+that it was Mr. 'Possum's place, because it had been in his dream. Then
+they both said that as Mr. 'Coon hadn't done anything at all so far, he
+might do that.
+
+Mr. 'Coon said that he'd do it quick enough, only he'd been listening to
+the way Mr. Bear breathed, and he was pretty sure he wouldn't be ready
+to wake up for a week yet, and it would be too bad to wake him now when
+he might not have been resting well during the first month or so of his
+nap and was making it up now. He said they could look around a little
+and see if Mr. Bear's things were keeping well, and perhaps brush up his
+pantry so it would be nice and clean when he did wake.
+
+Then Mr. Crow said he'd always wanted to see Mr. Bear's pantry, for he'd
+heard it was such a good place to keep things, and perhaps he could get
+some ideas for the Hollow Tree; and Mr. 'Possum said that Mr. Bear had
+the name of having a bigger pantry and more things in it than all the
+rest of the Deep Woods People put together.
+
+So they left Mr. Bear all nice and comfortable, sleeping there by the
+fire, and lit another candle and went over to his pantry, which was at
+the other side of the room, and opened the door and looked in.
+
+Well, they couldn't say a word at first, but only just looked at one
+another and at all the things they saw in that pantry. First, on the top
+shelf there was a row of pies, clear around. Then on the next shelf
+there was a row of cakes--first a fruit-cake, then a jelly-cake, then
+another fruit-cake and then another jelly-cake, and the cakes went all
+the way around, too, and some of them had frosting on them, and you
+could see the raisins in the fruit-cake and pieces of citron. Then on
+the next shelf there was a row of nice cooked partridges, all the way
+around, close together. And on the shelf below was a row of meat-pies
+made of chicken and turkey and young lamb, and on the shelf below that
+there was a row of nice canned berries, and on the floor, all the way
+around, there were jars of honey--nice comb honey that Mr. Bear had
+gathered in November from bee-trees.
+
+Mr. Crow spoke first.
+
+"Well, I never," he said, "never in all my life, saw anything like it!"
+
+And Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum both said:
+
+"He can't do it--a breakfast like that is too much for _any_ bear!"
+
+Then Mr. Crow said:
+
+"He oughtn't to be _allowed_ to do it. Mr. Bear is too nice a man to
+lose."
+
+And Mr. 'Possum said:
+
+"He _mustn't_ be allowed to do it--we'll help him."
+
+"Where do you suppose he begins? said Mr. 'Coon.
+
+"At the top, very likely," said Mr. Crow. "He's got it arranged in
+courses."
+
+"I don't care where he begins," said Mr. 'Possum; "I'm going to begin
+somewhere, now, and I think I will begin on a meat-pie."
+
+And Mr. Crow said he thought he'd begin on a nice partridge, and Mr.
+'Coon said he believed he'd try a mince-pie or two first, as a kind of a
+lining, and then fill in with the solid things afterward.
+
+So then Mr. 'Possum took down his meat-pie, and said he hoped this
+wasn't a dream, and Mr. Crow took down a nice brown partridge, and Mr.
+'Coon stood up on a chair and slipped a mince-pie out of a pan on the
+top shelf, and everything would have been all right, only he lost his
+balance a little and let the pie fall. It made quite a smack when it
+struck the floor, and Mr. 'Possum jumped and let his pie fall, too, and
+that made a good deal more of a noise, because it was large and in a tin
+pan.
+
+Then Mr. Crow blew out the light quick, and they all stood perfectly
+still and listened, for it seemed to them a noise like that would wake
+the dead, much more Mr. Bear, and they thought he would be right up and
+in there after them.
+
+But Mr. Bear was too sound asleep for that. They heard him give a little
+cough and a kind of a grunt mixed with a sleepy word or two, and when
+they peeked out through the door, which was open just a little ways,
+they saw him moving about in his chair, trying first one side and then
+the other, as if he wanted to settle down and go to sleep again, which
+he didn't do, but kept right on grunting and sniffing and mumbling and
+trying new positions.
+
+Then, of course, the Hollow Tree People were scared, for they knew
+pretty well he was going to wake up. There wasn't any way to get out of
+Mr. Bear's pantry except by the door, and you had to go right by Mr.
+Bear's chair to get out of the cave. So they just stood there, holding
+their breath and trembling, and Mr. 'Possum wished now it _was_ a dream,
+and that he could wake up right away before the nightmare began.
+
+Well, Mr. Bear he turned this way and that way, and once or twice seemed
+about to settle down and sleep again; but just as they thought he really
+had done it, he sat up pretty straight and looked all around.
+
+Then the Hollow Tree People thought their time had come, and they wanted
+to make a jump, and run for the door, only they were afraid to try it.
+Mr. Bear yawned a long yawn, and stretched himself, and rubbed his eyes
+open, and looked over at the fire and down at the candle on the table
+and up at the clock on the mantel. The 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old
+Black Crow thought, of course, he'd know somebody had been there by all
+those things being set going, and they expected him to roar out
+something terrible and start for the pantry first thing.
+
+But Mr. Bear didn't seem to understand it at all, or to suppose that
+anything was wrong, and from what he mumbled to himself they saw right
+away that he thought he'd been asleep only a little while instead of all
+winter.
+
+"Humph!" they heard him growl, "I must have gone to sleep, and was
+dreaming it's time to wake up. I didn't sleep long, though, by the way
+the fire and the candle look, besides it's only a quarter of ten, and I
+remember winding the clock at half after eight. Funny I feel so hungry,
+after eating a big supper only two hours ago. Must be the reason I
+dreamed it was spring. Humph! guess I'll just eat a piece of pie and go
+to bed."
+
+So Mr. Bear got up and held on to his chair to steady himself, and
+yawned some more and rubbed his eyes, for he was only about half awake
+yet, and pretty soon he picked up his candle and started for the pantry.
+
+Then the Hollow Tree People felt as if they were going to die. They
+didn't dare to breathe or make the least bit of noise, and just huddled
+back in a corner close to the wall, and Mr. 'Possum all at once felt as
+if he must sneeze right away, and Mr. 'Coon would have given anything to
+be able to scratch his back, and Mr. Crow thought if he could only cough
+once more and clear his throat he wouldn't care whether he had anything
+to eat, ever again.
+
+And Mr. Bear he came shuffling along toward the pantry with his candle
+all tipped to one side, still rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up,
+and everything was just as still as still--all except a little scratchy
+sound his claws made dragging along the floor, though that wasn't a nice
+sound for the Hollow Tree People to hear. And when he came to the pantry
+door Mr. Bear pushed it open quite wide and was coming straight in, only
+just then he caught his toe a little on the door-sill and _stumbled_ in,
+and that was too much for Mr. 'Possum, who turned loose a sneeze that
+shook the world.
+
+Then Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon made a dive under Mr. Bear's legs, and Mr.
+'Possum did too, and down came Mr. Bear and down came his candle, and
+the candle went out, but not any quicker than the Hollow Tree People,
+who broke for the cave door and slammed it behind them, and struck out
+for the bushes as if they thought they'd never live to get there.
+
+But when they got into some thick hazel brush they stopped a minute to
+breathe, and then they all heard Mr. Bear calling "Help! Help!" as loud
+as he could, and when they listened they heard him mention something
+about an earthquake and that the world was coming to an end.
+
+[Illustration: MR. COON SCRATCHED HIS BACK AGAINST A LITTLE BUSH]
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum said that from the sound of Mr. Bear's voice he seemed
+to be unhappy about something, and that it was too bad for them to just
+pass right by without asking what was the trouble, especially if Mr.
+Bear, who had always been so friendly, should ever hear of it. So then
+they straightened their collars and ties and knocked the dust off a
+little, and Mr. 'Coon scratched his back against a little bush and Mr.
+Crow cleared his throat, and they stepped out of the hazel patch and
+went up to Mr. Bear's door and pushed it open a little and called out:
+
+"Oh, Mr. Bear, do you need any help?"
+
+"Oh yes," groaned Mr. Bear, "come quick! I've been struck by an
+earthquake and nearly killed, and everything I've got must be ruined.
+Bring a light and look at my pantry!
+
+"So then Mr. 'Coon ran with a splinter from Mr. Bear's fire and lit the
+candle, and Mr. Bear got up, rubbing himself and taking on, and began
+looking at his pantry shelves, which made him better right away.
+
+"Oh," he said, "how lucky the damage is so small! Only two pies and a
+partridge knocked down, and they are not much hurt. I thought everything
+was lost, and my nerves are all upset when I was getting ready for my
+winter sleep. How glad I am you happened to be passing. Stay with me,
+and we will eat to quiet our nerves."
+
+Then the Hollow Tree People said that the earthquake had made them
+nervous too, and that perhaps a little food would be good for all of
+them; so they flew around just as if they were at home, and brought Mr.
+Bear's table right into the pantry, and some chairs, and set out the
+very best things and told Mr. Bear to sit right up to the table and help
+himself, and then all the others sat up, too, and they ate everything
+clear through, from meat-pie in mince-pie, just as if Mr. 'Possum's
+dream had really come true.
+
+And Mr. Bear said he didn't understand how he could have such a good
+appetite when he had such a big supper only two hours ago, and he said
+that there must have been two earthquakes, because a noise of some kind
+had roused him from a little nap he had been taking in his chair, but
+that the real earthquake hadn't happened until he got to the pantry
+door, where he stumbled a little, which seemed to touch it off. He said
+he hoped he'd never live to go through with a thing like that again.
+
+Then the Hollow Tree People said they had heard both of the shocks, and
+that the last one was a good deal the worst, and that of course such a
+thing would sound a good deal louder in a cave anyway. And by-and-by,
+when they were all through eating, they went in by the fire and sat down
+and smoked, and Mr. Bear said he didn't feel as sleepy as he thought he
+should because he was still upset a good deal by the shock, but that he
+guessed he would just crawl into bed while they were there, as it seemed
+nice to have company.
+
+So he did, and by-and-by he dropped off to sleep again, and the Hollow
+Tree People borrowed a few things, and went out softly and shut the door
+behind them. They stopped at Mr. Rabbit's house on the way home, and
+told him they had enjoyed a nice breakfast with Mr. Bear, and how Mr.
+Bear had sent a partridge and a pie and a little pot of honey to Mr.
+Rabbit because of his fondness for the family. Then Mr. Rabbit felt
+quite pleased, because it was too early for spring vegetables and hard
+to get good things for the table.
+
+"And did Mr. Bear sleep all summer?" asks the Little Lady.
+
+"No, he woke up again pretty soon, for he had finished his nap, and of
+course the next time when he looked around he found his fire out and the
+candle burned down and the clock stopped, so he got up and went outside,
+and saw it was spring and that he had slept a good deal longer than
+usual. But when he went to eat his spring breakfast he couldn't
+understand why he wasn't very hungry, and thought it must be because
+he'd eaten two such big suppers.
+
+"But why didn't the Hollow Tree People tell him it was spring and not
+let him go to bed again?"
+
+Well, I s'pose they thought it wouldn't be very polite to tell Mr. Bear
+how he'd been fooled, and, besides, he needed a nice nap again after the
+earthquake--anyhow, he thought it was an earthquake, and was a good deal
+upset.
+
+[Illustration: MR. RABBIT THANKED HIM FROM ACROSS THE RIVER]
+
+And it was a long time before he found out what _had really_ happened,
+and he never would have known, if Mr. Rabbit hadn't seen him fishing one
+day and thanked him from across the river for the nice breakfast he had
+sent him by the Hollow Tree People.
+
+That set Mr. Bear to thinking, and he asked Mr. Rabbit a few questions
+about things in general and earthquakes in particular, and the more he
+found out and thought about it the more he began to guess just how it
+was, and by-and-by when he did find out all about it, he didn't care any
+more, and really thought it quite a good joke on himself for falling
+asleep in his chair and sleeping there all winter long.
+
+
+
+
+MR. CROW'S GARDEN
+
+
+
+
+MR. CROW'S GARDEN
+
+THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE LEARN HOW TO RAISE FINE VEGETABLES
+
+
+One morning, right after breakfast in the Hollow Tree, Mr. Crow said
+he'd been thinking of something ever since he woke up, and if the 'Coon
+and the 'Possum thought it was a good plan he believed he'd do it. He
+said of course they knew how good Mr. Rabbit's garden always was, and
+how he nearly lived out of it during the summer, Mr. Rabbit being a good
+deal of a vegetarian; by which he meant that he liked vegetables better
+than anything, while the Hollow Tree People, Mr. Crow said, were a
+little different in their tastes, though he didn't know just what the
+name for them was. He said he thought they might be humanitarians,
+because they liked the things that Mr. Man and other human beings liked,
+but that he wasn't sure whether that was the right name or not.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum said for him to never mind about the word, but to go on
+and talk about his plan if it had anything to do with something to eat,
+for he was getting pretty tired of living on little picked-up things
+such as they had been having this hard spring, and Mr. 'Coon said so
+too. So then Mr. Crow said:
+
+"Well, I've been planning to have a garden this spring like Mr.
+Rabbit's."
+
+"Humph!" said Mr. 'Possum, "I thought you were going to start a chicken
+farm."
+
+But Mr. Crow said "No," that the Big Deep Woods didn't seem a healthy
+place for chickens, and that they could pick up a chicken here and there
+by-and-by, and then if they had nice green pease to go with it, or some
+green corn, or even a tender salad, it would help out, especially when
+they had company like Mr. Robin, or Mr. Squirrel, or Mr. Rabbit, who
+cared for such things.
+
+So then the 'Coon and the 'Possum both said that to have green pease and
+corn was a very good idea, especially when such things were mixed with
+young chickens with plenty of dressing and gravy, and that as this was a
+pleasant morning they might walk over and call on Jack Rabbit so that
+the Old Black Crow could find out about planting things. Mr. 'Possum
+said that his uncle Silas Lovejoy always had a garden, and he had worked
+it a good deal when he was young, but that he had forgotten just how
+things should be planted, though he knew the moon had something to do
+with it, and if you didn't get the time right the things that ought to
+grow up would grow down and the down things would all grow up, so that
+you'd have to dig your pease and pick your potatoes when the other way
+was the fashion and thought to be better in this climate.
+
+So then the Hollow Tree People put on their things and went out into the
+nice April sunshine and walked over to Jack Rabbit's house, saying how
+pleasant it was to take a little walk this way when everything was
+getting green, and they passed by where Mr. and Mrs. Robin were building
+a new nest, and they looked in on a cozy little hollow tree where Mr.
+Squirrel, who had just brought home a young wife from over by the Big
+West Hills, had set up housekeeping with everything new except the
+old-fashioned feather-bed and home-made spread which Miss Squirrel had
+been given by her folks. They looked through Mr. Squirrel's house and
+said how snug it was, and that perhaps it would be better not to try to
+furnish it too much at once, as it was nice just to get things as one
+was able, instead of doing everything at the start.
+
+When they got to Mr. Rabbit's house he was weaving a rag carpet for his
+front room, and they all stood behind him and watched him weave, and
+by-and-by Mr. 'Coon wanted to try it, but he didn't know how to run the
+treadle exactly, and got some of the strands too loose and some too
+tight, so he gave it up, and they all went out to look at Mr. Rabbit's
+garden.
+
+Well, Mr. Rabbit did have a nice garden. It was all laid out in rows,
+and was straight and trim, and there wasn't a weed anywhere. He had
+things up, too--pease and lettuce and radishes--and he had some
+tomato-plants growing in a box in the house, because it was too early to
+put them out.
+
+Mr. Rabbit said that a good many people bought their plants, but that he
+always liked to raise his own from seed, because then he knew just what
+they were and what to expect. He told them how to plant the different
+things and about the moon, and said there was an old adage in his family
+that if you remembered it you'd always plant at the right time. The
+adage, he said, was:
+
+  "Pease and beans in the light of the moon--
+  Both in the pot before it's June."
+
+And of course you only had to change "light" to "dark" and use it for
+turnips and potatoes and such things, though really it was sometimes
+later than June, but June was near enough, and rhymed with "moon" better
+than July and August. He said he would give Mr. Crow all the seeds he
+wanted, and that when he was ready to put out tomatoes he would let him
+have plenty of plants too.
+
+Then Mr. 'Coon said it would be nice to have a few flower seeds, and
+they all looked at Mr. 'Coon because they knew he had once been in love,
+and they thought by his wanting flowers that he might be going to get
+that way again.
+
+But Mr. Rabbit said he was fond of flowers, too, especially the
+old-fashioned kind, and he picked out some for Mr. 'Coon; and then he
+went to weaving again, and the Hollow Tree People watched him awhile,
+and he pointed out pieces of different clothes he had had that he was
+weaving into his carpet, and they all thought how nice it was to use up
+one's old things that way.
+
+Then by-and-by the Hollow Tree People went back home, and they began
+their garden right away. It was just the kind of a day to make garden
+and they all felt like it, so they spaded and hoed and raked, and didn't
+find it very easy because the place had never been used for a garden
+before, and there were some roots and stones; and pretty soon Mr.
+'Possum said that Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon might go on with the digging
+and he would plant the seeds, as he had been used to such work when he
+lived with his uncle Silas as a boy.
+
+[Illustration: ONE SAID IT WAS ONE WAY AND THE OTHER THE OTHER WAY]
+
+So then he took the seeds, but he couldn't remember Mr. Rabbit's adages
+which told whether beets and carrots and such things as grow below the
+ground had to be planted in the dark of the moon or the light of the
+moon, and it was the same about beans and pease and the things that
+grow above the ground; and when he spoke to Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon about
+it, one said it was one way and the other the other way, and then Mr.
+'Possum said he wasn't planting the things in the moon anyhow, and he
+thought Mr. Rabbit had made the adages to suit the day he was going to
+plant and that they would work either way.
+
+So then Mr. 'Possum planted everything there was, and showed Mr. 'Coon
+how to plant his flower seeds; and when they were all done they stood
+off and admired their nice garden, and said it was just about as nice as
+Jack Rabbit's, and maybe nicer in some ways, because it had trees around
+it and was a pleasant place to work.
+
+Well, after that they got up every morning and went out to look at their
+garden, to see if any of the things were coming up; and pretty soon they
+found a good _many_ things coming up, but they were not in hills and
+rows, and Mr. 'Possum said they were weeds, because he remembered that
+Uncle Silas's weeds had always looked like those, and how he and his
+little cousins had had to hoe them. So then they got their hoes and hoed
+every morning, and by-and-by they had to hoe some during the day too, to
+keep up with the weeds, and the sun was pretty hot, and Mr. 'Possum did
+most of his hoeing over by the trees where it wasn't so sunny, and said
+that hereafter he thought it would be a good plan to plant all their
+garden in the shade.
+
+And every day they kept looking for the seeds to come up, and by-and-by
+a few did come up, and then they were quite proud, and went over and
+told Jack Rabbit about it, and Mr. Rabbit came over to give them some
+advice, and said he thought their garden looked pretty well for being
+its first year and put in late, though it looked to him, he said, as if
+some of it had been planted the wrong time of the moon, and he didn't
+think so much shade was very good for most things.
+
+But Mr. 'Possum said he'd rather have more shade and less things, and he
+thought next year he'd let his part of the garden out on shares.
+
+Well, it got hotter and hotter, and the weeds grew more and more, and
+the Hollow Tree People had to work and hoe and pull nearly all day in
+the sun to keep up with them, and they would have given it up pretty
+soon, only they wanted to show Jack Rabbit that they could have a garden
+too, and by-and-by, when their things got big enough to eat, they were
+so proud that they invited Mr. Rabbit to come over for dinner, and they
+sent word to Mr. Turtle, too, because he likes good things and lives
+alone, not being a family man like Mr. Robin and Mr. Squirrel.
+
+Now of course the Hollow Tree People knew that they had no such fine
+things in their garden as Jack Rabbit had in his, and they said they
+couldn't expect to, but they'd try to have other things to make up; and
+Mr. Crow was cooking for two whole days getting his chicken-pies and his
+puddings and such things ready for that dinner. And then when the
+morning came for it he was out long before sun-up to pick the things in
+the garden while they were nice and fresh, with the dew on them.
+
+But when Mr. Crow looked over his garden he felt pretty bad, for, after
+all, the new potatoes were little and tough, and the pease were small
+and dry, and the beans were thin and stringy, and the salad was pretty
+puny and tasteless, and the corn was just nubbins, because it didn't
+grow in a very good place and maybe hadn't been planted or tended very
+well. So Mr. Crow walked up and down the rows and thought a good deal,
+and finally decided that he'd just take a walk over toward Jack Rabbit's
+garden to see if Mr. Rabbit's things were really so much better after
+all.
+
+It was just about sunrise, and Mr. Crow knew Jack Rabbit didn't get up
+so soon, and he made up his mind he wouldn't wake him when he got there,
+but would just take a look over his nice garden and come away again. So
+when he got to Mr. Rabbit's back fence he climbed through a crack, and
+sat down in the weeds to rest a little and to look around, and he saw
+that Mr. Rabbit's house was just as still and closed up as could be,
+and no signs of Jack Rabbit anywhere.
+
+So then Mr. Crow stepped out into the corn patch and looked along at the
+rows of fine roasting ears, which made him feel sad because of those
+little nubbins in his own garden, and then he saw the fine fat pease and
+beans and salads in Jack Rabbit's garden, and it seemed to him that Mr.
+Rabbit could never in the world use up all those things himself.
+
+[Illustration: MR. CROW DECIDED TO THIN OUT A FEW OF JACK RABBIT'S
+THINGS]
+
+Then Mr. Crow decided that he would thin out a few of Jack Rabbit's
+things, which seemed to be too thick anyway to do well. It would be too
+bad to disturb Mr. Rabbit to tell him about it, and Mr. Crow didn't have
+time to wait for him to get up if he was going to get his dinner ready
+on time.
+
+So Mr. Crow picked some large ears of corn and some of Mr. Rabbit's best
+pease and beans and salads, and filled his apron with all he could
+carry, and climbed through the back fence again, and took out for home
+without wasting any more time. And when he got there Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
+'Possum were just getting up, and he didn't bother to tell them about
+borrowing from Mr. Rabbit's garden, but set out some breakfast, and as
+soon as it was over pitched in to get ready for company. Mr. 'Coon and
+Mr. 'Possum flew around, too, to make the room look nice, and by-and-by
+everything was ready, and the table was set, and the Hollow Tree People
+were all dressed up and looking out the window.
+
+Then pretty soon they saw Mr. Turtle coming through the timber, and just
+then Jack Rabbit came in sight from the other direction. Mr. Turtle had
+brought a basket of mussels, which always are nice with a big dinner,
+like oysters, and Mr. Rabbit said he would have brought some things out
+of his garden, only he knew the Hollow Tree People had a garden, too,
+this year, and would want to show what they could do in that line
+themselves. He said he certainly must take a look at their garden
+because he had heard a good deal about it from Mr. Robin.
+
+Then Mr. Crow felt a little chilly, for he happened to think that if Mr.
+Rabbit went out into their garden and then saw the fine things which
+were going to be on the table he'd wonder where they came from. So he
+said right away that dinner was all ready, and they'd better sit down
+while things were hot and fresh.
+
+Then they all sat down, and first had the mussels which Mr. Turtle had
+brought, and there were some fine sliced tomatoes with them, and Mr.
+Rabbit said he hadn't supposed that such fine big tomatoes as those
+could come out of a new garden that had been planted late, and that he
+certainly must see the vines they came off of before he went home,
+because they were just as big as his tomatoes, if not bigger, and he
+wanted to see just how they could do so well.
+
+And Mr. Crow felt _real_ chilly, and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum both
+said they hadn't supposed their tomatoes were so big and ripe, though
+they hadn't looked at them since yesterday. But Mr. Rabbit said that a
+good many things could happen over night, and Mr. Crow changed the
+subject as quick as he could, and said that things always looked bigger
+and better on the table than they did in the garden, but that he'd
+picked all the real big, ripe tomatoes and he didn't think there'd be
+any more.
+
+Then after the mussels they had the chicken-pie, and when Mr. Rabbit saw
+the vegetables that Mr. Crow served with it he looked at them and said:
+
+"My, what fine pease and beans, and what splendid corn! I am sure your
+vegetables are as good as anything in my garden, if not better. I
+certainly _must see_ just the spot where they grew. I would never have
+believed you could have done it, never, if I hadn't seen them right here
+on your table with my own eyes."
+
+Then Mr. Turtle said they were the finest he ever tasted, and Mr.
+'Possum and Mr. 'Coon both said they wouldn't have believed it
+themselves yesterday, and it was wonderful how much everything had grown
+over night. Then the Old Black Crow choked a little and coughed, and
+said he didn't seem to relish his food, and pretty soon he said that of
+course their garden _had_ done _pretty_ well, but that it was about
+through now, as these were things he had been saving for this dinner,
+and he had gathered all the biggest and best of them this morning before
+Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon were up.
+
+When Mr. Crow said that, Jack Rabbit looked the other way and made a
+very queer face, and you might have thought he was trying to keep from
+laughing if you had seen him, but maybe he was only trying to keep from
+coughing, for pretty soon he did cough a little and said that the early
+morning was the proper time to gather vegetables; that one could always
+pick out the best things then, and do it quietly before folks were up.
+
+Then Mr. Crow felt a cold, shaky chill that went all the way up and
+down, and he was afraid to look up, though of course he didn't believe
+Mr. Rabbit knew anything about what he had done, only he was afraid that
+he would look so guilty that everybody would see it. He said that his
+head was a little dizzy with being over the hot stove so much, and he
+hoped they wouldn't think of going out until the cool of the evening, as
+the sun would be too much for him, and of course he wanted to be with
+them.
+
+[Illustration: BRING ON THE SALAD]
+
+Poor Mr. Crow was almost afraid to bring on the salad, but he was just
+as afraid not to. Only he did wish he had picked out Mr. Rabbit's
+smallest bunches instead of his biggest ones, for he knew there were no
+such other salads anywhere as those very ones he had borrowed from Mr.
+Rabbit's garden. But he put it off as long as he could, and by-and-by
+Jack Rabbit said that there was one thing he was sure the Hollow Tree
+couldn't beat him on, and that was salad. He said he had never had such
+fine heads as he had this year, and that there were a few heads
+especially that he had been saving to show his friends. Then the 'Coon
+and 'Possum said "No," their salads were not very much, unless they had
+grown a great deal over night, like the other things--and when Mr. Crow
+got up to bring them he walked wobbly, and everybody said it was too bad
+that Mr. Crow _would_ always go to so much trouble for company.
+
+Well, when he came in with that bowl of salad and set it down, Mr.
+Turtle and Jack Rabbit said, "Did you ever in your life!" But Mr.
+'Possum and Mr. 'Coon just sat and looked at it, for they thought it
+couldn't be true.
+
+Then pretty soon Mr. Rabbit said that he would take back everything he
+had told them about his salad, and that he was coming over to take some
+lessons from the Hollow Tree People, and especially from Mr. Crow, on
+how to raise vegetables. He said that there were a good many ways to
+raise vegetables--some raised them in a garden; some raised them in a
+hothouse; some raised them in the market; but that Mr. Crow's way was
+the best way there was, and he was coming over to learn it. He said they
+must finish their dinner before dark, for he certainly must _see_ just
+where _all_ Mr. Crow's wonderful things came from.
+
+Then Mr. Crow felt the gray spot on his head getting a good deal grayer,
+and he dropped his knife and fork, and swallowed two or three times, and
+tried to smile, though it was a sickly smile. He said that Mr. Rabbit
+was very kind, but that Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon had done a good deal
+of the work, too.
+
+But Jack Rabbit said "No," that nobody but an industrious person like
+Mr. Crow could have raised _those_ vegetables--a person who got up
+early, he said, and was used to taking a little trouble to get the best
+things.
+
+Then Mr. Crow went after the dessert, and was glad enough that there
+were no more vegetables to come, especially of that kind.
+
+And Mr. Rabbit seemed to forget about looking at the garden until they
+were all through, and then he said that before they went outside he
+would read a little poem he had composed that morning lying in bed and
+looking at the sunrise across his own garden. He said he called it:
+
+ME AND MY GARDEN
+
+  Oh, it's nice to have a garden
+  On which to put my labors.
+  It's nice to have a garden
+  Especially for my neighbors.
+
+  I like to see it growing
+  When skies are blue above me;
+  I like to see it gathered
+  By those who really love me.
+
+  I like to think in winter
+  Of pleasant summer labors;
+  Oh, it's nice to have a garden
+  Especially for my neighbors.
+
+Everybody said that was a nice poem and sounded just like Mr. Rabbit,
+who was always so free-hearted--all except Mr. Crow, who tried to say it
+was nice, and couldn't. Then Mr. Rabbit said they'd better go out now to
+see the Hollow Tree garden, but Mr. Crow said really he couldn't stand
+it yet, and they could see by his looks that he was feeling pretty sick,
+and Mr. Turtle said it was too bad to think of taking Mr. Crow out in
+the sun when he had worked so hard.
+
+So then they all sat around and smoked and told stories, and whenever
+they stopped Mr. Crow thought of something else to do and seemed to get
+better toward night, and got a great deal better when it got dark, and
+Mr. Jack Rabbit said all at once that now it was too late to see the
+Hollow Tree garden, and that he was so sorry, for he knew he could have
+learned something if he could just have one look at it, for nobody could
+see those vegetables and that garden without learning a great deal.
+
+[Illustration: JACK RABBIT CAPERED AND LAUGHED ALL THE WAY HOME]
+
+Then he said he must go, and Mr. Turtle said he guessed _he_ must go
+too, so they both set out for home, and when Jack Rabbit got out of
+sight of the Hollow Tree and into a little open moonlight place, he just
+laid down on the ground and rolled over and laughed and kicked his feet,
+and sat up and rocked and looked at the moon and laughed; and he capered
+and laughed all the way home at the good joke he had all to himself on
+Mr. Crow.
+
+For Mr. Rabbit had been lying awake in bed that morning when Mr. Crow
+was in his garden, and he had seen Mr. Crow _all_ the time.
+
+
+
+
+WHEN JACK RABBIT WAS A LITTLE BOY
+
+
+
+
+WHEN JACK RABBIT WAS A LITTLE BOY
+
+A STORY OF A VERY LONG TIME AGO
+
+
+The Little Lady skips first on one foot and then on the other foot,
+around and around, until pretty soon she tumbles backward into _twelve
+flower-pots_.
+
+That, of course, makes a great damage, and though the Little Lady
+herself isn't hurt to speak of, she is frightened very much and has to
+be comforted by everybody, including the Story Teller, who comes last,
+and finishes up by telling about something that happened to Jack Rabbit
+when _he_ was little.
+
+Once upon a time, it begins, when Mr. Jack Rabbit was quite small, his
+mother left him all alone one afternoon while she went across the Wide
+Grass Lands to visit an old aunt of hers and take her some of the nice
+blackberries she had been putting up that morning. Mrs. Rabbit had been
+very busy all the forenoon, and little Jack had been watching her and
+making believe he was putting up berries too.
+
+And when Mrs. Rabbit got through she had cleaned her stove and polished
+it as nice as could be; then she gave little Jack Rabbit his dinner,
+with some of the berries that were left over, and afterward she washed
+his face and hands and found his blocks for him to play with, besides a
+new stick of red sealing-wax--the kind she used to seal her cans with;
+for they did not have patent screw-top cans in those days, but always
+sealed the covers on with red sealing-wax.
+
+[Illustration: TOOK HER PARASOL AND HER RETICULE AND A CAN OF BERRIES,
+AND STARTED]
+
+Then Mrs. Rabbit told little Jack that he could play with his blocks,
+and build houses, with the red stick for a chimney, and to be a good boy
+until she came home. So little Jack Rabbit promised, and Mrs. Rabbit
+kissed him twice and took her parasol and her reticule and a can of
+berries, and started. Little Jack would have gone with her, only it was
+too far.
+
+Well, after she had left, little Jack played with his blocks and built
+houses and set the stick of sealing-wax up for a brick chimney, and
+by-and-by he played he was canning fruit, and he wished he could have a
+little stove and little cans and a little stick of sealing-wax, so he
+could really do it all just as she did.
+
+Then little Jack Rabbit looked at the nice polished stove and wondered
+how it would be to use that, and to build a little fire in it--just a
+_little_ fire--which would make everything seem a good deal more real,
+he thought, than his make-believe stove of blocks.
+
+And pretty soon little Jack opened the stove door and looked in, and
+when he stirred the ashes there were still a few live coals there, and
+when he put in some shavings they blazed up, and when he put in some
+pieces of old shingles and things they blazed up too, and when he put in
+some of Mrs. Rabbit's nice dry wood the stove got _quite hot_!
+
+Then little Jack Rabbit became somewhat frightened, for he had only
+meant to make a very small fire, and he thought this might turn into a
+big fire. Also, he remembered some things his mother had told him about
+playing with fire and about _never going near a hot stove_. He thought
+he'd better open the stove door a little to see if the fire was getting
+too big, but he was afraid to touch it with his fingers for fear of
+burning them. He had seen his mother use a stick or something to open
+the stove door when it was hot, so he picked up the first thing that
+came handy, which was the stick of sealing-wax. But when he touched it
+to the hot door the red stick sputtered a little and left a bright red
+spot on the stove door.
+
+Then little Jack forgot all about putting up blackberries, admiring that
+beautiful red spot on the shiny black stove, and thinking how nice it
+would be to make some more like it, which he thought would improve the
+looks of the stove a great deal.
+
+[Illustration: AND HE MADE SOME STRIPES, TOO--MOSTLY ON TOP OF THE
+STOVE]
+
+So then he touched it again in another place and made another spot, and
+in another place and made another spot, and in a lot of places and made
+a lot of spots, and he made some stripes, too--mostly on top of the
+stove, which was nice and smooth to mark on, though he made _some_ on
+the pipe. You would hardly have known it was the same stove when he got
+all through, and little Jack thought how beautiful it was and how
+pleased his mother would be when she got home and _saw_ it. But then
+right away he happened to think that perhaps she might not be so pleased
+after all, and the more he thought about it the more sure he was that
+she wouldn't like her nice red-striped and spotted stove as well as a
+black one; and, besides, she had told him _never_ to play with fire.
+
+[Illustration: LITTLE JACK KNEW PERFECTLY WELL THAT SHE WASN'T AT ALL
+PLEASED]
+
+And just at that moment Mrs. Rabbit herself stepped in the door! And
+when she looked at her red-spotted and striped stove and then at little
+Jack Rabbit, little Jack knew perfectly well without her saying a single
+word that she wasn't _at all pleased_. So he began to cry very loud, and
+started to run, and tripped over his blocks and fell against a little
+stand-table that had Mrs. Rabbit's work-basket on it (for Mrs. Rabbit
+always knit or sewed while she was cooking anything), and all the spools
+and buttons and knitting-work went tumbling, with little Jack Rabbit
+right among them, holloing, "Oh, I'm killed! I'm killed!"--just
+sprawling there on the floor, afraid to get up, and expecting every
+minute his mother would do something awful.
+
+But Mrs. Rabbit just stood and looked at him over her spectacles and
+then at her red-spotted and striped stove, and pretty soon she said:
+
+"Well, this is a lovely mess to come home to!"
+
+Which of course made little Jack take on a good deal worse and keep on
+bawling out that he was killed, until Mrs. Rabbit told him that he was
+making a good deal of noise for a _dead_ man, and that if he'd get up
+and pick up all the things he'd upset maybe he'd come to life again.
+
+Then little Jack Rabbit got up and ran to his mother and cried against
+her best dress and got some tears on it, and Mrs. Rabbit sat down in her
+rocker and looked at her stove and rocked him until he felt better. And
+by-and-by she changed her dress and went to cleaning her stove while
+little Jack picked up all the things--all the spools and buttons and
+needles and knitting-work--every single thing.
+
+[Illustration: PROMISED NEVER TO DISOBEY HIS MOTHER AGAIN]
+
+And after supper, when he said his prayers and went to bed, he promised
+never to disobey his mother again.
+
+
+
+
+A HOLLOW TREE PICNIC
+
+
+
+
+A HOLLOW TREE PICNIC
+
+THE LITTLE LADY AND THE STORY TELLER, AND THEIR FRIENDS
+
+
+Not far from the House of Low Ceilings, which stands on the borders of
+the Big Deep Woods, there is a still smaller house, where, in
+summertime, the Story Teller goes to make up things and write them down.
+
+And one warm day he is writing away and not noticing what time it is
+when he thinks he hears somebody step in the door. So then he looks
+around, and he sees a little straw hat and a little round red face under
+it, and then he sees a basket, and right away he knows it is the Little
+Lady. And the Little Lady says:
+
+"I've brought the picnic--did you know it?"
+
+"Why, no!" the Story Teller says, looking surprised. "Is it time?"
+
+"Yes, and I've got huckleberries and cream, and some hot biscuits."
+
+"Good gracious! Let's see!"
+
+So then the Story Teller looks, and, sure enough, there they are, and
+more things, too; and pretty soon the Little Lady and he go down to a
+very quiet place under some hemlock-trees by a big rock where there is a
+clear brook and a spring close by, and they sit down, and the Little
+Lady spreads the picnic all out--and there is ham too, and
+bread-and-butter, and doughnuts and they are so hungry that they eat
+everything, and both dip into one bowl when they get to huckleberries
+and cream.
+
+Then the Little Lady says:
+
+"Now tell me about the Hollow Tree People; they have picnics, too."
+
+"Sure enough, they do. And I think I'll have to tell you about their
+very last picnic and what happened."
+
+Well, once upon a time Mr. 'Possum said that he was getting tired of
+sitting down to a table every meal in a close room with the smell of
+cooking coming in, and if Mr. Crow would cook up a few things that would
+taste good cold he'd pack the basket (that is, Mr. 'Possum would) and
+Mr. 'Coon could carry it, and they'd go out somewhere and eat their
+dinner in a nice place under the trees.
+
+Mr. 'Coon said he knew a pleasant place to go, and Mr. Crow said he'd
+cook one of Mr. Man's chickens, which Mr. 'Possum had brought home the
+night before, though it would take time, he said, because it was pretty
+old--Mr. 'Possum having picked it out in the dark in a hurry.
+
+[Illustration: AND HE TASTED OF THAT A LITTLE, TOO]
+
+So then they all flew around and put away things, and Mr. Crow got the
+chicken on while Mr. 'Coon sliced the bread and Mr. 'Possum cut the
+cake, which they had been saving for Sunday, and he picked out a pie
+too, and a nice book to read which Mr. Crow had found lying in Mr. Man's
+yard while the folks were at dinner. Then he packed the basket all neat
+and nice, and ate a little piece of the cake when Mr. 'Coon had stepped
+out to see how the chicken was coming along, and when the chicken was
+ready he cut it all up nicely, and he tasted of that a little, too,
+while Mr. Crow was getting on his best picnic things to go.
+
+And pretty soon they all started out, and it was so bright and sunny
+that Mr. 'Possum began to sing a little, and Mr. 'Coon told him not to
+make a noise like that or they'd have company--Mr. Dog or Mr. Fox or
+somebody--when there was only just enough chicken for themselves, which
+made Mr. 'Possum stop right away. And before long they came to a very
+quiet place under some thick hemlock-trees behind a stone wall and close
+to a brook of clear water.
+
+That was the place Mr. 'Coon had thought of, and they sat down there and
+spread out all the things on some moss, and everything looked so nice
+that Mr. 'Possum said they ought to come here every day and eat dinner
+as long as the hot weather lasted. Then they were all so hungry that
+they began on the chicken right away, and Mr. 'Possum said that maybe he
+_might_ have picked out a tenderer one, but that he didn't think he
+could have found a bigger one, or one that would have lasted longer, and
+that, after all, size and lasting were what one needed for a picnic.
+
+[Illustration: MR. POSSUM LEANED HIS BACK AGAINST A TREE AND READ
+HIMSELF TO SLEEP]
+
+So they ate first one thing and then another, and Mr. 'Coon asked if
+they remembered the time Mr. Dog had come to one of their picnics before
+they were friends with him, when he'd really been invited to stay away;
+and they all laughed when they thought how Mr. Rabbit had excused
+himself, and the others, too, one after another, until Mr. Dog had the
+picnic mostly to himself. And by-and-by the Hollow Tree People lit their
+pipes and smoked, and Mr. 'Possum leaned his back against a tree and
+read himself to sleep, and dreamed, and had a kind of a nightmare about
+that other picnic, and talked in his sleep about it, which made Mr.
+'Coon think of something to do.
+
+So then Mr. 'Coon got some long grass and made a strong band of it and
+very carefully tied Mr. 'Possum to the tree, and just as Mr. 'Possum
+began to have his dream again and was saying "Oh! Oh! here comes Mr.
+Dog!" Mr. 'Coon gave three loud barks right in Mr. 'Possum's ear, and
+Mr. Crow said "Wake up! Wake up, Mr. 'Possum! Here he comes!"
+
+And Mr. 'Possum did wake up, and jumped and jerked at that band, and
+holloed out as loud as he could:
+
+"Oh, please let me go, Mr. Dog! Oh, please let me go, Mr. Dog!" for he
+thought it was Mr. Dog that had him, and he forgot all about them being
+friends.
+
+But just then he happened to see Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon rolling on the
+ground and laughing, and he looked down to see what had him and found he
+was tied to a tree, and he knew that they had played a joke on him. That
+made him pretty mad at first, and he said if he ever got loose he'd pay
+them back for their smartness.
+
+[Illustration: SO MR. 'POSSUM PROMISED, AND MR. 'COON UNTIED HIM]
+
+Then Mr. 'Coon told him he most likely never would get loose if he
+didn't promise not to do anything, so Mr. 'Possum promised, and Mr. Coon
+untied him. Mr. 'Possum said he guessed the chicken must have been
+pretty hard to digest, and he knew it was pretty salty, for he was dying
+for a good cold drink.
+
+Then Mr. 'Coon said he knew where there was a spring over beyond the
+wall that had colder water than the brook, and he'd show them the way to
+it. So they climbed over the wall and slipped through the bushes to the
+spring, and all took a nice cold drink, and just as they raised their
+heads from drinking they heard somebody say something. And they all kept
+perfectly still and listened, and they heard it again, just beyond some
+bushes.
+
+[Illustration: "AND WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY SAW?"]
+
+So then they crept softly in among the green leaves and branches and
+looked through, and what do you think they saw?
+
+The Story Teller turns to the Little Lady, who seems a good deal
+excited.
+
+"Why, why, what did they see?" she says. "Tell me, quick!"
+
+"Why," the Story Teller goes on, "they saw the Little Lady and the Story
+Teller having a picnic too, with all the nice things spread out by a
+rock, under the hemlock-trees."
+
+"Oh," gasps the Little Lady, "did they really see us? and are they there
+now?"
+
+"They might be," says the Story Teller. "The Hollow Tree People slip
+around very softly. Anyway, they were there then, and it was the first
+time they had ever seen the Little Lady and the Story Teller so close.
+And they watched them until they were all through with their picnic and
+had gathered up their things. Then the 'Coon and the 'Possum and Old
+Black Crow slipped away again, and crept over the wall and gathered up
+their own things and set out for home very happy."
+
+The Little Lady grasps the Story Teller's hand.
+
+"Let's go and see their picnic place!" she says. "They may be there
+now."
+
+So the Little Lady and the Story Teller go softly down to the spring
+and get a drink; then they creep across to the mossy stone wall and peer
+over, and there, sure enough, is a green mossy place in the shade, the
+very place to spread a picnic; and the Little Lady jumps and says "Oh!"
+for she sees something brown whisk into the bushes. Anyhow, she knows
+the Hollow Tree People have been there, for there is a little piece of
+paper on the moss which they must have used to wrap up something, and
+she thinks they most likely heard her coming and are just gone.
+
+So the Story Teller lifts her over the wall, and they sit down on the
+green moss of the Hollow Tree picnic place, and she leans up against him
+and listens to the singing of the brook, and the Story Teller sings
+softly too, until by-and-by the Little Lady is asleep.
+
+And it may be, as they sit there and drowse and dream, that the Hollow
+Tree People creep up close and watch them.
+
+Who knows?
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Hollow Tree Snowed-In, by Albert Bigelow Paine
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOLLOW TREE SNOWED-IN ***
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+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Hollow Tree Snowed In Book, by Albert Bigelow Paine.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
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+
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's The Hollow Tree Snowed-In, by Albert Bigelow Paine
+
+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 Hollow Tree Snowed-In
+       Being a continuation of stories about the Hollow Tree and
+              Deep Woods people
+
+Author: Albert Bigelow Paine
+
+Illustrator: J. M. Conde
+
+Release Date: October 4, 2010 [EBook #33948]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOLLOW TREE SNOWED-IN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from
+scanned images of public domain material from the Internet
+Archive.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 395px;"><a name="ILL_001" id="ILL_001"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_001.jpg" width="395" height="600" alt="Book Cover" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_002" id="ILL_002"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_002.jpg" width="500" height="344" alt="THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS PEOPLE" title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS PEOPLE<br /><br />Mr. Crow, Mr. Turtle, Mr. &#39;Coon, Mr. &#39;Possum, Mr. Robin, Mr. Squirrel,
+Mr. Dog, Mr. Rabbit<br /><br />THEN MR. DOG SAID: &quot;I KNOW ALL ABOUT MENAGERIES, FOR I HAVE BEEN TO
+ONE&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h1>THE HOLLOW TREE</h1>
+
+<h1>SNOWED-IN BOOK</h1>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h4>BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE STORIES ABOUT</h4>
+
+<h4>THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS PEOPLE</h4>
+
+<h3>BY</h3>
+
+<h2>ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE</h2>
+
+<p class="center">AUTHOR OF</p>
+
+<p class="center">"THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS BOOK"</p>
+
+<h3>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY</h3>
+
+<h2>J.&nbsp;M. COND&Eacute;</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/ill_003.jpg" width="100" height="96" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h4>NEW YORK AND LONDON</h4>
+
+<h4>HARPER &amp; BROTHERS PUBLISHERS</h4>
+
+<h4>MCMX</h4>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Books by</span></h2>
+
+<h2>ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE</h2>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Hollow Tree Snowed-In Book</span>. Crown 8vo</td><td align='right'>$1.50</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Ship-Dwellers</span>. Illustrated. 8vo</td><td align='right'>1.50</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Tent-Dwellers</span>. Illustrated. Post 8vo</td><td align='right'>1.50</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Hollow Tree and Deep Woods Book</span>. Illustrated. Post 8vo</td><td align='right'>1.50</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">From Van-Dweller to Commuter</span>. Ill'd. Post 8vo</td><td align='right'>1.50</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Life of Thomas Nast</span>. Ill'd. 8vo <i>net</i></td><td align='right'>5.00</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h4>HARPER &amp; BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, N.&nbsp;Y.</h4>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p class="center">Copyright, 1910, by <span class="smcap">Harper &amp; Brothers</span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h4>TO ALL DWELLERS IN</h4>
+
+<h4>THE BIG DEEP WOODS OF DREAM</h4>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 424px;"><a name="ILL_004" id="ILL_004"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_004.jpg" width="424" height="600" alt="MAP OF THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS COUNTRY" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MAP OF THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS COUNTRY</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EXPLANATION OF MAP</h2>
+
+<p>The top of the map is South. This is always so with the Hollow Tree
+People. The cross on the shelf below the edge of the world (where the
+ladder is) is where Mr. Dog landed, and the ladder is the one brought by
+Mr. Man for him to climb back on. The tree that Mr. Man cut down shows
+too. The spot on the edge of the world is where the Hollow Tree People
+sometimes sit and hang their feet over, and talk. A good many paths
+show, but not all by a good deal. The bridge and plank near Mr. Turtle's
+house lead to the Wide Grass Lands and Big West Hills. The spots along
+the Foot Race show where Grandpaw Hare stopped, and the one across the
+fence shows where Mr. Turtle landed. Most of the other things tell what
+they are, and all the things are a good deal farther apart than they
+look. Of course there was not room on the map for everything.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="TO_FRIENDS_OLD_AND_NEW" id="TO_FRIENDS_OLD_AND_NEW"></a>TO FRIENDS OLD AND NEW</h2>
+
+<p>I wonder if you have ever heard a story which begins like this: "Once
+upon a time, in the far depths of the Big Deep Woods, there was a Big
+Hollow Tree with three hollow branches. In one of these there lived a
+'Coon, in another a 'Possum, and in the third a Big Black Crow."</p>
+
+<p>That was the way the first story began in a book which told about the
+Hollow Tree People and their friends of the Big Deep Woods who used to
+visit them, and how they all used to sit around the table, or by the
+fire, in the parlor-room down-stairs, where they kept most of their
+things, and ate and talked and had good times together, just like
+folk.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p>
+
+<p>And the stories were told to the Little Lady by the Story Teller, and
+there were pictures made for them by the Artist, and it was all a long
+time ago&mdash;so long ago that the Little Lady has grown to be almost a big
+lady now, able to read stories for herself, and to write them, too,
+sometimes.</p>
+
+<p>But the Story Teller and the Artist did not grow any older. The years do
+not make any difference to them. Like the Hollow Tree People they remain
+always the same, for though to see them you might think by their faces
+and the silver glint in their hair that they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> are older, it would not be
+so, because these things are only a kind of enchantment, made to
+deceive, when all the time they are really with the Hollow Tree People
+in the Big Deep Woods, where years and enchantments do not count. It was
+only Mr. Dog, because he lived too much with Mr. Man, who grew old and
+went away to that Far Land of Evening which lies beyond the sunset,
+taking so many of the Hollow Tree stories with him. We thought these
+stories were lost for good when Mr. Dog left us, but that was not true,
+for there came another Mr. Dog&mdash;a nephew of our old friend&mdash;and he grew
+up brave and handsome, and learned the ways of the Hollow Tree People,
+and their stories, and all the old tales which the first Mr. Dog did not
+tell.</p>
+
+<p>And now, too, there is another Little Lady&mdash;almost exactly like the
+first Little Lady&mdash;and it may be that it is this Little Lady, after all,
+who keeps the Artist and the Story Teller young, for when she thought
+they might be growing older, and forgetting, she went with them away
+from the House of Many Windows, in the city, to the House of Low
+Ceilings and Wide Fireplaces&mdash;a queer old house like Mr. Rabbit's&mdash;built
+within the very borders of the Big Deep Woods, where they could be
+always close to Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum and the Old Black Crow, and
+all the others, and so learn all the new tales of the Hollow Tree.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#TO_FRIENDS_OLD_AND_NEW"><b><span class="smcap">To Friends Old and New</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_FIRST_SNOWED-IN_STORY"><b><span class="smcap">The First Snowed-In Story</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#MR_DOG_AT_THE_CIRCUS"><b><span class="smcap">Mr. Dog at the Circus</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_SECOND_SNOWED-IN_STORY"><b><span class="smcap">The Second Snowed-In Story</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_WIDOW_CROWS_BOARDING-HOUSE"><b><span class="smcap">The Widow Crow's Boarding-House</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_FINDING_OF_THE_HOLLOW_TREE"><b><span class="smcap">The Finding of the Hollow Tree</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_THIRD_SNOWED-IN_STORY"><b><span class="smcap">The Third Snowed-In Story</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_FOURTH_SNOWED-IN_STORY"><b><span class="smcap">The Fourth Snowed-In Story</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_SNOWED-IN_LITERARY_CLUB"><b><span class="smcap">The "Snowed-In" Literary Club</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_SNOWED-IN_LITERARY_CLUB_PART_II"><b><span class="smcap">The "Snowed-In" Literary Club&mdash;Part II</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_DISCONTENTED_FOX"><b><span class="smcap">The Discontented Fox</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#MR_POSSUMS_GREAT_STORY"><b><span class="smcap">Mr. 'Possum's Great Story</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_BARK_OF_OLD_HUNGRY-WOLF"><b><span class="smcap">The Bark of Old Hungry-Wolf</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#AN_EARLY_SPRING_CALL_ON_MR_BEAR"><b><span class="smcap">An Early Spring Call on Mr. Bear</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#MR_CROWS_GARDEN"><b><span class="smcap">Mr. Crow's Garden</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#WHEN_JACK_RABBIT_WAS_A_LITTLE_BOY"><b><span class="smcap">When Jack Rabbit Was a Little Boy</span></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#A_HOLLOW_TREE_PICNIC"><b><span class="smcap">A Hollow Tree Picnic</span></b></a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_002"><b>THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS PEOPLE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_004"><b>MAP OF THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS COUNTRY</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_005"><b>GATHERING NICE PIECES OF WOOD</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_006"><b>THE PANTRY IN THE HOLLOW TREE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_007"><b>"SLIPPED IN BEHIND HIM WHEN HE WENT INTO THE TENT"</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_008"><b>"HE LOOKED SMILING AND GOOD-NATURED, AND I WENT OVER TO ASK HIM SOME QUESTIONS"</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_009"><b>"GAVE ME AN EXTRA BIG SWING AND CRACK"</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_010"><b>ALL AT ONCE HE HEARD A FIERCE BARK CLOSE BEHIND HIM</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_011"><b>THEN I SUDDENLY FELT LIKE A SHOOTING-STAR</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_012"><b>"THEN MR. DOG SAID, 'TELL ME ANOTHER'"</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_013"><b>"AND DID ROLL OFF THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, SURE ENOUGH"</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_014"><b>"I SET OUT FOR HOME WITHOUT WAITING TO SAY GOOD-BYE"</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_015"><b>CAME CLATTERING DOWN RIGHT IN FRONT OF MR. DOG</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_016"><b>SO THEN MR. DOG TRIED TO GET MR. 'POSSUM ON HIS SHOULDER</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_017"><b>HE WAS AN OLD BACHELOR AND LIKED TO HAVE HIS OWN WAY</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_018"><b>THEY SAW MR. CROW OUT IN THE YARD CUTTING WOOD FOR HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_019"><b>HAD TO STAY AT HOME AND PEEL POTATOES</b></a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_020"><b>LISTENED NOW AND THEN AT WIDOW CROW'S DOOR TO BE SURE SHE WAS ASLEEP</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_021"><b>MR. 'POSSUM SAID HE'D JUST GET ON AND HOLD THE THINGS</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_022"><b>MR. 'POSSUM AND MR. 'COON TRIED TO PUT UP THE STOVE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_023"><b>MR. FOX SAID HE DIDN'T HAVE MUCH TO DO FOR A FEW MINUTES AND HE'D ACT AS JUDGE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_024"><b>SAILING ALONG, JUST TOUCHING THE HIGHEST POINTS</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_025"><b>AWAY WENT MR. TORTOISE, CLEAR OVER THE TOP RAIL</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_026"><b>SET OUT FOR HOME BY A BACK WAY</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_027"><b>TRIED TO SPLICE HIS PROPERTY BACK IN PLACE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_028"><b>GRANDFATHER WOULD LIGHT HIS PIPE AND THINK IT OVER</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_029"><b>SET UP HIS EARS AND WENT BY, LICKETY-SPLIT</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_030"><b>"'GLAD TO SEE YOU,' SAID KING LION; 'I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT HAVING A NICE RABBIT FOR BREAKFAST"</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_031"><b>GOT AROUND THE TABLE AND BEGAN TO WORK</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_032"><b>MR. 'POSSUM WANTED TO KNOW WHAT MR. RABBIT MEANT BY SPINNING THEIR TAILS</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_033"><b>MR. DOG SAID HE HAD MADE A FEW SKETCHES</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_034"><b>MR. 'POSSUM SAID IT MIGHT BE A GOOD ENOUGH STORY, BUT IT COULDN'T BE TRUE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_035"><b>SO THEN MR. RABBIT SAID THEY MUST CHOOSE WHO WOULD BE "IT"</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_036"><b>MR. 'POSSUM HAD TO PUT ON THE HANDKERCHIEF AND DO MORE EXERCISING THAN ANY OF THEM</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_037"><b>WOULD FIND IT ON THE MANTEL-SHELF OR PERHAPS ON MR. CROW'S BALD HEAD</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_038"><b>MR. 'POSSUM SAID HE HADN'T MEANT ANYTHING AT ALL BY WHAT HE HAD SAID ABOUT THE STORY</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_039"><b>AND SO THIS CAT GREW RICH AND FAT</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_042"><b>HIS CLERKS</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_043"><b>A SOLEMN LOOK WAS IN HIS FACE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_044"><b>QUOTH HE; "MY PRIDE IS SATISFIED; THIS KINGDOM BUSINESS DOES NOT PAY"</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_045"><b>AUNT MELISSY HAD ARRANGED A BUNDLE FOR UNCLE SILAS, AND SHE HAD FIXED UP THE HIRED MAN TOO</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_046"><b>DIDN'T LOOK AS IF SHE BELONGED TO THE REST OF OUR CROWD</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_047"><b>THE BALLOON WENT OVER THE WIDE BLUE WATER JUST AFTER IT GOT OUR FAMILY</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_048"><b>MR. TURTLE SAID THAT WHAT MR. 'POSSUM HAD TOLD THEM WAS TRUE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_049"><b>ONE DAY MR. CROW FOUND HE WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL OF EVERYTHING</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_050"><b>THEN MR. COON SLAMMED HIS DOOR</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_051"><b>MR. 'POSSUM SAID NOT TO MOVE, THAT HE WOULD GO AFTER A PIECE OF WOOD</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_052"><b>HE WOULD SMOKE IN THE SUN WHEN THE MORNINGS WERE FAIR</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_053"><b>WITH A LOOK AND A SIGH THEY WOULD STAND AND BEHOLD</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_054"><b>THE TASTIEST PASTRY THAT EVER WAS KNOWN</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_055"><b>THEN TO STIR AND TO BAKE HE BEGAN RIGHT AWAY</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_056"><b>THE GREEDY OLD RAVEN, BUT GREEDY NO MORE</b></a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_057"><b>LOOKED STRAIGHT AT MR. 'POSSUM AND SAID, "WHAT WAS THAT YOU WERE CHEWING JUST NOW?"</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_058"><b>THEY WENT ALONG, SAYING WHAT A NICE MAN THEY THOUGHT MR. BEAR WAS</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_059"><b>MR. BEAR MUST HAVE BEEN VERY TIRED AND GONE TO SLEEP RIGHT WHERE HE WAS</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_060"><b>MR. 'COON SCRATCHED HIS BACK AGAINST A LITTLE BUSH</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_061"><b>MR. RABBIT THANKED HIM FROM ACROSS THE RIVER</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_062"><b>ONE SAID IT WAS ONE WAY AND THE OTHER THE OTHER WAY</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_063"><b>MR. CROW DECIDED TO THIN OUT A FEW OF JACK RABBIT'S THINGS</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_064"><b>MR. CROW WAS ALMOST AFRAID TO BRING ON THE SALAD</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_065"><b>JACK RABBIT CAPERED AND LAUGHED ALL THE WAY HOME</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_066"><b>TOOK HER PARASOL AND HER RETICULE AND A CAN OF BERRIES, AND STARTED</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_067"><b>AND HE MADE SOME STRIPES, TOO&mdash;MOSTLY ON TOP OF THE STOVE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_068"><b>LITTLE JACK KNEW PERFECTLY WELL THAT SHE WASN'T AT ALL PLEASED</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_069"><b>PROMISED NEVER TO DISOBEY HIS MOTHER AGAIN</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_070"><b>AND HE TASTED OF THAT A LITTLE, TOO</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_071"><b>MR. 'POSSUM LEANED HIS BACK AGAINST A TREE AND READ HIMSELF TO SLEEP</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_072"><b>SO MR. 'POSSUM PROMISED, AND MR. 'COON UNTIED HIM</b></a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#ILL_073"><b>"AND WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY SAW?"</b></a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_FIRST_SNOWED-IN_STORY" id="THE_FIRST_SNOWED-IN_STORY"></a>THE FIRST SNOWED-IN STORY</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_005" id="ILL_005"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_005.jpg" width="500" height="351" alt="GATHERING NICE PIECES OF WOOD" title="" />
+<span class="caption">GATHERING NICE PIECES OF WOOD</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE FIRST SNOWED-IN STORY</h2>
+
+<h3>IN WHICH THE READER LEARNS TO KNOW THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE AND THEIR
+FRIENDS, AND THE LITTLE LADY, AND THE STORY TELLER</h3>
+
+<p>Now this is the beginning of the Hollow Tree stories which the Story
+Teller told the Little Lady in the queer old house which stands in the
+very borders of the Big Deep Woods itself. They were told in the Room of
+the Lowest Ceiling and the Widest Fire&mdash;a ceiling so low that when the
+Story Teller stands upright it brushes his hair<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> as he walks, and a fire
+so deep that pieces of large trees do not need to be split but can be
+put on whole. In the old days, several great-grandfathers back, as the
+Hollow Tree People might say, these heavy sticks were drawn in by a
+horse that came right through the door and dragged the wood to the wide
+stone hearth.</p>
+
+<p>It is at the end of New-Year's Day, and the Little Lady has been
+enjoying her holidays, for Santa Claus found his way down the big stone
+chimney and left a number of things she wanted. Now, when the night is
+coming down outside, and when inside there is a heap of blazing logs and
+a rocking-chair, it is time for the Story Teller. The Story Teller
+generally smokes and looks into the fire when he tells a Hollow Tree
+story, because the Hollow Tree People always smoke and look into the
+fire when <i>they</i> tell <i>their</i> stories, and the Little Lady likes
+everything to be "just the same," and the stories must be always told
+just the same, too. If they are not, she stops the Story Teller and sets
+him right. So while the Little Woman passes to and fro, putting away the
+tea-things, the Story Teller lights his pipe, and rocks, and looks into
+the fire, and holds the Little Lady close, and begins the Tales of the
+Hollow Tree.</p>
+
+<p>"Once upon a time," he begins&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Once upon a time," murmurs the Little Lady, settling herself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes, once upon a time, in the old days of the Hollow Tree, when Mr. Dog
+had become friends with the 'Coon and the 'Possum and the Old Black Crow
+who lived in the three hollow branches of the Big Hollow Tree, and used
+to meet together in their parlor-room down-stairs and invite all their
+friends, and have good times together, just like folk&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"But they live there now, don't they?" interrupts the Little Lady,
+suddenly sitting up, "and still have their friends, just the same?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, of course, but this was one of the old times, you know."</p>
+
+<p>The Little Lady settles back, satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>"Go on telling, now," she says.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, this was one of the times when all the Deep Woods People
+had been invited to the Hollow Tree for Christmas Day, and were snowed
+in. Of course they didn't expect to be snowed in. Nobody ever expects to
+be snowed in till it happens, and then it's too late."</p>
+
+<p>"Was that the Christmas that Mr. Dog played Santa Claus and brought all
+the presents, and Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Robin and Mr. Turtle and Jack
+Rabbit came over, and they all sat around the fire and ate things and
+told nice stories? You said you would tell about that, and you never
+did."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I am going to tell it now, as soon as a Little Lady gets real still,"
+says the Story Teller. So then the Little Lady <i>is</i> real still, and he
+tells the first snowed-in story, which is called:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="MR_DOG_AT_THE_CIRCUS" id="MR_DOG_AT_THE_CIRCUS"></a>MR. DOG AT THE CIRCUS</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>MR. DOG AT THE CIRCUS</h2>
+
+<h3>THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE LEARN SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT ABOUT SHOWS</h3>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_006" id="ILL_006"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_006.jpg" width="500" height="427" alt="THE PANTRY IN THE HOLLOW TREE" title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE PANTRY IN THE HOLLOW TREE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>That was a great Christmas in the Hollow Tree. The 'Coon and the 'Possum
+and the Old Black Crow had been getting ready for it for a long time,
+and brought in ever so many nice things to eat, which Mr. Crow had
+cooked for them, for Mr. Crow is the best cook of anybody in the Big
+Deep Woods. Then Mr. Dog had brought a lot of good things, too, which he
+had borrowed from Mr. Man's house, so they had the finest Christmas
+dinner that you can think of, and plenty for the next day when it would
+be even better, because chicken and turkey and dressing and such things
+are always better the next day, and even the <i>third</i> day, with gravy,
+than they are when they are first cooked.</p>
+
+<p>Then, when they were all through and were standing around, smoking their
+new pipes and looking at each other's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> new neckties and other Christmas
+things, Mr. Crow said that he and Mr. Squirrel would clear off the table
+if the others would get in some wood and stir up the fire and set the
+room to rights, so they could gather round and be comfortable by-and-by;
+and then, he said, it might snow as much as it liked as long as they had
+plenty of wood and things to eat inside.</p>
+
+<p>So then they all skurried around getting on their things to go out after
+wood&mdash;all except Mr. Crow and Mr. Squirrel, who set about clearing off
+the table and doing up the dishes. And pretty soon Mr. Dog and Mr. Coon
+and the rest were hopping about where the snow was falling so soft and
+silent among the big, leafless trees, gathering nice pieces of wood and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>
+brushing the snow off of them and piling them into the first down-stairs
+of the Hollow Tree, which the 'Coon and 'Possum and Old Black Crow use
+for their wood-house and general store-room. It was great fun, and they
+didn't feel the least bit cold after their warm dinner and with all that
+brisk exercise.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Robin didn't help carry the wood in. He was hardly strong enough for
+that, but he hopped about and looked for good pieces, and when he found
+one he would call to Mr. 'Coon or Mr. 'Possum, or maybe to one of the
+others, to throw it on his shoulder and carry it in, and then he would
+tell whoever it happened to be how strong he was and how<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> fine he looked
+with that great chunk on his shoulder, and would say that he didn't
+suppose there was another 'Coon, or 'Possum, or Turtle, or Rabbit, or
+Dog that could begin to stand up straight under such a chunk as that
+anywhere outside of a menagerie. Mr. Robin likes to say pleasant things
+to his friends, and is always popular. And each one tried to carry the
+biggest load of wood to show how strong he was, and pretty soon they had
+the lower room of the Hollow Tree piled up high with the finest chunks
+and kindling pieces to be found anywhere. Then they all hurried
+up-stairs, stamping the snow off their feet, and gathered around the
+nice warm fire in the big parlor which was just below the three big
+hollow branches where the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow had
+their rooms.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crow and Mr. Squirrel were through with the table by this time, and
+all hands lit their pipes, and looked into the fire, and smoked, and
+rested, and thought a little before they began talking&mdash;thinking, of
+course, of what a good time they were having, and how comfortable and
+nice it was to be inside and warm when such a big snow was falling
+outside.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. 'Possum was the first one to say anything. He said he had been
+thinking of what Mr. Robin had said about them being outside of a
+menagerie, and that, come to think about it, he believed he didn't know
+what a menagerie was, unless it was a new name for a big dinner, as that
+was the only thing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> he could think of now that they were outside of, and
+he said if that was so, and if he could get outside of two menageries,
+he thought he could carry in a bigger chunk than any two chunks there
+were down-stairs.</p>
+
+<p>Then all the others laughed a good deal, and Mr. 'Coon said he had
+thought that perhaps a menagerie was something to wear that would make
+anybody who had it on very strong, and able to stand up under a big
+load, and to eat as much as Mr. 'Possum could, or even more.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Robin said that it didn't mean either of those things. He said
+he didn't really know what it did mean himself, but that it must be some
+kind of a place that had a great many large creatures in it, for he had
+heard his grandmother quite often call his grandfather the biggest goose
+outside of a menagerie, though, being very young then, Mr. Robin
+couldn't remember just what she had meant by it.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rabbit said he thought that the word "menagerie" sounded like some
+kind of a picnic, with swings and nice lively games, and Mr. Crow said
+that once when he was flying he passed over a place where there was a
+big sign that said Menagerie on it, and that there were some tents and a
+crowd of people and a great noise, but that he hadn't seen anything that
+he could carry off without being noticed, so he didn't stop.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Squirrel thought that from what Mr. Crow said it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> must be a place
+where there would be a lot of fine things to see, and Mr. Turtle said
+that he was a good deal over three hundred years old and had often heard
+of a menagerie, but that he had never seen one. He said he had always
+supposed that it was a nice pond of clear water, with a lot of happy
+turtles and fish and wild geese and duck and such things in it, and
+maybe some animals around it, all living happily together, and taken
+care of by Mr. Man, who brought them a great many good things to eat. He
+had always thought he would like to live in a menagerie, he said, but
+that nobody had ever invited him, and he had never happened to come
+across one in his travels.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Dog hadn't been saying anything all this time, but he knocked the
+ashes out of his pipe now, and filled it up fresh and lit it, and
+cleared his throat, and began to talk. It made him smile, he said, to
+hear the different ways people thought of a thing they had never seen.
+He said that Mr. Turtle was the only one who came anywhere near to what
+a menagerie really was, though of course Mr. Crow <i>had</i> seen one on the
+outside. Then Mr. Dog said:</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 346px;"><a name="ILL_007" id="ILL_007"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_007.jpg" width="346" height="500" alt="&quot;SLIPPED IN BEHIND HIM WHEN HE WENT INTO THE TENT&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;SLIPPED IN BEHIND HIM WHEN HE WENT INTO THE TENT&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"I know all about menageries, on the outside and the inside too, for I
+have been to one. I went once with Mr. Man, though I wasn't really
+invited to go. In fact, Mr. Man invited me to stay at home, and tried to
+slip off from me; but I watched which way he went, and took long
+roundin's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> on him, and slipped in behind him when he went into the
+tent. He didn't know for a while that I was there, and I wasn't there so
+very long. But it was plenty long enough&mdash;a good deal longer than I'd
+ever stay again, unless I was tied.</p>
+
+<p>"I never saw so many wild, fierce-looking creatures in my life as there
+were in that menagerie, and they were just as wild and fierce as they
+looked. They had a lot of cages full of them and they had some outside
+of cages, though I don't know why they should leave any of those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>
+dangerous animals around where they could damage folks that happened to
+come in reach, as I did. Those animals outside didn't look as wild and
+fierce as those in the cages, but they were.</p>
+
+<p>"I kept in the crowd, close behind Mr. Man at first, and nobody knew I
+was there, but by-and-by he climbed up into a seat to watch some people
+all dressed up in fancy clothes ride around a ring on horses, which I
+didn't care much about, so I slipped away, and went over to where there
+were some things that I wanted to take my time to see quietly."</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_008" id="ILL_008"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_008.jpg" width="500" height="481" alt="HE LOOKED SMILING AND GOOD-NATURED, AND I WENT OVER TO
+ASK HIM SOME QUESTIONS" title="" />
+<span class="caption">HE LOOKED SMILING AND GOOD-NATURED, AND I WENT OVER TO
+ASK HIM SOME QUESTIONS</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"There was an animal about my size and style tied over in one corner of
+the tent, behind a rope, with a sign in front of him which said, 'The
+Only Tame Hyena in the World.' He looked smiling and good-natured, and I
+went over to ask him some questions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But that sign wasn't true. He wasn't the least bit tame, and I'm sure
+now that he wasn't smiling. He grabbed me before I had a chance to say a
+word, and when I jerked loose, which I did right away, for I didn't want
+to stir up any fuss there, I left quite a piece of my ear with the tame
+hyena, and tripped backward over the rope and rolled right in front of a
+creature called an elephant, about as big as a house and not as useful.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose they thought <i>he</i> was tame, too, but he must have been tamed
+by the same man, for he grabbed me with a kind of a tail that grew on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>
+the end of his nose&mdash;a thing a good deal like Mr. 'Possum's tail, only
+about a million times as big&mdash;and I could hear my ribs crack as he waved
+me up and down.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, as I say, I didn't want to stir up any fuss, but I couldn't
+keep still under such treatment as that, and I called right out to Mr.
+Man, where he sat looking at the fancy people riding, and told him that
+I had had enough of the show, and if he wanted to take any of me home,
+he ought not to wait very long, but come over that way and see if he
+couldn't get the tame elephant to practise that performance on the hyena
+or the next dog, because I had had plenty, and was willing to go home
+just as I was, all in one piece, even if not very lively.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Man <i>came</i>, too, and so did a lot of the others. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> seemed to
+think that I was more to look at than those riding people; and some of
+them laughed, though what there was happening that was funny I have
+never been able to guess to this day. I kept right on telling Mr. Man
+what I wanted him to do, and mebbe I made a good deal of noise about it,
+for it seemed to stir up those other animals. There was a cage full of
+lions that started the most awful roaring you can think of, and a cage
+of crazy-looking things they called monkeys that screeched and howled
+and swung back and forth in rings and held on to the bars, and all the
+other things joined in, until I couldn't tell whether I was still saying
+anything or not. I suppose they were all jealous of the elephant because
+of the fun he was having, and howling to be let out so they could get
+hold of me too.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you never heard of such a time. It nearly broke up the show.
+Everybody ran over to look, and even the riding people stopped their
+horses to enjoy it, too. If it only hadn't been so dangerous and
+unpleasant I should have been proud of the way they came to see me
+perform.</p>
+
+<p>"But Mr. Man didn't seem to like it much. I heard him tell somebody, as
+loud as he could, that I would be killed, and that I was the best dog he
+ever had, and that if I <i>was</i> killed he'd sue the show."</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_009" id="ILL_009"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_009.jpg" width="500" height="474" alt="&quot;GAVE ME AN EXTRA SWING AND CRACK&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;GAVE ME AN EXTRA SWING AND CRACK&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"That made me proud, too, but I wished he wouldn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> wait to sue the
+show, but would do something right away, and just then a man with a
+fancy dress on and a stick with a sharp iron hook on it came running up
+and said something I didn't understand and hit the elephant with the
+hook end of the stick, and he gave me an extra big swing and crack and
+flung me half-way across the tent, where I landed on a bunch of hay
+right in front of a long-necked thing called a camel&mdash;another terrible
+tame creature, I suppose&mdash;who had me about half eaten up with his old
+long under lip, before Mr. Man could get over there.</p>
+
+<p>"When Mr. Man did get hold of me, he said that I'd better take what was
+left of me home, for they were going to feed the animals pretty soon,
+and that I would likely get mixed up with the bill of fare.</p>
+
+<p>"After that he took me to the entrance and pushed me outside, and I
+heard all those fierce creatures in the cages growl and roar louder than
+ever, as if they had expected to sample me and were sorry to see me go.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what a menagerie is&mdash;it's a place where they have all the kinds
+of animals and things in the world, for show, and a good many birds, and
+maybe turtles, too, but they don't have any fine clear pond. They have
+just a big tent, like the one Mr. Crow saw, and a lot of cages inside.
+They keep most of the animals in cages, and they ought to keep them all
+there, and I don't think they feed them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> very much, nor the best
+things, or they wouldn't look so fierce and hungry.</p>
+
+<p>"They just keep them for Mr. Man and his friends to look at and talk
+about, and if Mr. Turtle will take my advice he will keep out of a
+menagerie and live in the Wide Blue Water where he was born. I wouldn't
+have gone there again unless I had been tied and dragged there, or
+unless they had put those tame animals into cages with the others. No
+doubt there are some very fine, strong animals in a menagerie, but they
+wouldn't be there if they could help it, and if anybody ever invites any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>
+of you to join a menagerie, take my advice and don't do it."</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Dog knocked the ashes out of his pipe again, and all the other
+Deep Woods People knocked the ashes out of <i>their</i> pipes, too, and
+filled them up fresh, and one said one thing, and one said another about
+being in a menagerie or out of it, and every one thought it would be a
+terrible thing to be shut up in a cage, except Mr. 'Possum, who said he
+wouldn't mind it if they would let him sleep enough and give him all he
+could eat, but that a cage without those things would be a lonesome
+place.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Coon said that a little adventure had happened to him once
+which he had never mentioned before, because he had never known just
+what to make of it; but he knew now, he said, that he had come very near
+getting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> into a menagerie, and he would tell them just what happened.</p>
+
+<p>The Story Teller looked down at the quiet figure in his lap. The Little
+Lady's head was nestled close to his shoulder, and her eyes were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>
+straining very hard to keep open.</p>
+
+<p>"I think we will save Mr. 'Coon's story till another night," he said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_SECOND_SNOWED-IN_STORY" id="THE_SECOND_SNOWED-IN_STORY"></a>THE SECOND SNOWED-IN STORY</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE SECOND SNOWED-IN STORY</h2>
+
+<h3>MR. 'COON TELLS HOW HE CAME NEAR BEING A PART OF A MENAGERIE, AND HOW HE
+ONCE TOLD A STORY TO MR. DOG</h3>
+
+<p>"You can tell about Mr. 'Coon, now&mdash;the story you didn't tell last
+night, you know," and the Little Lady wriggles herself into a
+comfortable corner just below the Story Teller's smoke, and looks deep
+into a great cavern of glowing embers between the big old andirons,
+where, in her fancy, she can picture the Hollow Tree people and their
+friends.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes, let me see&mdash;" says the Story Teller.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Dog had just told about being at the menagerie, you know, and Mr.
+'Coon was just going to tell how he came very near getting into a
+menagerie himself."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, of course&mdash;well, then, all the Hollow Tree people, the 'Coon
+and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> their friends who were visiting
+them&mdash;Mr. Dog and Mr. Robin and Jack Rabbit and Mr. Turtle and Mr.
+Squirrel&mdash;knocked the ashes out of their pipes and filled them up
+fresh&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"No, they had just done that."</p>
+
+<p>"That's so, I forgot. Well, anyway, as soon as they got to smoking and
+settled back around the fire again Mr. 'Coon told them his story, and I
+guess we'll call it</p>
+
+<h4>"MR. 'COON'S EARLY ADVENTURE"</h4>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 468px;"><a name="ILL_010" id="ILL_010"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_010.jpg" width="468" height="500" alt="ALL AT ONCE HE HEARD A FIERCE BARK CLOSE BEHIND HIM" title="" />
+<span class="caption">ALL AT ONCE HE HEARD A FIERCE BARK CLOSE BEHIND HIM</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mr. 'Coon said he was quite young when it happened, and was taking a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+pleasant walk one evening, to think over things a little, and perhaps to
+pick out a handy tree where Mr. Man's chickens roosted, when all at once
+he heard a fierce bark close behind him, and he barely had time to get
+up a tree himself when a strange and very noisy Mr. Dog was leaping
+about at the foot of the tree, making a great fuss, and calling every
+moment for Mr. Man to hurry, for he had a young 'coon treed.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I laid pretty low when I heard that," Mr. 'Coon said, "for I
+knew that Mr. Man would most likely have a gun, so I got into a bunch of
+leaves and brush that must have been some kind of an old nest and
+scrooched down so that none of me would show.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Then by-and-by I heard some big creature come running through the
+brush, and I peeked over a little, and there, sure enough, was Mr. Man
+with a long gun, and I noticed that he wore a thing on his head&mdash;a sort
+of hat, I suppose&mdash;made of what looked to be the skin of some relative
+of mine.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course that made me mad. I hadn't cared so much until I saw that;
+but I said right then to myself that any one who would do such a thing
+as that never could be a friend of mine, no matter how much he tried. So
+I scrooched down and laid low in that old nest, and didn't move or let
+on in any way that I was there.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I heard Mr. Man walking around the tree and talking to his dog and
+telling him that there wasn't anything up in that tree at all, and that
+Mr. Dog had just been fooling him. I could tell by his voice that he was
+getting mad at Mr. Dog, and I hoped that he'd get mad enough pretty soon
+to take a stick to him for chasing me up a tree like that, and then
+calling for Mr. Man to come and see me when there wasn't really anything
+to look at.</p>
+
+<p>"But Mr. Dog kept galloping around the tree and barking out, over and
+over, that I was there; that he had seen me, and that he knew that I was
+hiding up there somewhere; and pretty soon I heard Mr. Man going away,
+and I peeked over again.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure enough, he was going, but Mr. Dog was staying<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> right there,
+sitting under the tree and looking up and making a good deal more noise
+than there was any need of to let me know he hadn't gone. I didn't see
+why he stayed there. I wished he'd go away and tend to his own business.</p>
+
+<p>"Being quite young, I still lived with my folks over near the Wide Grass
+Lands, and I wanted to get home for supper. It was a good way to go, for
+the tree I had climbed was over close to the edge of the world where the
+sun and moon rise, and you all know that's a good way, even from here.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he didn't go, but just sat there, barking up that tree, and after
+a long time I heard somebody coming again, and I peeked over and there
+was Mr. Man, hurrying back, this time with an axe. I knew, right then,
+there was going to be trouble. I knew they were going to cut that tree
+down, and that I should most likely have quite a fuss with Mr. Dog, and
+perhaps go home with a black eye and a scratched nose, and then get
+whipped again for fighting, after I got there."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. 'Coon stopped and knocked the ashes out of his pipe and filled it up
+fresh, and all the others knocked the ashes out of their pipes and
+filled them up fresh, too. Then Mr. 'Possum poked up the fire and told
+Mr. Turtle to bring a stick of wood from down-stairs, and when it was
+blazing up high and bright again they all stepped over to the window a
+minute, to see how hard it was snowing and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> banking up outside, then
+went back to their chairs around the fire, and stretched out their feet
+and leaned back and smoked, and listened to the rest of Mr. 'Coon's
+story.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Coon said he didn't like the sound of that axe when Mr. Man began to
+cut the tree down.</p>
+
+<p>"Every time he struck the tree I could feel it all through me," he said,
+"and I knew if he kept that noise up long enough it would give me a
+nervous headache. I wished the tree would hurry up and drop, so we could
+have what muss we were going to, and get it over with. I'd have got out
+of that old nest and made a jump for another tree if there had been any
+near enough, but there wasn't, so I just laid low and gritted my teeth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>
+and let him chop.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 375px;"><a name="ILL_011" id="ILL_011"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_011.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="THEN I SUDDENLY FELT LIKE A SHOOTING-STAR" title="" />
+<span class="caption">THEN I SUDDENLY FELT LIKE A SHOOTING-STAR</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Well, by-and-by that tree began to go down. It seemed to teeter a
+little at first, this way and that; then it went very slow in one
+direction; then it went a little faster; then it went a good deal
+faster; then I suddenly felt like a shooting-star, I came down so fast,
+and there was a big crash, and I thought I had turned into a lot of
+stars, sure enough, and was shooting in every direction, and the next I
+knew I was tied to a tree, hand and foot and around the middle, and Mr.
+Man and Mr. Dog were sitting and looking at me, and grinning, and
+talking about what they were going to do.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Man wasn't scolding Mr. Dog any more. He was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> telling him what a
+good thing it was they had caught me alive, for now they could sell me
+to a show and get a great deal more for me than they could for my skin.
+I didn't know what a show was, then, or that a show is a menagerie, but
+I know now, and I can see just what they meant.</p>
+
+<p>"Pretty soon Mr. Man told Mr. Dog to stay there and watch me while he
+went home after a box to put me in. He said he didn't think it would be
+safe to carry me in his arms, and he was right about that.</p>
+
+<p>"So then Mr. Man walked off, and left Mr. Dog guarding me, and saying
+unpleasant things to me now and then.</p>
+
+<p>"At first I wouldn't answer him; but pretty soon I happened to think of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>
+something pleasant to say:</p>
+
+<p>"'Mr. Dog,' I said, 'I know a good story, if you'd like me to tell it.
+Mr. Man may be a good while getting that box, and mebbe you'd like to
+hear something to pass the time.'</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Dog said he would. He said that Mr. Man would most likely have to
+make the box, and he didn't suppose he knew where the hammer and nails
+were, and it might be dark before Mr. Man got back.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 377px;"><a name="ILL_012" id="ILL_012"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_012.jpg" width="377" height="500" alt="&quot;THEN MR. DOG SAID, &#39;TELL ME ANOTHER&#39;&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;THEN MR. DOG SAID, &#39;TELL ME ANOTHER&#39;&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"I felt a good deal better when I heard Mr. Dog say that, and I told him
+a story I knew about how Mr. Rabbit lost his tail, and Mr. Dog laughed
+and seemed to like it, and said, 'Tell me another.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>"</p>
+
+<p>Before Mr. 'Coon could go on with his story, Mr. Rabbit said that of
+course if that old tale had helped Mr. 'Coon out of trouble he was very
+glad, but that it wasn't at all true, and that some time <i>he</i> would tell
+them himself the true story of how it happened.</p>
+
+<p>Then they all said that they hoped he would, for they'd always wanted to
+hear that story told right, and then Mr. 'Coon went on with his
+adventure.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Coon said that when Mr. Dog said, 'Tell me another,' he knew he was
+in a good-humor, and that he felt better and better himself. "I thought
+if Mr. Man didn't come back too soon," he said, "I might get along
+pretty well with Mr. Dog.</p>
+
+<p>"'I know another story, Mr. Dog,' I said&mdash;'the funniest story there is.
+It would make you laugh until you fell over the edge of the world, but I
+can't tell it here.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Why,' he said,&mdash;'why can't you tell it here as well as anywhere?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Because it has to be acted,' I said, 'and my hands are tied.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Will you tell it if I untie your hands?' said Mr. Dog.</p>
+
+<p>"'Well,' I said, 'I'll begin it, and you can see how it goes.'</p>
+
+<p>"So Mr. Dog came over and untied my hands, for he said he could tie them
+again before Mr. Man came back, because he knew Mr. Man hadn't found
+that hammer yet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"'You can't get loose with just your hands untied, can you?' he said.</p>
+
+<p>"'No, of course not, Mr. Dog,' I said, pleasant and polite as could be.</p>
+
+<p>"'Let's see you try,' said Mr. Dog.</p>
+
+<p>"So I twisted and pulled, and of course I couldn't get loose.</p>
+
+<p>"'Now tell the story,' said Mr. Dog.</p>
+
+<p>"So I said: 'Once there was a man who had a very bad pain in his chest,
+and he took all kinds of medicine, and it didn't do him any good. And
+one day the Old Wise Man of the Woods told him if he would rub his chest
+with one hand and pat his head with the other, it might draw the pain
+out the top and cure him. So the man with the pain in his chest tried
+it, and he did it this way.'</p>
+
+<p>"Then I showed Mr. Dog just how he did it, and Mr. Dog thought that was
+funny, and laughed a good deal.</p>
+
+<p>"'Go on and tell the rest of it,' he said. 'What happened after that?'</p>
+
+<p>"But I let on as if I'd just remembered something, and I said, 'Oh, Mr.
+Dog, I'm <i>so</i> sorry, but I can't tell the rest of that story here, and
+it's the funniest part, too. I know you'd laugh till you rolled over the
+edge of the world.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Why can't you tell the rest of that story here as well as anywhere?'
+said Mr. Dog, looking anxious.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"'Because it has to be acted with the feet,' I said, 'and my feet are
+tied.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Will you tell it if I untie your feet?' said Mr. Dog.</p>
+
+<p>"'Well, I'll do the best I can,' I said.</p>
+
+<p>"So Mr. Dog came over and untied my feet. He said he knew that Mr. Man
+hadn't found the nails or the pieces to make the box yet, and there
+would be plenty of time to tie me again before Mr. Man got back.</p>
+
+<p>"'You can't get loose, anyway, with just your hands and feet untied, can
+you?' he said.</p>
+
+<p>"'No, of course not, Mr. Dog,' I said, more pleasant and polite than
+ever.</p>
+
+<p>"'Let's see you try,' said Mr. Dog.</p>
+
+<p>"So I squirmed and twisted, but of course with a strong string around my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
+waist and tied behind I couldn't do anything.</p>
+
+<p>"'Now go on with the story,' said Mr. Dog.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 398px;"><a name="ILL_013" id="ILL_013"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_013.jpg" width="398" height="500" alt="&quot;AND DID ROLL OFF THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, SURE ENOUGH&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;AND DID ROLL OFF THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, SURE ENOUGH&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"'Well,' I said, 'the pain left his chest, but it went into his back,
+and he had a most terrible time, until one day the Old Wise Man of the
+Woods came along and told him that he thought he ought to know enough by
+this time to rub his back where the pain was and pat his head at the
+same time to draw it out at the top. So then the man with the pain
+rubbed his back and patted his head this way,' and I showed Mr. Dog how
+he did it; and I rubbed a good while about where the knot was, and made
+a face to show<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> how the man with the pain looked, and then I said the
+pain came back into his chest again instead of being drawn out at the
+top; and I changed about and rubbed there awhile, and then I went around
+to my back again, chasing that pain first one side and the other; and
+then I said that the Old Wise Man of the Woods came along one day and
+told him that he must kick with his feet too if he ever wanted to get
+rid of that pain, because, after all, it might have to be kicked out at
+the bottom; and when I began to kick and dance with both feet and to rub<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>
+with my hands at the same time, Mr. Dog gave a great big laugh&mdash;the
+biggest laugh I ever heard anybody give&mdash;and fell right down and rolled
+over and over, and did roll off the edge of the world, sure enough.</p>
+
+<p>"I heard him go clattering into a lot of brush and blackberry bushes
+that are down there, and just then I got that back knot untied, and I
+stepped over and looked down at Mr. Dog, who had lodged in a brier patch
+on a shelf about ten feet below the edge, where Mr. Man would have to
+get him up with a ladder or a rope.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 427px;"><a name="ILL_014" id="ILL_014"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_014.jpg" width="427" height="500" alt="&quot;I SET OUT FOR HOME WITHOUT WAITING TO SAY GOOD-BYE&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;I SET OUT FOR HOME WITHOUT WAITING TO SAY GOOD-BYE&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"'Do you want to hear the rest of the story, Mr. Dog?' I said.</p>
+
+<p>"'I'll story <i>you</i>,' he said, 'when I catch you!'</p>
+
+<p>"'I told you you'd laugh till you fell off the edge of the world,' I
+said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"'I'll make <i>you</i> laugh,' he said, 'when I catch you!'</p>
+
+<p>"Then I saw he was cross about something, and I set out for home without
+waiting to say good-bye to Mr. Man, for I didn't want to waste any more
+time, though I missed my supper and got a scolding besides.</p>
+
+<p>"But I was glad I didn't bring home a black eye and scratched nose, and
+I'm more glad than ever now that Mr. Man didn't get back in time with
+that box, or I might be in a menagerie this minute instead of sitting
+here smoking and telling stories and having a good time on Christmas
+Day."</p>
+
+<p>The Story Teller looks down at the Little Lady.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad Mr. 'Coon didn't get into the menagerie, aren't you?" she
+says.</p>
+
+<p>"Very glad," says the Story Teller.</p>
+
+<p>"He went lickety-split home, didn't he?"</p>
+
+<p>"He did that!"</p>
+
+<p>"I like them to go lickety-split better than lickety-cut, don't you?"
+says the Little Lady. "They seem to go so much faster."</p>
+
+<p>"Ever so much faster," says the Story Teller.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_WIDOW_CROWS_BOARDING-HOUSE" id="THE_WIDOW_CROWS_BOARDING-HOUSE"></a>THE WIDOW CROW'S BOARDING-HOUSE</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE WIDOW CROW'S BOARDING-HOUSE</h2>
+
+<h3>EARLY DOINGS OF THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE AND HOW THEY FOUND A HOME</h3>
+
+<p>Anybody can tell by her face that the Little Lady has some plan of her
+own when the Story Teller is ready next evening to "sit by the fire and
+spin."</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to tell me," she says, climbing up into her place, "how the
+'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow ever got to living together in
+the Hollow Tree."</p>
+
+<p>That frightens the Story Teller. He is all ready with something
+different.</p>
+
+<p>"Good gracious!" he says, "that is an old story that all the Deep Woods
+People have known ever so long."</p>
+
+<p>"But I don't know it," says the Little Lady, "and I'd like to know that
+before you tell anything else. Rock, and tell it."</p>
+
+<p>So the Story Teller rocks slowly, and smokes, and almost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> forgets the
+Little Lady in remembering that far-away time, and presently he begins.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it was all so long ago that perhaps I can't remember it very
+well. Mr. 'Possum was a young man in those days&mdash;a nice spry young
+fellow; and he used to think it was a good deal of fun to let Mr.
+Dog&mdash;who wasn't friendly then, of course&mdash;try to catch him; and when Mr.
+Dog would get pretty close and come panting up behind him, Mr. 'Possum
+would scramble up a tree, and run out on to the longest limb and swing
+from it, head down, and laugh, and say:</p>
+
+<p>"Come right up, Mr. Dog! Always at home to you, Mr. Dog! Don t stop to
+knock!"</p>
+
+<p>And then Mr. Dog would race around under the tree and make a great to
+do, and sometimes Mr. 'Possum would swing back and forth, and pretty
+soon give a great big swing and let go, and Mr. Dog would think surely
+he had him then, and bark and run to the place where he thought he was
+going to drop. Only Mr. 'Possum didn't drop&mdash;not far; for he had his
+limb all picked out, and he would catch it with his tail as he went by,
+and it would bend and sway with him, and he would laugh, and call again:</p>
+
+<p>"Don't go, Mr. Dog! Mr. Man can get up the cows alone to-night!"</p>
+
+<p>And then Mr. Dog would remember that he was a good ways from home, and
+that if he wasn't there in time to help<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> Mr. Man get up the cows there
+might be trouble; and he would set out lickety-split for home, with Mr.
+'Possum calling to him as he ran.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 418px;"><a name="ILL_015" id="ILL_015"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_015.jpg" width="418" height="500" alt="CAME CLATTERING DOWN RIGHT IN FRONT OF MR. DOG" title="" />
+<span class="caption">CAME CLATTERING DOWN RIGHT IN FRONT OF MR. DOG</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>But one time Mr. 'Possum made a mistake. He didn't know it, but he was
+getting older and a good deal fatter than he had been at first, and when
+he swung out for another limb that way, and let go, he missed the limb<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>
+and came clattering down right in front of Mr. Dog. He wasn't hurt much,
+for the ground was soft, and there was a nice thick bed of leaves; but I
+tell you he was scared, and when Mr. Dog jumped right on top of him, and
+grabbed him, he gave himself up for lost, sure enough.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. 'Possum is smart in some ways, and he knows how to play "dead"
+better than any other animal there is. He knew that Mr. Dog would want
+to show him to Mr. Man, and that he was too heavy for Mr. Dog to carry.
+He had thought about all that, and decided what to do just in that
+little second between the limb and the ground, for Mr. 'Possum can think
+quick enough when anything like that happens.</p>
+
+<p>So when he struck the ground he just gave one little kick with his hind
+foot and a kind of a sigh, as if he was drawing his last breath, and
+laid there: and even when Mr. Dog grabbed him and shook him he never let
+on, but acted almost deader than if he had been really dead and no
+mistake.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Dog stood with his paws out and his nose down close, listening,
+and barking once in a while, and thinking maybe he would come to pretty
+soon, but Mr. 'Possum still never let on, or breathed the least little
+bit, and directly Mr. Dog started to drag him toward Mr. Man's house.</p>
+
+<p>That was a hard job, and every little way Mr. Dog would stop and shake
+Mr. 'Possum and bark and listen to see if he was really dead, and after
+a while he decided that he was, and started to get Mr. Man to come and
+fetch Mr. 'Possum home. But he only went a few steps, the first time,
+and just as Mr. 'Possum was about to jump up and run he came hurrying
+back, and stood over him and barked and barked as loud as ever he could
+for Mr. Man to come and see what he had for him. But Mr. Man was too far
+away, and even if he heard Mr. Dog he didn't think it worth while to
+come.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 480px;"><a name="ILL_016" id="ILL_016"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_016.jpg" width="480" height="500" alt="SO THEN MR. DOG TRIED TO GET MR. &#39;POSSUM ON HIS SHOULDER" title="" />
+<span class="caption">SO THEN MR. DOG TRIED TO GET MR. &#39;POSSUM ON HIS SHOULDER</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>So then Mr. Dog tried to get Mr. 'Possum on his shoulder, to carry him
+that way; but Mr. 'Possum made himself so limp and loose and heavy that
+every time Mr. Dog would get him nearly up he would slide off again and
+fall all in a heap on the leaves; and Mr. Dog couldn't help believing
+that he was dead, to see him lying there all doubled up, just as he
+happened to drop.</p>
+
+<p>So, then, by-and-by Mr. Dog really did start for Mr. Man's, and Mr.
+'Possum lay still, and just opened one eye the least<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> bit to see how
+far Mr. Dog had gone, and when he had gone far enough Mr. 'Possum jumped
+up quick as a wink and scampered up a tree, and ran out on a limb and
+swung with his head down, and called out:</p>
+
+<p>"Don't go away, Mr. Dog! We've had such a nice visit together! Don't go
+off mad, Mr. Dog! Come back and stay till the cows come home!"</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Dog was mad, I <i>tell</i> you, and told him what he'd do next time;
+and he set out for home fast as he could travel, and went in the back
+way and hid, for Mr. Man was already getting up the cows when he got
+there.</p>
+
+<p>Well, Mr. 'Possum didn't try that swinging trick on Mr. Dog any more. He
+found out that it was dangerous, the way he was getting, and that made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>
+him think he ought to change his habits in other ways too. For one
+thing, he decided he ought to have some regular place to stay where he
+could eat and sleep and feel at home, instead of just travelling about
+and putting up for the night wherever he happened to be.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 408px;"><a name="ILL_017" id="ILL_017"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_017.jpg" width="408" height="500" alt="HE WAS AN OLD BACHELOR AND LIKED TO HAVE HIS OWN WAY" title="" />
+<span class="caption">HE WAS AN OLD BACHELOR AND LIKED TO HAVE HIS OWN WAY</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mr. 'Possum was always quite stylish, too, and had a good many nice
+clothes, and it wasn't good for them to be packed about all the time;
+and once some of his best things got rained on and he had to sleep on
+them for a long time to get them pressed out smooth again.</p>
+
+<p>So Mr. 'Possum made up his mind to find a home. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> was an old bachelor
+and never wanted to be anything else, because he liked to have his own
+way, and go out all times of the night, and sleep late if he wanted to.
+So he made up his mind to look up a good place to board&mdash;some place that
+would be like a home to him&mdash;perhaps in a private family.</p>
+
+<p>One day when he was walking through the woods thinking about it, and
+wondering how he ought to begin to find a place like that, he met Mr. Z.
+'Coon, who was one of his oldest friends in the Big Deep Woods. They had
+often been hunting together, especially nights, for Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
+'Possum always like that time best for hunting, and have better luck in
+the dark than any other time. Mr. 'Coon had had his troubles with Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>
+Dog, too, and had come very near getting caught one night when Mr. Man
+and some of his friends were out with Mr. Dog and his relatives and
+several guns looking for a good Sunday dinner. Mr. 'Coon <i>would</i> have
+got caught that time, only when Mr. Man cut the tree down that he was in
+he gave a big jump as the tree was falling and landed in another tree,
+and then ran out on a limb and jumped to another tree that wasn't so far
+away, and then to another, so that Mr. Man and his friends and all the
+dog family lost track of him entirely.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. 'Coon was tired of that kind of thing too, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> wanted some
+place where he could be comfortable, and where he could lock the door
+nights and feel safe. Mr. 'Coon was a bachelor, like Mr. 'Possum, though
+he had once been disappointed in love, and told about it sometimes, and
+looked sad, and even shed tears.</p>
+
+<p>So when he met Mr. 'Possum that day they walked along and talked about
+finding a place to live, and just as they were wondering what they ought
+to do they happened to notice, right in front of them, a little piece of
+birch bark tacked up on a tree, and when they read it, it said:</p>
+
+<h4>MRS. WIDOW CROW.</h4>
+
+<h4>WILL TAKE A FEW GUESTS.</h4>
+
+<h4>SINGLE GENTLEMEN PREFERRED;</h4>
+
+<h4>PLEASANT LOCATION NEAR</h4>
+
+<h4>RACE-TRACK.</h4>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Possum scratched his head and tried to think, and Mr. 'Coon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>
+scratched <i>his</i> head and tried to think, and pretty soon Mr. 'Coon said:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, I know about that. That's Mr. Crow's mother-in-law. He had a
+wife until last year, and his mother-in-law used to live with them. I
+believe she was pretty cross, but I've heard Mr. Crow say she was a good
+cook, and that he had learned to cook a great many things himself. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>
+heard some time ago that she had moved over by the race-track, and
+perhaps Mr. Crow is boarding with her. Let's go over and see."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_018" id="ILL_018"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_018.jpg" width="500" height="492" alt="THEY SAW MR. CROW OUT IN THE YARD CUTTING WOOD FOR HIS
+MOTHER-IN-LAW" title="" />
+<span class="caption">THEY SAW MR. CROW OUT IN THE YARD CUTTING WOOD FOR HIS
+MOTHER-IN-LAW</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>So away they went, saying how nice it would be to be really settled, and
+pretty soon they got over to Mrs. Widow Crow's, and there, sure enough,
+they saw Mr. Crow out in the yard cutting wood for his mother-in-law;
+and when they asked him about the advertisement, he said he was helping
+her to get started, and she had two nice rooms, and that Mr. 'Possum and
+Mr. 'Coon would be just the ones to fill them.</p>
+
+<p>So they went right in and saw Mrs. Widow Crow about it, and by night
+they had their things moved and were all settled, and Widow Crow got a
+nice supper for them, and Mr. Crow helped her, and worked as hard as if
+he were a hired man instead of a boarder like the others, which he was,
+because he paid for his room as much as anybody, and got scolded besides
+when he didn't do things to suit his mother-in-law.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_FINDING_OF_THE_HOLLOW_TREE" id="THE_FINDING_OF_THE_HOLLOW_TREE"></a>THE FINDING OF THE HOLLOW TREE</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE FINDING OF THE HOLLOW TREE</h2>
+
+<h3>HOW THE 'COON AND 'POSSUM AND THE OLD BLACK CROW MOVED AND SET UP
+HOUSEKEEPING</h3>
+
+<p>Well, the Widow Crow set a very good table, and everything in her
+boarding-house went along quite well for a while, and Mr. 'Possum and
+Mr. 'Coon both said what a good thing it was to have a home, and Mr.
+Crow said so too, though he didn't look as if he enjoyed it as much as
+he said, for his mother-in-law kept him so busy cutting and carrying
+wood and helping her with the cooking that he never had any time for
+himself at all.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 498px;"><a name="ILL_019" id="ILL_019"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_019.jpg" width="498" height="500" alt="HAD TO STAY AT HOME AND PEEL POTATOES" title="" />
+<span class="caption">HAD TO STAY AT HOME AND PEEL POTATOES</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Even when Mr. Rabbit and some of his friends had the great fall handicap
+race he had to stay at home and peel potatoes, and not see it, besides
+being scolded all the time for wanting to go to such a thing as a rabbit
+race anyway. And Mr. Crow was sad because it reminded him of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>
+married life, which he was trying to forget&mdash;Mrs. Crow having been the
+image of his mother-in-law and exactly like her about races and peeling
+potatoes and such things.</p>
+
+<p>And by-and-by, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon didn't like it so much, either.
+Widow Crow got so she scolded them, too, about their habits, especially
+about being out nights and lying in bed next morning, and she wouldn't
+give them any breakfast unless they got up in time.</p>
+
+<p>At last she even asked them to take care of their own rooms and to do
+other work, the same as Mr. Crow did; and she didn't cook as good
+things, nor as many of them, as she did when they first came. Then one
+day when they complained a little&mdash;not very much, for they were afraid
+of the Widow Crow, but a little&mdash;she told them that if they didn't like
+what she gave them they could find a place they liked better, and that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>
+she was tired of their ways anyhow.</p>
+
+<p>So then Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum all got together and
+talked it over. And Mr. Crow said <i>they</i> might be pretty tired of it,
+but that they couldn't in a hundred years, thinking night and day, think
+how tired of it <i>he</i> was. He said if they would just say the word he
+would take the things that belonged to him out of that house, and the
+three of them would find some good place and all live together, and
+never have anything more to do with mothers-in-law or their families. He
+said he knew how to cook as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> well as she did, and really liked to cook
+when he was in a pleasant place and wasn't henpecked to death.</p>
+
+<p>And he said if they moved his things they had better do it at night
+while his mother-in-law was asleep, so as not to disturb her.</p>
+
+<p>Well, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. Coon both spoke right up and said <i>they'd</i> go
+in a minute, and that they'd hunt up the place to live that very day,
+though it wasn't the best time of year to move. And Mr. Crow said:</p>
+
+<p>"I know where there's a big Hollow Tree that would be <i>just</i> the place.
+It's the biggest tree in the Big Deep Woods. It has three big hollow
+branches that would do for rooms, and with a little work it could be
+made into the finest place anywhere. The Old Wise Man of the Woods once
+lived there and fixed it all up with nice stairs, and a fireplace, and
+windows, and doors with good latches on them, and it's still just as he
+left it. All it needs are a few repairs, and we could move right in. I
+found it once as I was flying over, and I could tell <i>you</i>, so you could
+find it. It's in a thick swampy place, and you would never guess it was
+there if you didn't know it. Mr. Dog knows about it, but he never could
+get in if we kept the door latched, and it's not so far away from Mr.
+Man's that we could not borrow, when we ran out of little things we
+needed."</p>
+
+<p>Well, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon took the directions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> from Mr. Crow, and
+went right off to look at the Hollow Tree that very day, and decided
+they'd take it, and pitched in to clean it up and get it ready to live
+in. And next day they came with a hammer and some nails and worked all
+day again, and Mr. Rabbit heard the noise and came over and looked
+through the place and said how nice it was; and they were so tired at
+night that they never thought of going out, and were up early for
+breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>Widow Crow was so surprised she forgot what she had always scolded them
+for before, and scolded them this time for getting up so early that they
+had to stand around and wait for breakfast to be put on the table. But
+they didn't seem to mind the scolding at all, and Mr. Crow looked
+happier than he had looked for months, and skipped around and helped set
+the table, and brought in a big wood-box full of wood, and when Widow
+Crow scolded him for getting chips on the floor he laughed. Then she
+boxed his ears and told him he ought to remember the poor Missing One at
+such a time, and Mr. Crow said he did, and could almost imagine she was
+there now.</p>
+
+<p>Well, Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum got the Hollow Tree all ready, that day,
+and that night they moved.</p>
+
+<p>The Widow Crow was pretty fat, and liked to go to bed early, and sleep
+sound, and leave Mr. Crow to do the evening dishes; and that evening Mr.
+'Coon and' Mr. Possum<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> pitched in and helped him, and they got through
+in a jiffy and began to move.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crow said he knew his own things, and that he wouldn't take any that
+belonged to the Missing One, because they had mostly come from her
+mother; and, besides, they would be a sad reminder, and didn't seem to
+go with the kind of a place they had planned to have. He said if they
+didn't have enough things they could borrow a few from Mr. Man when Mr.
+Man went away and left his windows open, and that they wouldn't need
+much to begin with.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_020" id="ILL_020"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_020.jpg" width="500" height="467" alt="LISTENED NOW AND THEN AT WIDOW CROW&#39;S DOOR TO BE SURE SHE
+WAS ASLEEP" title="" />
+<span class="caption">LISTENED NOW AND THEN AT WIDOW CROW&#39;S DOOR TO BE SURE SHE
+WAS ASLEEP</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>So then they got Mr. Crow's cook-stove out of the back store-room, and a
+table that was his, and some chairs from different parts of the house,
+and a few dishes which had come to him from his side of the family, and
+they tiptoed around and listened now and then at Widow Crow's door to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>
+sure she was asleep.</p>
+
+<p>They knew she <i>was</i> by the sound; but still they were very quiet until
+Mr. 'Possum started to bring a rocking-chair of Mr. Crow's down-stairs
+and somehow got his legs through the rounds and fell and rolled clear to
+the bottom, expressing his feelings as he came down.</p>
+
+<p>That woke up Widow Crow with a jump, and she sat up in bed and called
+"Thieves!" and "Help!" and Mr. Crow ran to her door and said that it
+wasn't anything, only those scamps Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon had been
+out late again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> He said they had brought home one of Mr. Man's
+beehives and had dropped it because the bees woke up just as they were
+climbing the stairs.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mrs. Crow called out quick, and said for him not to dare to open
+that door and let those pesky bees into her room, and that she hoped
+they'd sting that 'Possum and 'Coon until they wouldn't be able to tell
+themselves apart. She said she bet she'd get that pair out of her house
+if she lived through the night. Then she rolled over and went to sleep
+again, and Mr. 'Possum got up and limped a little, but wasn't much
+damaged, and they got all the things outside and loaded up, and set out
+for the Hollow Tree.</p>
+
+<p>It was moonlight and Mr. Crow led the way, and the minute they were far
+enough off to be sure they wouldn't wake up Widow Crow they sang the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>
+chorus of a song that Mr. Rabbit had made for them the day before when
+he called at the Hollow Tree, and they had told him what they were going
+to do. That was the Hollow Tree Song, which, of course, everybody in the
+Big Deep Woods knows now, but it had never been sung there before, and
+when they joined in the chorus,</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Then here's to the 'Possum and the Old Black Crow</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">And the 'Coon with a one, two, three!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And here's to the hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Then here's to the Hollow Tree,</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Owl, who was watching them from a limb overhead, thought he had
+never heard anything quite so fine.</p>
+
+<p>Well, they couldn't get along very fast, for the things got so heavy and
+they had to rest so often that it began to look as if they wouldn't get
+to the Hollow Tree by morning. But just as they got out into a little
+open place that was about half-way there they saw somebody coming, and
+who do you suppose it was?</p>
+
+<p>"I know," says the Little Lady, "it was the Old Wise Man of the Woods,
+to tell them they couldn't have his house."</p>
+
+<p>"No, he didn't live there any more&mdash;he had gone away for good. No, it
+wasn't the Old Wise Man; it was Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Turtle, coming to
+help them move. Mr. Rabbit had gone all the way to the Wide Blue Water
+after Mr. Turtle because he is so strong, and they would have been there
+a good deal sooner, only Mr. Turtle didn't get home till late, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>
+travels slow."</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 455px;"><a name="ILL_021" id="ILL_021"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_021.jpg" width="455" height="500" alt="MR. &#39;POSSUM SAID HE&#39;D JUST GET ON AND HOLD THE THINGS" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. &#39;POSSUM SAID HE&#39;D JUST GET ON AND HOLD THE THINGS</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Well, it wasn't so hard to move after that. They just set the cook-stove
+on Mr. Turtle's back and piled on as much as would stay on, and he kept
+telling them to put on more, until pretty soon Mr. 'Possum said that he
+would just get on and hold the things from slipping off, which he did,
+and sat on the stove and rode and swung his feet and held the other
+things, while Mr. Crow and the rest walked and carried what was left.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And when they got to the Hollow Tree it was just about sun-up, and Mr.
+'Possum said if they didn't have breakfast pretty soon he would starve
+to death with being up all night and working so hard holding on those
+things.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 361px;"><a name="ILL_022" id="ILL_022"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_022.jpg" width="361" height="500" alt="MR. &#39;POSSUM AND MR. &#39;COON TRIED TO PUT UP THE STOVE" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. &#39;POSSUM AND MR. &#39;COON TRIED TO PUT UP THE STOVE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>So then Mr. Crow told him that he and Mr. 'Coon could set up the stove,
+and that he would unpack the food and stir up something as quick as he
+could if the others would bring a little wood and some water from the
+spring, and place the things around inside; for he saw a cloud coming,
+he said, and it might rain. And Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon tried to put
+up the stove in a hurry, and the pieces of pipe didn't fit very well,
+and they came as near having a quarrel over it as they ever did over
+anything, for even the best friends can't always put up stovepipe
+together without thinking and sometimes saying unpleasant things about
+each other, especially when they are hungry and not very warm and the
+house is all upset. Mr. 'Coon said he only wished he had another hand
+and he would do that job alone, and Mr. 'Possum told him that if he'd
+been provided with a handy and useful tail he'd <i>have</i> the same as
+another hand, and could work more and not wish so much.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Rabbit came to help them, and just as they got it about up it
+all came down again, and Mr. Crow said that if they'd all go away he'd
+set up the stove himself; which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> he did in about a minute, and had a
+fire in it and the coffee on in no time.</p>
+
+<p>Then the others rushed around and got the things straightened out, and a
+fire in the fireplace, and they said how nice rooms were, and when Mr.
+Crow called they all came hurrying down, and in about another minute the
+'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow, with Mr. Rabbit and Mr.
+Turtle, all sat down to the first meal in the Hollow Tree.</p>
+
+<p>It was then that Jack Rabbit read all of the "Hollow Tree Song" he had
+made for them, and they all sang it together; and then the storm that
+Mr. Crow had seen coming did come, and they shut all the doors and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>
+windows tight, and sat before the fire and smoked and went to sleep,
+because they were so tired with being up all night.</p>
+
+<p>And that was the first day in the Hollow Tree, and how the Possum and
+Coon and Old Black Crow came to live there, and they live there still.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_THIRD_SNOWED-IN_STORY" id="THE_THIRD_SNOWED-IN_STORY"></a>THE THIRD SNOWED-IN STORY</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE THIRD SNOWED-IN STORY</h2>
+
+<h3>MR. RABBIT TELLS SOME INTERESTING FAMILY HISTORY</h3>
+
+<p>The Little Lady waited until the Story Teller had lit his pipe and sat
+looking into the great open fire, where there was a hickory log so big
+that it had taken the Story Teller and the Little Lady's mother with two
+pairs of ice-tongs to drag it to the hearth and get it into place.
+Pretty soon the Little Lady had crept in between the Story Teller's
+knees. Then in another minute she was on one of his knees, helping him
+rock. Then she said:</p>
+
+<p>"Did Mr. Rabbit tell his story next? He promised to tell about losing
+his tail, you know."</p>
+
+<p>The Story Teller took his pipe from his mouth a moment, and sat thinking
+and gazing at the big log, which perhaps reminded him of one of the
+limbs of the Hollow Tree, where the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black
+Crow lived and had their friends visit them that long-ago snowy
+Christmas-time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes," he said, "that's so, Mr. Rabbit <i>did</i> tell that story. When
+Mr. 'Coon got through telling how he came near getting into a menagerie,
+they all said that it certainly was a very narrow escape, and Mr. 'Coon
+said he shouldn't wonder if that menagerie had to quit business, just
+because he wasn't in it; and Mr. 'Possum said he thought if anything
+would <i>save</i> a menagerie that would, for it would keep them from being
+eaten out of house and home."</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Coon said that if that was so, Mr. 'Possum had saved at least
+three menageries by staying right where he was in the Big Deep Woods.
+This made Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Robin laugh, and the rest wondered what
+those two gigglers had noticed that was funny. Then they all knocked the
+ashes out of their pipes again, and walked over to the window, and
+looked at the snow banking up outside and piling up on the bare limbs of
+the big trees. They said how early it got dark this time of year,
+especially on a cloudy day. And pretty soon Mr. Crow said they had just
+about time for one more story before supper, and that Mr. Rabbit ought
+to tell now about how, a long time ago, his family had lost their tails.
+Mr. Rabbit didn't seem to feel very anxious to tell it, but they told
+him that he had promised, and that now was as good a time as any, so
+they went back and sat down, and Mr. Rabbit told them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p>
+
+<h4>THE TRUE STORY OF THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE, AND HOW JACK RABBIT LOST
+HIS TAIL</h4>
+
+<p>"Once upon a time," he said, "a great many great-grandfathers back, my
+family had long bushy tails, like Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Fox, only a good
+deal longer and finer and softer, and <i>very handsome</i>."</p>
+
+<p>When Mr. Rabbit said that, Mr. Squirrel sniffed and twitched his nose
+and gave his nice bushy tail a flirt, but he didn't say anything. Mr.
+Rabbit went right on.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, there was one fine, handsome rabbit who had the longest and
+plumiest tail of any of the family, and was very proud of it. He was my
+twenty-seventh great-grandfather, and was called Mr. Hare. He was young
+and smart then, and thought he was a good deal smarter than he really
+was, though he was smart enough and handsome enough to set the style for
+all the other rabbits, and not much ever happened to him, because he
+could beat anything running that there was in the Big Deep Woods.</p>
+
+<p>"That twenty-seventh great-grandfather of mine was very proud of his
+running, and used to brag that in a foot-race he could beat anything
+that lived between the Wide Grass Lands and the Edge of the World. He
+used to talk about it to almost everybody that came along, and one day
+when he met one of the Turtle family who used to be called Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> Tortoise
+in those days, he stopped and began to brag to him how fast he could run
+and how nobody in the Big Deep Woods dared to race with him.</p>
+
+<p>"But Mr. Turtle, he just smiled a little and said: 'Oh, pshaw! you can't
+run very fast. I believe I can beat you myself!'</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that did make Grandfather Hare laugh&mdash;and made him a little mad,
+too.</p>
+
+<p>"'You!' he said. 'Why, I'll give you within ten yards of that rail fence
+of Mr. Man's, half a mile away, and then beat you across it. Just travel
+along, and some time this afternoon, when you get down that way, I'll
+come back and let you see me go by. But you'll have to look quick if you
+see me, for I'll be going fast.'</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_023" id="ILL_023"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_023.jpg" width="500" height="362" alt="MR. FOX SAID HE DIDN&#39;T HAVE MUCH TO DO FOR A FEW MINUTES
+AND HE&#39;D ACT AS JUDGE" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. FOX SAID HE DIDN&#39;T HAVE MUCH TO DO FOR A FEW MINUTES
+AND HE&#39;D ACT AS JUDGE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"But Mr. Tortoise said he didn't want any start at all, that he was
+ready to begin the race right then; and that made Grandpaw Hare laugh so
+loud that Mr. Fox heard him as he was passing, and came over to see what
+the fun was. Then he said that he hadn't much to do for a few minutes,
+and that he'd stay and act as judge. He thought a race like that
+wouldn't last long; and it didn't, though it wasn't at all the kind of a
+race he had expected.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he put Mr. Tortoise and my twenty-seventh great-grandfather side
+by side, and then he stood off and said 'Go!' and thought it would all
+be over in a minute.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Grandpaw Hare gave one great big leap, about twenty feet long, and then
+stopped. He was in no hurry, and he wanted to have some fun with Mr.
+Tortoise. He looked around to where Mr. Tortoise was coming straddling
+and panting along, and he laughed and rolled over to see how solemn he
+looked, and how he was travelling as if he meant to get somewhere before
+dark. He was down on all fours so he could use all his legs at once, and
+anybody would think, to look at him, that he really expected to win that
+race.</p>
+
+<p>"The more my Grandpaw Hare looked at him the more he laughed, and then he
+would make another long leap forward and stop, and look back, and wait<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>
+for Mr. Tortoise to catch up again.</p>
+
+<p>"Then he would call to him, or maybe go back and take roundin's on him,
+and say, 'Come along there, old tobacco-box. Are you tied to something?'
+Mr. Fox would laugh a good deal, too, and he told my ancestor to go on
+and finish the race&mdash;that he couldn't wait around there all day. And
+pretty soon he said if they were going to fool along like that, he'd
+just go down to the fence and take a nap till they got there; and for
+Grandpaw Rabbit to call to him when he really started to come, so he
+could wake up and judge the finish.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Fox he loped away to the fence and laid down and went to sleep in
+the shade, and Grandpaw Hare thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> it would be fun to pretend to be
+asleep, too. I've heard a story told about it that says that he really
+did go to sleep, and that Mr. Tortoise went by him and got to the fence
+before he woke up. But that is not the way it happened. My
+twenty-seventh great-grandfather was too smart to go to sleep, and even
+if he had gone to sleep, Mr. Tortoise made enough noise pawing and
+scratching along through the grass and gravel to wake up forty of our
+family.</p>
+
+<p>"My ancestor would wait until he came grinding along and got up even
+with him, then suddenly he'd sit up as if he'd been waked out of a nice
+dream and say, 'Hello, old coffee-mill! What do you want to wake me up
+for when I'm trying to get a nap?' Then he would laugh a big laugh and
+make another leap, and lie down and pretend again, with his fine plumy
+tail very handsome in the sun.</p>
+
+<p>"But Grandpaw Hare carried the joke a little too far. He kept letting Mr.
+Tortoise get up a little closer and closer every time, until Mr.
+Tortoise would almost step on him before he would move. And that was
+just what Mr. Tortoise wanted, for about the next time he came along he
+came right up behind my ancestor, but instead of stepping on him, he
+gave his head a quick snap, just as if he were catching fish, and
+grabbed my Grandpaw Hare by that beautiful plumy tail, and held on, and
+pinched, and my ancestor gave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> a squeal and a holler and set out for
+that rail fence, telling his troubles as he came.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_024" id="ILL_024"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_024.jpg" width="500" height="313" alt="SAILING ALONG, JUST TOUCHING THE HIGHEST POINTS" title="" />
+<span class="caption">SAILING ALONG, JUST TOUCHING THE HIGHEST POINTS</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Mr. Fox had gone sound asleep and didn't hear the rumpus at first, and
+when he did, he thought grandpaw was just calling to him to wake up and
+be ready to judge the race, so he sat up quick and watched them come. He
+saw my twenty-seventh great-grandfather sailing along, just touching the
+highest points, with something that looked like an old black wash-pan
+tied to his tail.</p>
+
+<p>"When Mr. Fox saw what it was, he just laid down and laughed and rolled
+over, and then hopped up on the top rail and called, out 'All right, I'm
+awake, Mr. Hare! Come right along, Mr. Hare; you'll beat him yet!'</p>
+
+<p>"Then he saw my ancestor stop and shake himself, and paw, and roll over,
+to try to get Mr. Tortoise loose, which of course he couldn't do, for,
+as we all know, whenever any of the Turtle family get a grip they never
+let go till it thunders, and this was a bright day. So pretty soon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>
+grandpaw was up and running again with Mr. Tortoise sailing out behind
+and Mr. Fox laughing to see them come, and calling out: 'Come right
+along, Mr. Hare! come right along! You'll beat him yet!'</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 423px;"><a name="ILL_025" id="ILL_025"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_025.jpg" width="423" height="500" alt="AWAY WENT MR. TORTOISE, CLEAR OVER THE TOP RAIL" title="" />
+<span class="caption">AWAY WENT MR. TORTOISE, CLEAR OVER THE TOP RAIL</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"But Mr. Fox made a mistake about that. Grandpaw Hare was really ahead,
+of course, when he came down the homestretch, but when he got pretty
+close to the fence he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> made one more try to get Mr. Tortoise loose,
+and gave himself and his tail a great big swing, and Mr. Tortoise
+didn't let go quite quick enough, and off came my twenty-seventh
+great-grandfather's beautiful plumy tail, and away went Mr. Tortoise
+with it, clear over the top rail of the fence, and landed in a brier
+patch on the other side.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Grandpaw Hare was in such a state as you never heard of! He
+forgot all about the race at first, and just raved about his great loss,
+and borrowed Mr. Fox's handkerchief to tie up what was left, and said
+that he never in the world could show his face before folks again.</p>
+
+<p>"And Mr. Fox stopped laughing as soon as he could, and was really quite
+sorry for him, and even Mr. Tortoise looked through the fence, and asked
+him if he didn't think it could be spliced and be almost as good as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>
+ever.</p>
+
+<p>"He said he hadn't meant to commit any damage, and that he hoped Mr.
+Hare would live to forgive him, and that now there was no reason why my
+grandpaw shouldn't beat him in the next race.</p>
+
+<p>"Then my ancestor remembered about the race and forgot his other loss
+for a minute, and declared that Mr. Tortoise didn't win the race at
+all&mdash;that he couldn't have covered that much ground in a half a day
+alone, and he asked Mr. Fox if he was going to let that great
+straddle-bug ruin his reputation for speed and make him the
+laughing-stock of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> the Big Deep Woods, besides all the other damage he
+had done.</p>
+
+<p>"Then Mr. Fox scratched his head, and thought about it, and said he
+didn't see how he could help giving the race to Mr. Tortoise, for it was
+to be the first one across the fence, and that Mr. Tortoise was
+certainly the first one across, and that he'd gone over the top rail in
+style.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_026" id="ILL_026"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_026.jpg" width="500" height="500" alt="SET OUT FOR HOME BY A BACK WAY" title="" />
+<span class="caption">SET OUT FOR HOME BY A BACK WAY</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Well, that made Grandpaw Hare madder than ever. He didn't say another
+word, but just picked up his property that Mr. Tortoise handed him
+through the fence, and set out for home by a back way, studying what he
+ought to do to keep everybody from laughing at him, and thinking that if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>
+he didn't do something he'd have to leave the country or drown himself,
+for he had always been so proud that if people laughed at him he knew he
+could never show his face again.</p>
+
+<p>"And that," said Mr. Rabbit, is the true story of that old race between
+the Hare and the Tortoise, and of how the first Rabbit came to lose his
+tail. I've never told it before, and none of my family ever did; but so
+many stories have been told about the way those things happened that we
+might just as well have this one, which is the only true one so far as I
+know.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Rabbit lit his pipe and leaned back and smoked. Mr. Dog said it
+was a fine story, and he wished he could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> have seen that race, and Mr.
+Turtle looked as if he wanted to say something, and did open his mouth
+to say it, but Mr. Crow spoke up, and asked what happened after that to
+Mr. Rabbit's twenty-seventh great-grandfather, and how it was that the
+rest of the Rabbits had short tails, too.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Rabbit said that that was another story, and Mr. Squirrel and
+Mr. Robin wanted him to tell it right away, but Mr. Crow said they'd
+better have supper now, and Mr. 'Possum thought that was a good plan,
+and Mr. 'Coon, too, and then they all hurried around to get up some
+sticks of wood from down-stairs, and to set the table, and everybody
+helped, so they could get through early and have a nice long evening.</p>
+
+<p>And all the time the snow was coming down outside and piling higher and
+higher, and they were being snowed in without knowing it, for it was
+getting too dark to see much when they tried again to look out the
+window through the gloom of the Big Deep Woods.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_FOURTH_SNOWED-IN_STORY" id="THE_FOURTH_SNOWED-IN_STORY"></a>THE FOURTH SNOWED-IN STORY</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE FOURTH SNOWED-IN STORY</h2>
+
+<h3>MR. JACK RABBIT CONTINUES HIS FAMILY HISTORY</h3>
+
+<p>"Did they have enough left for supper&mdash;enough for all the visitors, I
+mean?" asks the Little Lady the next evening, when the Story Teller is
+ready to go on with the history of the Hollow Tree.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, they had plenty for supper, and more, too. They had been
+getting ready a good while for just such a time as this, and had carried
+in a lot of food, and they had a good many nice things down in the
+store-room where the wood was, but they didn't need those yet. They just
+put on what they had left from their big dinner, and Mr. Crow stirred up
+a pan of hot biscuits by his best receipt, and they passed them back and
+forth across the table so much that Mr. 'Possum said they went like hot
+cakes, sure enough, and always took two when they came his way.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>"</p>
+
+<p>And they talked a good deal about the stories that Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
+Rabbit had told them, and everybody thought how sly and smart Mr. 'Coon
+had been to fool Mr. Dog that way; and Mr. 'Coon said that, now he came
+to think it over, he supposed it was a pretty good trick, though it
+really hadn't seemed so specially great to him at the time. He said he
+didn't think it half as smart as Mr. Tortoise's trick on Mr. Rabbit's
+Grandpaw Hare, when he beat him in the foot-race and went over the fence
+first, taking Mr. Hare's tail with him. And then they wondered if that
+had all really happened as Mr. Rabbit had told it&mdash;all but Mr. Turtle,
+who just sat and smiled to himself and didn't say anything at all,
+except "Please pass the biscuits," now and then, when he saw the plate
+being set down in front of Mr. 'Possum.</p>
+
+<p>Then by-and-by they all got through and hurried up and cleared off the
+table, and lit their pipes, and went back to the fire, and pretty soon
+Jack Rabbit began to tell</p>
+
+<h4>HOW THE REST OF THE RABBITS LOST THEIR TAILS</h4>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "my twenty-seventh great-grandfather Hare didn't go out
+again for several days. He put up a sign that said 'Not at Home,' on his
+door, and then tried a few experiments, to see what could be done.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_027" id="ILL_027"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_027.jpg" width="500" height="467" alt="TRIED TO SPLICE HIS PROPERTY BACK IN PLACE" title="" />
+<span class="caption">TRIED TO SPLICE HIS PROPERTY BACK IN PLACE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"He first tried to splice his property back into place, as Mr. Tortoise
+had told him he might, but that plan didn't work worth a cent. He never
+could get it spliced on straight, and if he did get it about right, it
+would lop over or sag down or something as soon as he moved, and when he
+looked at himself in the glass he made up his mind that he'd rather do
+without his nice plumy brush altogether than to go out into society with
+it in that condition.</p>
+
+<p>"So he gave it up and put on some nice all-healing ointment, and before
+long what there was left of it was all well, and a nice bunch of soft,
+white cottony fur had grown out over the scar, and Grandpaw Hare thought
+when he looked at himself in the glass that it was really quite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>
+becoming, though he knew the rest of his family would always be saying
+things about it, and besides they would laugh at him for letting Mr.
+Tortoise beat him in a foot-race.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 416px;"><a name="ILL_028" id="ILL_028"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_028.jpg" width="416" height="500" alt="GRANDFATHER WOULD LIGHT HIS PIPE AND THINK IT OVER" title="" />
+<span class="caption">GRANDFATHER WOULD LIGHT HIS PIPE AND THINK IT OVER</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Sometimes, when there was nobody around, my grandfather would go out
+into the sun and light his pipe and lean up against a big stone, or
+maybe a stump, and think it over.</p>
+
+<p>"And one morning, as he sat there thinking, he made up his mind what he
+would do. Mr. Lion lived in the Big Deep Woods in those days, and he was
+King. Whenever anything happened among the Deep Woods People that they
+couldn't decide for themselves, they went to where King Lion lived, in a
+house all by himself over by the Big<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> West Hills, and he used to settle
+the question; and sometimes, when somebody that wasn't very old, and
+maybe was plump and tender, had done something that wasn't just right,
+King Lion would look at him and growl and say it was too bad for any one
+so young to do such things, and especially for them to grow up and keep
+on doing them; so he would have him for breakfast, or maybe for dinner,
+and that would settle everything in the easiest and shortest way.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course Grandfather Hare knew very well that Mr. Tortoise and Mr. Fox
+wouldn't go with him to King Lion, for they would be afraid to, after
+what they had done, so he made up his mind to go alone and tell him the
+whole story, because he was as sure as anything that King Lion would
+decide that he had really won the race, and would be his friend, which
+would make all the other Deep Woods People jealous and proud of him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>
+again, and perhaps make them wish they had nice bunches of white cottony
+fur in the place of long dragging tails that were always in the way.</p>
+
+<p>"And then some day he would show King Lion where Mr. Fox and Mr.
+Tortoise lived.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 418px;"><a name="ILL_029" id="ILL_029"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_029.jpg" width="418" height="500" alt="SET UP HIS EARS AND WENT BY, LICKETY-SPLIT" title="" />
+<span class="caption">SET UP HIS EARS AND WENT BY, LICKETY-SPLIT</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"My Grandfather Hare didn't stop a minute after he thought of that, but
+just set out for King Lion's house over at the foot of the Big West
+Hills. He had to pass by Mr. Fox's house, and Mr. Fox called to him, but
+Grandpaw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> Hare just set up his ears as proud as could be and went by,
+lickety-split, without looking at Mr. Fox at all.</p>
+
+<p>"It was a good way to King Lion's house, but Grandpaw Hare didn't waste
+any time, and he was there almost before he knew it.</p>
+
+<p>"When he got to King Lion's door he hammered on the knocker, and when
+nobody came right away he thought maybe the King was out for a walk. But
+that wasn't so. King Lion had been sick for two or three days, and he
+was still in bed, and had to get up and get something around him before
+he could let Grandpaw in.</p>
+
+<p>"Grandpaw Hare had sat down on the steps to wait, when all at once the
+door opened behind him and he felt something grab him by the collar and
+swing him in and set him down hard on a seat, and then he saw it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>
+King Lion, and he didn't much like his looks.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_030" id="ILL_030"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_030.jpg" width="500" height="330" alt="&quot;&#39;GLAD TO SEE YOU,&#39; SAID KING LION; &#39;I WAS JUST THINKING
+ABOUT HAVING A NICE RABBIT FOR BREAKFAST&#39;&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;&#39;GLAD TO SEE YOU,&#39; SAID KING LION; &#39;I WAS JUST THINKING
+ABOUT HAVING A NICE RABBIT FOR BREAKFAST&#39;&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"'So it was you, was it, making that noise,' he said. 'Well, I'm glad to
+see you, for I was just thinking about having a nice rabbit for
+breakfast.'</p>
+
+<p>"Then my twenty-seventh great-grandfather knew he'd made a mistake,
+coming to see King Lion when he was feeling that way, and he had to
+think pretty quick to know what to say. But our family have always been
+pretty quick in their thoughts, and Grandpaw Hare spoke right up as
+polite as could be, and said he would do anything he could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> to find a
+nice young plump rabbit for King Lion, and that he would even be proud
+to be a king's breakfast himself, only he wasn't so very young nor so
+very plump, and, besides, there was that old prophecy about the king and
+the cotton-tailed rabbit, which of course, he said, King Lion must have
+heard about.</p>
+
+<p>"Then King Lion said that my twenty-seventh great-grandfather was plenty
+young enough and plenty plump enough, and that he'd never heard of any
+prophecy about a cotton-tailed rabbit, and that he'd never heard of a
+cotton-tailed rabbit, either.</p>
+
+<p>"Then Grandpaw Hare just got up and turned around, and as he turned he
+said, as solemnly as he could:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"'When the King eats a hare with a cotton tail,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Then the King's good health will fail.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that scared the King a good deal, for he was just getting over
+one sick spell, and he was afraid if he had another right away he'd die
+sure. He sat down and asked Grandpaw Hare to tell him how he came to
+have a tail like that, and grandpaw told him, and it made the King laugh
+and laugh, until he got well, and he said it was the best joke he ever
+heard of, and that he'd have given some of the best ornaments off of his
+crown to have seen that race.</p>
+
+<p>"And the better King Lion felt the hungrier he got, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> when my
+Grandfather Hare asked him if he wouldn't decide the race in his favor,
+he just glared at him and said if he didn't get out of there and hunt
+him up a nice, young, plump, long-tailed rabbit, he'd eat him&mdash;cotton
+tail, prophecy, and all&mdash;for he didn't go much on prophecies anyway.</p>
+
+<p>"Then Grandpaw Hare got right up and said, 'Good-day' and backed out and
+made tracks for the rest of his family, and told them that King Lion had
+just got up from a sick spell that had given him an appetite for
+long-tailed rabbits. He said that the King had sent him out to get one,
+and that King Lion would most likely be along himself pretty soon. He
+said the sooner the Rabbit family took pattern after the new
+cotton-tailed style the more apt they'd be to live to a green old age
+and have descendants.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that was a busy day in the Big Deep Woods. The Rabbit family got
+in line by a big smooth stump that they picked out for the purpose, and
+grandpaw attended to the job for them, and called out 'Next!' as they
+marched by. He didn't have to wait, either, for they didn't know what
+minute King Lion might come. Mr. Tortoise and Mr. Fox came along and
+stopped to see the job, and helped grandpaw now and then when his arm
+got tired, and by evening there was a pile of tails by that stump as big
+as King Lion's house, and there never was such a call for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> the
+all-healing ointment as there was that night in the Big Deep Woods.</p>
+
+<p>"And none of our family ever did have tails after that, for they never
+would grow any more, and all the little new rabbits just had bunches of
+cotton, too, and that has never changed to this day.</p>
+
+<p>"And when King Lion heard how he'd been fooled by Grandpaw Hare with
+that foolish prophecy that he just made up right there, out of his head,
+he knew that everybody would laugh at him as much as he had laughed at
+Mr. Hare, and he moved out of the country and never came back, and
+there's never been a king in the Big Deep Woods since, so my
+twenty-seventh great-grandfather did some good, after all.</p>
+
+<p>"And that," said Mr. Rabbit, "is the whole story of the Hare and the
+Tortoise and how the Rabbit family lost their tails. It's never been
+told outside of our family before, but it's true, for it's been handed
+down, word for word, and if Mr. Fox or Mr. Tortoise were alive now they
+would say so."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rabbit filled his pipe and lit it, and Mr. Crow was just about to
+make some remarks, when Mr. Turtle cleared his throat and said:</p>
+
+<p>"The story that Mr. Rabbit has been telling is all true, every word of
+it&mdash; I was there."</p>
+
+<p>Then all the Deep Woods People took their pipes out of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> their mouths and
+just looked at Mr. Turtle with their mouths wide open, and when they
+could say anything at all, they said:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>You were there!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>You see, they could never get used to the notion of Mr. Turtle's being
+so old&mdash;as old as their twenty-seventh great-grandfathers would have
+been, if they had lived.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Mr. Turtle, "and it all comes back to me as plain as day. It
+happened two hundred and fifty-eight years ago last June. They used to
+call us the Tortoise family then, and I was a young fellow of
+sixty-seven and fond of a joke. But I was surprised when I went sailing
+over that fence, and I didn't mean to carry off Mr. Hare's tail. Dear
+me, how time passes! I'm three hundred and twenty-five now, though I
+don't feel it."</p>
+
+<p>Then they all looked at Mr. Turtle again, for though they believed he
+was old, and might possibly have been there, they thought it pretty
+strange that he could be the very Mr. Tortoise who had won the race.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. 'Possum said, pretty soon, that when anybody said a thing like that,
+there ought to be some way to prove it.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Turtle got up and began taking off his coat, and all the others
+began to get out of the way, for they didn't know what was going to
+happen to Mr. 'Possum, and they wanted to be safe; and Mr. 'Possum
+rolled under the table,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> and said that he didn't mean anything&mdash;that he
+loved Mr. Turtle, and that Mr. Turtle hadn't understood the way he meant
+it at all.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Turtle wasn't the least bit mad. He just laid off his coat,
+quietly, and unbuttoned his shirt collar, and told Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
+Crow to look on the back of his shell.</p>
+
+<p>And then Mr. Dog held a candle, and they all looked, one after another,
+and there, sure enough, carved right in Mr. Turtle's shell, were the
+words:</p>
+
+<h4>BEAT MR. HARE</h4>
+
+<h4>FOOT-RACE</h4>
+
+<h4>JUNE 10, 1649</h4>
+
+<p>"That," said Mr. Turtle, "was my greatest joke, and I had it carved on
+my shell."</p>
+
+<p>And all the rest of the forest people said that a thing like that was
+worth carving on anybody's shell that had one, and when Mr. Turtle put
+on his coat they gave him the best seat by the fire, and sat and looked
+at him and asked questions about it, and finally all went to sleep in
+their chairs, while the fire burned low and the soft snow was banking up
+deeper and deeper, outside, in the dark.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_SNOWED-IN_LITERARY_CLUB" id="THE_SNOWED-IN_LITERARY_CLUB"></a>THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB</h2>
+
+<h3>MR. RABBIT PROPOSES SOMETHING TO PASS THE TIME</h3>
+
+<p>"Did the Hollow Tree People and their company sleep in their chairs all
+night?" asks the Little Lady, as soon as she has finished her supper.
+"And were they snowed in when they woke up next morning?"</p>
+
+<p>The Story Teller is not quite ready to answer. He has to fill his pipe
+first, and puff a little and look into the fire before he sits down, and
+the Little Lady climbs into her place. The Little Lady knows the Story
+Teller, and waits. When he begins to rock a little she knows he has
+remembered, and then pretty soon he tells her about the Snowed-In
+Literary Club.</p>
+
+<p>Well, the Hollow Tree People went to sleep there by the fire and they
+stayed asleep a long while, for they were tired<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> with all the good times
+and all the good things to eat they had been having. And when they woke
+up once, they thought it was still night, for it was dark, though they
+thought it must be about morning, because the fire was nearly out, and
+Mr. 'Possum said if there was anybody who wasn't too stiff he wished
+they'd put on a stick of wood, as he was frozen so hard that he knew if
+he tried to move he'd break.</p>
+
+<p>So Mr. Turtle, who had been drawn up mostly into his shell, and Mr. Dog,
+who was used to getting up at all hours of the night, stretched and
+yawned and crept down after some sticks and dry pieces and built up a
+good fire, and pretty soon they were all asleep again, as sound as ever.</p>
+
+<p>And when they woke up next time it was still just as dark, and the fire
+had gone almost out again, and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. Crow, too, said they
+didn't understand it, at all, for a fire like that would generally keep
+all night and all day too, and here two fires had burned out and it was
+still as dark as ever. Then Mr. Crow lit a splinter and looked at the
+clock, and said he must have forgotten to wind it, or maybe it was
+because it was so cold, as it had stopped a little after twelve, and Mr.
+'Possum said that from the way he felt it was no wonder the clock had
+stopped, for if he could tell anything by his feelings it must be at
+least day after to-morrow. He said he felt so empty that every time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> he
+breathed he could hear the wind whistle through his ribs.</p>
+
+<p>That made Mr. Rabbit think of something, and he stepped over to the
+window. Then he pushed it up a little, and put out his hand. But he
+didn't put it out far, for it went right into something soft and cold.
+Mr. Rabbit came over to where Mr. Crow was poking up the fire, bringing
+some of the stuff with him.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he said, "you can all see what's the matter. We're snowed in. The
+snow is up over the window, and that's why it's so dark. It may be up
+over the top of the tree, and we may have been asleep here for a week,
+for all we know."</p>
+
+<p>Then they all gathered around to look at the snow, and went to the
+window and got some more, and tried to tell whether it was day or night,
+and Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum ran up-stairs to their rooms,
+and called back that it was day, for the snow hadn't come quite up to
+the tops of their windows.</p>
+
+<p>And it <i>was</i> day, sure enough, and quite late in the afternoon at that,
+but they couldn't tell just what day it was, or whether they had slept
+one night, or two nights, or even longer.</p>
+
+<p>Well, of course the first thing was to get something to eat and a big
+fire going, and even Mr. 'Possum scrambled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> around and helped carry
+wood, so he could get warm quicker. They still had a good deal to eat in
+the Hollow Tree, and they were not much worried. Mr. 'Possum and Mr.
+'Coon remembered another time they were snowed in, when Mr. Crow had fed
+them on Johnnie cake and gravy, and they thought that if everything else
+gave out it would be great fun to live like that again.</p>
+
+<p>When they had finished eating breakfast, or dinner, or whatever it was,
+for it was nearer supper-time than anything else, they began to think of
+things to do to amuse themselves, and they first thought they'd have
+some more stories, like Mr. Rabbit's.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Rabbit, who is quite literary, and a good poet, said it would be
+better to make it a kind of a club, and each have a poem, or a story, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>
+a song; or if anybody couldn't do any of those he must dance a jig.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_031" id="ILL_031"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_031.jpg" width="500" height="438" alt="GOT AROUND THE TABLE AND BEGAN TO WORK" title="" />
+<span class="caption">GOT AROUND THE TABLE AND BEGAN TO WORK</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Then they all remembered a poetry club that Mr. Rabbit had got up once
+and how nice it was, and they all said that was just the thing, and they
+got around the table and began to work away at whatever they were going
+to do for the "Snowed-In" Literary Club.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rabbit wasn't very long at his piece, and pretty soon he jumped up
+and said he was through, and Mr. 'Possum said that if that was so, he
+might go down and bring up some wood and warm up the brains of the rest
+of them. So Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> Rabbit stirred up the fire, and sat down and looked
+into it, and read over his poem to himself and changed a word here and
+there, and thought how nice it was; and by-and-by Mr. Dog said he was
+through, and Mr. Robin said he was through, too.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Rabbit said he thought that would be more than enough for one
+evening anyway, and that the others might finish their pieces to-morrow
+and have them ready for the next evening.</p>
+
+<p>So then they all gathered around the fire again, and everybody said that
+as Mr. Rabbit had thought of the club first he must be the first to read
+his piece.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rabbit said he was sure it would be more modest for some one else to
+read first, but that he was willing to start things going if they wanted
+him to. Then he stood up, and turned a little to the light, and took a
+nice position, and read his poem, which was called</p>
+
+<h4>SNOWED IN</h4>
+
+<p class="center"><i>By J. Rabbit</i></p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Oh, the snow lies white in the woods to-night&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">The snow lies soft and deep;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And under the snow, I know, oh, ho!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">The flowers of the summer sleep.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">The flowers of the summer sleep, I know,</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 22em;">Snowed in like you and me&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Under the sheltering leaves, oh, ho,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">As snug and as warm as we&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">As snug and as warm from the winter storm</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">As we of the Hollow Tree.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Snowed in are we in the Hollow Tree,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And as snug and as warm as they we be&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Snowed in, snowed in,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Are we, are we,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And as snug as can be in the Hollow Tree,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">The wonderful Hollow Tree.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Oh, the snow lies cold on wood and wold,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">But never a bit comes in,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">As we smoke and eat, and warm our feet,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">And sit by the fire and spin:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And what care we for the winter gales,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">And what care we for the snow&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">As we sit by the fire and spin our tales</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">And think of the things we know?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">As we spin our tales in the winter gales</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">And wait for the snow to go?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Oh, the winds blow high and the winds blow low,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">But what care we for the wind and snow,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Spinning our tales of the long ago</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">As snug as snug can be?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">For never a bit comes in, comes in,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">As we sit by the fire and spin, and spin</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">The tales we know, of the long ago,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">In the wonderful Hollow Tree.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rabbit sat down then, and of course everybody spoke up as soon as
+they could get their breath and said how nice it was, and how Mr. Rabbit
+always expressed himself better in poetry than anybody else could in
+prose, and how the words and rhymes just seemed to flow along as if he
+were reeling it off of a spinning-wheel and could keep it up all day.</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. Rabbit smiled and said he supposed it came natural, and that
+sometimes it was harder to stop than it was to start, and that he
+<i>could</i> keep it up all day as easy as not.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Possum said he'd been afraid that was what <i>would</i> happen, and
+that if Mr. Rabbit hadn't stopped pretty soon that he&mdash;Mr. 'Possum, of
+course&mdash;would have been so tangled up in his mind that somebody would
+have had to come and undo the knot.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 392px;"><a name="ILL_032" id="ILL_032"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_032.jpg" width="392" height="500" alt="MR. &#39;POSSUM WANTED TO KNOW WHAT MR. RABBIT MEANT BY
+SPINNING THEIR TAILS" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. &#39;POSSUM WANTED TO KNOW WHAT MR. RABBIT MEANT BY
+SPINNING THEIR TAILS</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Then he said he wanted to ask some questions. He said he wanted to know
+what "wold" meant, and also what Mr. Rabbit meant by spinning their
+tails. He said he hadn't noticed that any of them were spinning their
+tails, and that he couldn't do it if he tried. He said that he could
+curl his tail and hang from a limb or a peg by it, and he had found it a
+good way to go to sleep when things were on his mind, and that he
+generally had better dreams when he slept that way.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He said that of course Mr. Rabbit's poem had been about tails of the
+long ago, and he supposed that he meant the ones which his family had
+lost about three hundred years ago, according to Mr. Turtle, but that he
+didn't believe they ever could spin them much, or that Mr. Rabbit could
+spin what he had left.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. 'Possum was going on to say a good deal more on the subject, but Mr.
+Rabbit interrupted him.</p>
+
+<p>He said he didn't suppose there was anybody else in the world whose food<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>
+seemed to do him so little good as Mr. 'Possum's, and that very likely
+it was owing to the habit he had of sleeping with his head hanging down
+in that foolish way. He said he had never heard of anybody who ate so
+much and knew so little.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, he said, everybody might not know what "wold" meant, as it
+wasn't used much except by poets who used the best words, but that it
+meant some kind of a field, and it was better for winter use, as it
+rhymed with cold and was nearly always used that way. As for Mr.
+'Possum's other remark, he said he couldn't imagine how anybody would
+suppose that the tales he meant were those other tails which were made
+to wave or wag or flirt or hang from limbs by, instead of being stories
+to be told or written, just as the Deep Woods People were telling and
+writing them now. He said there was an old expression about having a
+peg<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> to hang a tale on, and that it was most likely gotten up by one of
+Mr. 'Possum's ancestors or somebody who knew as little about such things
+as Mr. 'Possum, and that another old expression which said "Thereby
+hangs a tale" was just like it, because the kind of tales he meant
+didn't hang, but were always told or written, while the other kind
+always did hang, and were never told or written, but were only sometimes
+told or written about, and it made him feel sad, he said, to have to
+explain his poem in that simple way.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Possum said that he was sorry Mr. Rabbit felt that way,
+because he didn't feel at all that way himself, and had only been trying
+to discuss Mr. Rabbit's nice poem. He said that of course Mr. Rabbit
+couldn't be expected to know much about tails, never having had a real
+one himself, and would be likely to get mixed up when he tried to write
+on the subject. He said he wouldn't mention such things again, and that
+he was sorry and hoped that Mr. Rabbit would forgive him.</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. Rabbit said that he was sorry, too&mdash;sorry for Mr. 'Possum&mdash;and
+that he thought whoever was ready had better read the next piece.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 440px;"><a name="ILL_033" id="ILL_033"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_033.jpg" width="440" height="500" alt="MR. DOG SAID HE HAD MADE A FEW SKETCHES" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. DOG SAID HE HAD MADE A FEW SKETCHES</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Dog said that he supposed that he was as ready as he'd ever be,
+and that he'd like to read his and get it off his mind, so he wouldn't
+be so nervous and could enjoy listening to the others. He wasn't used to
+such things, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> said, and couldn't be original like Mr. Rabbit, but he
+knew a story that was told among the fowls in Mr. Man's barnyard, and
+that he had tried to write it in a simple way that even Mr. 'Possum
+would understand. His story was about a duck&mdash;a young and foolish
+duck&mdash;who got into trouble, and Mr. Dog said he had made a few sketches
+to go with it, and that they could be handed around while he was
+reading. Now he would begin, he said, and the name of his story was</p>
+
+<h4>ERASTUS, THE ROBBER DUCK</h4>
+
+<p class="center"><i>By Mr. Dog, with Sketches</i></p>
+
+<p>Once upon a time there was a foolish young duck named Erastus (called
+'Rastus, for short). He was an only child, and lived with his mother in
+a small house on the bank of a pond at the foot of the farm-yard.</p>
+
+<p>Erastus thought himself a brave duck; he would chase his shadow, and was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>
+not afraid of quite a large worm.</p>
+
+<p>As he grew older he did not tell his mother everything. Once he slipped
+away, and went swimming alone. Then a worm larger than any he had ever
+seen came up out of the water, and would have swallowed Erastus if he
+had not reached the shore just in time, and gone screaming to his
+mother.</p>
+
+<p>His mother said the great worm was a water-snake, and she told Erastus
+snake-stories which gave him bad dreams.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Erastus grew quite fast, and soon thought he was nearly grown up. Once
+he tried to smoke with some other young ducks behind the barn. It made
+Erastus sick, and his mother found it out. She gave Erastus some
+unpleasant medicine, and made him stay in bed a week.</p>
+
+<p>Erastus decided that he would run away. While his mother was taking her
+morning bath he packed his things in a little valise she had given him
+for Christmas. Then he slipped out the back door and made for the woods
+as fast as he could go. He had made up his mind to be a robber, and make
+a great deal of money by taking it away from other people.</p>
+
+<p>He had begun by taking a small toy pistol which belonged to Mr. Man's
+little boy. He wore it at his side. His mother had read to him about
+robbers. Erastus also had on his nice new coat and pretty vest.</p>
+
+<p>He did not rob anybody that day. There was nothing in the woods but
+trees and vines. Erastus tripped over the vines and hurt himself, and
+lost the toy pistol.</p>
+
+<p>Then it came night, and he was very lonesome. For the first time in his
+life Erastus missed his mother. There was a nice full moon, but Erastus
+did not care for it. Some of the black shadows about him looked as if
+they might be live things. By-and-by he heard a noise near him.</p>
+
+<p>Erastus the Robber Duck started to run; but he was lost,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> and did not
+know which way to go. All at once he was face to face with some large
+animal. It wore a long cape and a mask. It also carried a real pistol
+which it pointed at Erastus and told him to hold up his wings. Erastus
+the Robber Duck held up his wings as high as possible, and tried to get
+them higher. It did not seem to Erastus that he could hold them up high
+enough. His mother had read to him about robbers.</p>
+
+<p>Then the robber took all the things that Erastus had in his pockets. He
+took his new knife and his little watch; also the nice bag which his
+mother had given him for Christmas.</p>
+
+<p>Erastus kept his wings up a good while after the robber had gone. He was
+afraid the robber had not gone far enough. When he put them down they
+were cramped and sore. Then he heard something again, and thought it was
+the robber coming back after his clothes.</p>
+
+<p>Erastus fled with great speed, taking off his garments as he ran. At
+last he reached the edge of the wood, not far from where he lived. It
+was just morning, and his mother saw him coming. She looked sad, and
+embraced him.</p>
+
+<p>It was the first time Erastus had been out all night.</p>
+
+<p>Erastus was not allowed to go swimming or even to leave the yard for a
+long time. Whenever he remembered that night in the woods he shivered,
+and his mother thought he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> had a chill. Then she would put him to bed
+and give him some of the unpleasant medicine.</p>
+
+<p>Erastus did not tell his mother <i>all</i> that had happened that night for a
+good while. He was ashamed to do so. But one day when he seemed quite
+sick and his mother was frightened, he broke down and told her all about
+it. Then his mother forgave him, and he got well right away.</p>
+
+<p>After that Erastus behaved, and grew to be the best and largest duck in
+Mr. Man's farm-yard.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 25%;' />
+
+<p>While Mr. Dog had been reading his story the Hollow Tree People&mdash;the
+'Coon and the 'Possum and the Old Black Crow&mdash;had been leaning forward
+and almost holding their breath, and Mr. Dog felt a good deal flattered
+when he noticed how interested they were. When he sat down he saw that
+Mr. 'Possum's mouth was open and his tongue fairly hanging out with
+being so excited.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_034" id="ILL_034"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_034.jpg" width="500" height="377" alt="MR. &#39;POSSUM SAID IT MIGHT BE A GOOD ENOUGH STORY, BUT IT
+COULDN&#39;T BE TRUE" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. &#39;POSSUM SAID IT MIGHT BE A GOOD ENOUGH STORY, BUT IT
+COULDN&#39;T BE TRUE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Then before any of the others could say a word, Mr. 'Possum said that it
+might be a good enough story, but that it couldn't be true. He said that
+he wasn't a judge of stories, but that he was a judge of ducks&mdash;young
+ducks, or old either&mdash;and that no young duck could pass the night in the
+Big Deep Woods and get home at sunrise or any other time, unless all the
+other animals were snowed in or locked up in a menagerie, and that the
+animal that had met<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> Erastus might have robbed him, of course, but he
+would have eaten him first, and then carried off what was left, unless,
+of course, that robber was a rabbit, and he said that he didn't believe
+any rabbit would have spunk enough to be in that business.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rabbit was about to say something just then, but Mr. Crow and Mr.
+'Coon both interrupted and said they thought Mr. 'Possum was right for
+once, except about Mr. Rabbit, who was plenty brave enough, but too much
+of a gentleman to be out robbing people at night when he could be at
+home in bed asleep. Then Mr. Dog said:</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know whether the story is true or not. I wrote it down as I
+heard it among Mr. Man's fowls, and I know the duck that they still call<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>
+Erastus, and he's the finest, fattest&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Dog didn't get any further. For the Hollow Tree People broke in
+and said, all together:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, take us to see him, Mr. Dog! Or perhaps you could bring him to see
+us. Invite him to spend an evening with us in the Hollow Tree. Tell him
+we will have him for dinner and invite our friends. Oh, do, Mr. Dog!"</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Dog knew what they meant by having him for dinner, and he said
+he guessed Mr. Man would not be willing to have Erastus go out on an
+invitation like that, and that if Erastus came, Mr. Man might take a
+notion to visit the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> Hollow Tree himself. Then the Hollow Tree People
+all said, "Oh, never mind about Erastus! He's probably old and
+disagreeable anyway. We don't think we would care for him. But it was a
+nice story&mdash;very nice, indeed."</p>
+
+<p>And pretty soon Mr. Dog said he'd been thinking about the robber animal,
+too, and had made up his mind that it might have been one of Mr. Cat's
+family&mdash;for Mr. Man's little boy and girl had a book with a nice poem in
+it about a robber cat, and a robber dog, too, though he didn't think
+that the dog could have been any of <i>his</i> family. Mr. Cat, he said,
+would not be likely to care for Erastus, feathers and all, that way, and
+no doubt it really was Mr. Cat who robbed him. Mr. Dog said that he had
+once heard of a Mr. Cat who wanted to be king&mdash;perhaps after Mr. Lion
+had gone out of the king business, and that there was an old poem about
+it that Mr. Dog's mother used to sing to him, but he didn't think it had
+ever been put into a book. He said there were a good many things in it
+he didn't suppose the Hollow Tree People would understand because it was
+about a different kind of a country&mdash;where his mother had been born&mdash;but
+that if they really would like to hear it he would try to remember it
+for them, as it would be something different from anything they had been
+used to. Then the Hollow Tree People and their friends all said how glad
+they would be to hear it, for they always liked to hear about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> new
+things and new parts of the country; so Mr. Dog said that if some of the
+others would read or sing or dance their jigs first, perhaps it would
+come to him and he would sing it for them by and by.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Robin spoke up and said that he thought Mr. Dog's story had a
+good moral in it, and he said that <i>his</i> story (Mr. Robin's, of course)
+was that kind of a story, too. Perhaps he'd better tell it now, he said,
+while their minds were running that way, though as for Mr. 'Possum's
+mind it seemed to be more on how good Erastus might be cooked than how
+good he had become in his behavior. He was sorry, he said, that his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>
+story didn't have any ducks in it, young or old, but that perhaps Mr.
+'Possum and the others would be willing to wait for the nice pair of
+cooked ones now hanging in Mr. Crow's pantry, to be served at the end of
+the literary exercises.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. 'Possum said "No," he wasn't willing to wait any longer&mdash;that
+Mr. Dog's story and the mention of those nice cooked fowls was more than
+he could bear, and that if it was all the same to Mr. Robin and the
+others he voted to have supper first, and then he'd be better able to
+stand a strictly moral story on a full stomach.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon said that was a good idea, and Mr. Rabbit said he
+thought they'd better postpone Mr. Robin's story until the next evening,
+as Mr. 'Possum had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> taken up so much time with his arguments that he
+must be hungrier than usual, and if he put in as much more time eating,
+it would be morning before they were ready to go on with the literary
+programme.</p>
+
+<p>Then they all looked at the clock and saw that it really was getting
+late, though that was the only way they could tell, for the snow covered
+all the windows and made no difference between day and night in the
+Hollow Tree.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_SNOWED-IN_LITERARY_CLUB_PART_II" id="THE_SNOWED-IN_LITERARY_CLUB_PART_II"></a>THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB&mdash;Part II</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB</h2>
+
+<h3>PART II</h3>
+
+<h3>MR. RABBIT STARTS SOME NEW AMUSEMENTS</h3>
+
+<p>It was still dark in the Hollow Tree when the Deep Woods People woke up
+next morning, but they knew what was the matter now, and could tell by
+the clock and the fire that it was day outside, even before Mr. 'Possum
+ran up to his room and looked out the window and came back shivering,
+because he said the snow was blowing and drifting and some had drifted
+in around his windows and made his room as cold as all outdoors. He said
+he was willing to stay by the fire while this spell lasted, and take
+such exercise as he needed by moving his chair around to the table when
+he wanted to eat.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. 'Coon said that Mr. 'Possum might exercise himself on a little wood
+for the cook-stove in Mr. Crow's kitchen if he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> wanted any breakfast,
+and that if this spell kept up long enough, they wouldn't have anything
+left but exercise to keep them alive.</p>
+
+<p>So Mr. 'Possum went down-stairs after an armful of stove-wood, and he
+stayed a good while, though they didn't notice it at the time. Then they
+all helped with the breakfast, and after breakfast they pushed back all
+the things and played Blind Man's Buff, for Mr. Rabbit said that even if
+moving his chair from the fire to the table and back again was enough
+exercise for Mr. 'Possum, it wasn't enough for <i>him</i>, and the others
+said so, too.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_035" id="ILL_035"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_035.jpg" width="500" height="432" alt="SO THEN MR. RABBIT SAID THEY MUST CHOOSE WHO WOULD BE
+&quot;IT&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">SO THEN MR. RABBIT SAID THEY MUST CHOOSE WHO WOULD BE
+&quot;IT&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>So then Mr. Rabbit said they must choose who would be It first, and they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>
+all stood in a row and Mr. Rabbit said:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"Hi, ho, hickory dee</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">One for you and one for me;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">One for the ones you try to find,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And one for the one that wears the blind,"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>which was a rigmarole Mr. Rabbit had made up himself to use in games
+where somebody had to be "It," and Mr. Rabbit said it around and around
+the circle on the different ones&mdash;one word for each one&mdash;until he came
+to the word blind and that was Mr. 'Possum, who had to put on the
+handkerchief and do more exercising than any of them, until he caught
+Mr. Turtle, who had to be "It" quite often,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> because he couldn't get
+out of the way as well as the others.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_036" id="ILL_036"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_036.jpg" width="500" height="456" alt="MR. &#39;POSSUM HAD TO PUT ON THE HANDKERCHIEF AND DO MORE
+EXERCISING THAN ANY OF THEM" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. &#39;POSSUM HAD TO PUT ON THE HANDKERCHIEF AND DO MORE
+EXERCISING THAN ANY OF THEM</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>And Mr. 'Possum was "It" a good deal, too, and Mr. 'Coon, and all the
+rest, though Mr. Robin was "It" less than anybody, because he was so
+little and spry that he could get out of the way.</p>
+
+<p>Then when they were tired of "Blind Man's Bluff" they played "Pussy
+Wants a Corner" and "Forfeits," and Mr. 'Possum had to make a speech to
+redeem his forfeit, and he began:</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Ladies and Gentlemen</span>" (though there were no ladies present)&mdash;"I am
+pleased to see you all here this evening" (though it wasn't evening)
+"looking so well dressed and well fed. It is better to be well fed than
+well dressed. It is better to be well dressed than not dressed at all.
+It is better to be not dressed at all than not fed at all. Ladies and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>
+gentlemen, I thank you for your kind attention and applause"&mdash;though
+they hadn't applauded yet, but they did, right away, and said it was a
+good speech, and Mr. Crow said it reminded him that it was about
+dinner-time, and that he would need some more wood.</p>
+
+<p>So Mr. 'Possum got right up to get the stove-wood again, which everybody
+thought was very good of Mr. 'Possum, who wasn't usually so spry and
+willing.</p>
+
+<p>Then in the afternoon they had games again, but nice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> quiet games, for
+they were all glad to sit down, and they played "Button! Button! Who's
+Got the Button?" and nobody could tell when Mr. 'Possum had the button,
+for his face didn't show it, because he was nearly always looking
+straight into the fire, and seemed to be thinking about something away
+off. And when the fire got low, he always jumped up and offered to go
+down into the store-room after the wood, and they all said how willing
+and spry Mr. 'Possum was getting all at once, and when he stayed a good
+while down-stairs they didn't think anything about it&mdash;not at the
+time&mdash;or if they did they only thought he was picking out the best
+pieces to burn. They played "Drop the Handkerchief", too, and when they
+got through Mr. Rabbit performed some tricks with the handkerchief and
+the button that made even Mr. 'Possum pay attention because they were so
+wonderful.</p>
+
+<p>There was one trick especially that Mr. Rabbit did a great many times
+because they liked it so much, and were so anxious to guess how it was
+done. Mr. Rabbit told them it was a trick that had come down to him from
+his thirty-second great-grandfather, and must never be told to any one.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 483px;"><a name="ILL_037" id="ILL_037"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_037.jpg" width="483" height="500" alt="WOULD FIND IT ON THE MANTEL-SHELF OR PERHAPS ON MR.
+CROW&#39;S BALD HEAD" title="" />
+<span class="caption">WOULD FIND IT ON THE MANTEL-SHELF OR PERHAPS ON MR.
+CROW&#39;S BALD HEAD</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was a trick where he laid the button in the centre of the
+handkerchief and then folded the corners down on it, and pressed them
+down each time so that they could see that the button was still there,
+and he would let them press<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> on it, too, to prove it, and then when he
+would lift up the handkerchief by the two corners nearest him there
+would be no button at all, and he would find it on the mantel-shelf or
+perhaps on Mr. Crow's bald head, or in Mr. 'Possum's pocket, or some
+place like that. But one time, when Mr. Rabbit had done it over and
+over, and maybe had grown a little careless, he lifted the handkerchief
+by the corners nearest him, and there was the button sticking fast,
+right in the centre of the handkerchief, for it had a little beeswax on
+it, to make it stick to one of the corners next to Mr. Rabbit, and by
+some mistake Mr. Rabbit had turned the button upside down!</p>
+
+<p>Then they all laughed, and all began to try it for themselves, and Mr.
+Rabbit laughed too, though perhaps he didn't feel much like it, and told
+them that they had learned one of the greatest secrets in his family,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>
+and that he would now tell them the adage that went with it if they
+would promise never to tell either the secret or the adage, and they all
+promised, and Mr. Rabbit told them the adage, which was:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">"When beeswax grows on the button-tree,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">No one knows what the weather'll be."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"That," said Mr. Rabbit, "is a very old adage. I don't know what it
+means exactly, but I'm sure it means something, because old adages
+always do mean something,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> though often nobody can find out just what
+it is, and the less they seem to mean the better they are, as adages.
+There are a great many old adages in our family, and they have often got
+my ancestors out of trouble. When we didn't have an old one to fit the
+trouble we made a new one, and by-and-by it got old too, and useful in
+different ways, because by that time it didn't seem to mean anything
+special, and could be used almost anywhere."</p>
+
+<p>Then the Deep Woods People all said there was never anybody who knew so
+much and could do so many things as Mr. Jack Rabbit, and how proud they
+all were to have him in their midst, and Mr. Rabbit showed them how to
+do all the tricks he knew, and they all practised them and tried them on
+each other until Mr. Crow said he must look after the supper, and Mr.
+'Possum ran right off after an armful of stove-wood, and everybody
+helped with everything there was to do, for they were having such a good
+time and were so hungry.</p>
+
+<p>And after supper they all sat around the fire again and smoked a little
+before anybody said anything, until by-and-by Mr. Rabbit said that they
+would go on now with the literary club, and that Mr. Robin might read
+the story he had mentioned the night before.</p>
+
+<p>So Mr. Robin got up, and stood on a chair, and made a nice bow. He said
+it was not really his own story he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> written, but one that his
+grandmother used to tell him sometimes, though he didn't think it had
+ever been put into a book.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Rabbit spoke up and said that that didn't matter, that of
+course everybody couldn't be original, and that the story itself was the
+main thing and the way you told it. He said if Mr. Robin would go right
+on with the story now it would save time. So then they all knocked the
+ashes out of their pipes&mdash;all except Mr. Robin, who began right off to
+read his story:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_DISCONTENTED_FOX" id="THE_DISCONTENTED_FOX"></a>THE DISCONTENTED FOX</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE DISCONTENTED FOX</h2>
+
+<h3>MR. ROBIN TELLS HOW A FOX LEARNED A GOOD LESSON BY TAKING A LONG JOURNEY</h3>
+
+<p>Once upon a time there was a Fox who lived at the foot of a hill and had
+a <i>nice garden</i>. One morning when he began to hoe in it he got tired,
+and the sun was <i>very hot</i>. Then the Fox didn't like to hoe any more,
+and made up his mind that it wasn't very pleasant to have a garden,
+anyway.</p>
+
+<p>So then he started out to travel and find <i>pleasant things</i>. He put on
+his best clothes, and the first house he came to belonged to a Rabbit
+who kept bees. And the Rabbit showed the Fox his bees and how to take
+out the honey. And the Fox said, "What <i>pleasant work</i>!" and wanted to
+take out honey too. But when he did there was a bee on the honey, and it
+stung the Fox on the nose. And that hurt the Fox, and his nose began to
+swell up, and he said:</p>
+
+<p>"This is not pleasant work <i>at all</i>!" and of course it wasn't&mdash;not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> for
+<i>him</i>&mdash;though the Rabbit seemed to enjoy it <i>more than ever</i>.</p>
+
+<p>So the Fox travelled on, and the next house he came to belonged to a
+Crow who made pies. And the Fox looked at him awhile and said, "What
+<i>pleasant work</i>!" And the Crow let the Fox help him, and when the Fox
+went to take a pie out of the oven he burnt his fingers <i>quite badly</i>.
+Then he said, "No, it is <i>not</i> pleasant work&mdash;not for <i>me</i>!" and that
+was true, though the Crow seemed to enjoy it <i>more than ever</i>.</p>
+
+<p>So the Fox went on again, and the next house he came to belonged to a
+'Coon who milked cows. And the Fox watched him milk, and pretty soon he
+said: "What pleasant work that <i>is</i>! Let <i>me</i> milk." So the 'Coon let
+the Fox milk, and the Cow put her foot in the milk-pail and upset it
+<i>all over</i> the Fox's nice <i>new clothes</i>. And the Fox was mad, and said:
+"This work is not in the <i>least</i> pleasant!" and he <i>hurried away</i>,
+though the 'Coon seemed to enjoy it <i>more than ever</i>.</p>
+
+<p>And the next house the Fox came to belonged to a Cat who played the
+fiddle. And the Fox listened awhile and said: "What pleasant work that
+<i>must be</i>!" and he borrowed the Cat's fiddle. But when he started down
+the road playing, a Man ran around the corner and shot a loud gun at
+him, and that was not pleasant, <i>either</i>, though the Cat seemed to enjoy
+it <i>more than ever</i>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>So the Fox kept on travelling and <i>doing</i> things that he thought would
+be <i>pleasant</i>, but that did not turn out to <i>be</i> pleasant&mdash;not for
+<i>him</i>&mdash;until by-and-by he had travelled <i>clear around the world</i> and had
+come up on the other side, <i>back</i> to his <i>own garden</i> again. And his
+garden was just the same as he had left it, only the things had grown
+bigger, and there were <i>some weeds</i>.</p>
+
+<p>And the Fox jumped over the fence and commenced to <i>hoe</i> the <i>weeds</i>,
+and pretty soon he said, "Why, this is <i>pleasant</i>!" Then he hoed some
+more, and said, "Why, what pleasant work <i>this is</i>!"</p>
+
+<p>So he kept on hoeing and finding it pleasant until by-and-by the weeds
+were <i>all gone</i>, and the <i>Rabbit</i> and the <i>Crow</i> and the <i>Cat</i> and the
+<i>'Coon</i> came and traded him honey and pies and milk and music for
+vegetables, because he had the best garden in the world. And he <i>has
+yet</i>!</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 25%;' />
+
+<p>When Mr. Robin got through and sat down, Mr. Squirrel spoke up and said
+it was a good story because it had a moral lesson in it and taught folks
+to like the things they knew best how to do, and Mr. 'Possum said yes,
+that might be so, but that the story couldn't be true, because none of
+those animals would have enjoyed seeing that Fox leave them, but would
+have persuaded him to stay and help them, and would have taught him to
+do most of the work.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Robin spoke up and said that Mr. 'Possum thought everybody was
+like himself, and that anyway Mr. 'Possum didn't need the lesson in that
+story, for he already liked to do the things he could do best, which
+were to eat and sleep and let other people do the work, though of course
+he had been very good about getting the wood, lately, which certainly
+was unusual.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Possum said he didn't see why Mr. Robin should speak in that
+cross way when he had only meant to be kind and show him the mistake in
+his story, so he could fix it right. And Mr. Rabbit said that as Mr.
+'Possum seemed to know so much how stories and poems ought to be
+written, perhaps he'd show now what he could do in that line himself.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. 'Possum said he hadn't written anything because it was too much
+trouble, but that he would tell them a story if they would like to hear
+it&mdash;something that had really happened, because he had been there, and
+was old enough to remember.</p>
+
+<p>But before he began Mr. Robin said that as they had not cared much about
+his story he would like to recite a few lines he had thought of, which
+would perhaps explain how he felt, and all the animals said, "Of course,
+go right on," and Mr. Robin bowed and recited a little poem he had made,
+called<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p>
+
+<h4>ONLY ME</h4>
+
+<p class="center"><i>By C. Robin</i></p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 26em;">How came a little bird like me</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 27em;">A place in this fine group to win?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 26em;">My mind is small&mdash;it has to be&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 27em;">The little place I keep it in.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 26em;">How came a little bird like me</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 26em;">To be here in the Hollow Tree?</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 26em;">When all the others know so much,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 27em;">And are so strong and gifted too,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 26em;">How can I dare to speak of such</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 27em;">As I can know, and think, and do?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 26em;">How can a little bird like me</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 26em;">Belong here in the Hollow Tree?</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 471px;"><a name="ILL_038" id="ILL_038"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_038.jpg" width="471" height="500" alt="MR. POSSUM SAID HE HADN&#39;T MEANT ANYTHING AT ALL BY WHAT
+HE HAD SAID ABOUT THE STORY" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. POSSUM SAID HE HADN&#39;T MEANT ANYTHING AT ALL BY WHAT
+HE HAD SAID ABOUT THE STORY</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Well, when Mr. Robin finished that, all the others spoke right up and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>
+said that Mr. Robin must never write anything so sad as that again. They
+said his story was just as good as it could be, and that Mr. Robin was
+one of the smartest ones there; and Mr. 'Possum burst into tears, and
+said that he hadn't meant anything at all by what he had said about the
+story, and that some time, when they were all alone, Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> Robin must
+tell it to him again, and he would try to have sense enough to
+understand it.</p>
+
+<p>Then he ran over to Mr. Robin, and was going to embrace him and weep on
+his shoulder, and would very likely have mashed him if Mr. Turtle hadn't
+dragged him back to his seat and told him that he had done damage enough
+to people's feelings without killing anybody, and the best thing he
+could do now would be to go on with a story of his own if he had any.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. 'Possum said he was too sleepy now, so Mr. Dog sang the poem
+which he had promised the evening before because, he said, singing would
+be a nice thing to go to sleep on. Mr. Dog's song was called</p>
+
+<h4>THE CAT WHO WOULD BE KING</h4>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">There was cat who kept a store,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">With other cats for customers.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">His milk and mice</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">All packed in ice</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">His catnip all in canisters.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_039" id="ILL_039"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_039.jpg" width="500" height="457" alt="AND SO THIS CAT GREW RICH AND FAT" title="" />
+<span class="caption">AND SO THIS CAT GREW RICH AND FAT</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Fresh milk he furnished every day&mdash;</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 28em;">Two times a day and sometimes three&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">And so this cat</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">Grew rich and fat</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">And proud as any cat could be.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">But though so fat and rich he grew</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">He was not satisfied at all&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">At last quoth he,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">"A king I'll be</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">Of other cats both great and small."</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 395px;">
+<img src="images/ill_040.jpg" width="395" height="500" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Then hied he to the tinner cat,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">Who made for him a tinsel crown,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">And on the street,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">A king complete,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">He soon went marching up and down.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ill_041.jpg" width="500" height="515" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Now, many cats came out to see,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">And some were filled with awe at him;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">While some, alack,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">Behind his back</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 28em;">Did laugh and point a paw at him.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Mice, milk, and catnip did he scorn;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">He went to business less and less&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">And everywhere</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">He wore an air</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">Of arrogance and haughtiness.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_042" id="ILL_042"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_042.jpg" width="500" height="493" alt="HIS CLERKS" title="" />
+<span class="caption">HIS CLERKS</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">His clerks ate catnip all day long&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">They spent much time in idle play;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">They left the mice</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">From off the ice&mdash;</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 28em;">They trusted cats who could not pay.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">While happy in his tin-shop crown</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">Each day the king went marching out,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">Elate because</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">He thought he was</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">The kind of king you read about.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 429px;"><a name="ILL_043" id="ILL_043"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_043.jpg" width="429" height="500" alt="A SOLEMN LOOK WAS IN HIS FACE" title="" />
+<span class="caption">A SOLEMN LOOK WAS IN HIS FACE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">But lo, one day, he strolled too far,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">And in a dim and dismal place</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">A cat he met,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">Quite small, and yet</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">A solemn look was in his face.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">One fiery eye this feline wore&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">A waif he was of low degrees&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">No gaudy dress</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">Did he possess,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">Nor yet a handsome cat was he.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">But lo, he smote that spurious king</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">And stripped him of his tinsel crown,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">Then like the wind</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">Full close behind</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">He chased His Highness into town.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">With cheers his subjects saw him come.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">He did not pause&mdash;he did not stop,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">But straight ahead</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">He wildly fled</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">Till he was safe within his shop.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">He caught his breath and gazed about&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">A sorry sight did he behold:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">No catnip there</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">Or watchful care&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">No mice and milk and joy of old.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 330px;"><a name="ILL_044" id="ILL_044"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_044.jpg" width="330" height="500" alt="QUOTH HE, &quot;MY PRIDE IS SATISFIED; THIS KINGDOM BUSINESS
+DOES NOT PAY&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">QUOTH HE, &quot;MY PRIDE IS SATISFIED; THIS KINGDOM BUSINESS
+DOES NOT PAY&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">He heaved a sigh and dropped a tear&mdash;</span><br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">He sent those idle clerks away&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">Quoth he, "My pride</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">Is satisfied;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">This kingdom business does not pay."</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">With care once more he runs his store,</span><br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">His catnip all in canisters&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">His milk and mice</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 29em;">All packed in ice,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">And humbly serves his customers.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="MR_POSSUMS_GREAT_STORY" id="MR_POSSUMS_GREAT_STORY"></a>MR. 'POSSUM'S GREAT STORY</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>MR. 'POSSUM'S GREAT STORY</h2>
+
+<h3>MR. 'POSSUM TELLS THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF THE 'POSSUM FAMILY, TO THE
+SURPRISE OF HIS FRIENDS</h3>
+
+<p>"Now this," said the Story Teller, "is the story that Mr. Possum told
+the Snowed-In Literary Club in the Hollow Tree. It must be a true story,
+because Mr. 'Possum said so, and, besides, anybody that knows Mr.
+'Possum would know that he could never in the world have made it up out
+of his head."</p>
+
+<p>The Little Lady doesn't quite like that.</p>
+
+<p>"But Mr. 'Possum is smart," she says. "He knows ever so much."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, of course, and that's why he never <i>has</i> to make up things. He
+just tells what he knows, and this time he told</p>
+
+<h4>"HOW UNCLE SILAS AND AUNT MELISSY MOVED</h4>
+
+<p>"You may remember," he said, "my telling you once about Uncle Silas and
+Aunt Melissy Lovejoy, who lived in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> a nice place just beyond the Wide
+Paw-paw Hollows, and how Uncle Silas once visited Cousin Glenwood in
+town and came home all dressed up, leading a game chicken, and with a
+bag of shinny-sticks, and a young man to wait on him; and how Aunt
+Melissy&mdash;instead of being pleased, as Uncle Silas thought she would
+be&mdash;got mad when she saw him, and made him and the young man take off
+all their nice clothes and go to work in the garden, and kept them at it
+with that bag of shinny-sticks until fall.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<p>"Well, this story is about them, too. I went to live with them soon
+after that, because I lost both of my parents one night when Mr. Man was
+hunting in the Black Bottoms for something to put in a pan with some
+sweet potatoes he had raised that year, and I suppose I would have been
+used with sweet potatoes too if I hadn't come away from there pretty
+lively instead of trying our old playing-dead trick on Mr. Man and his
+friends.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought right away that Mr. Man might know the trick, so I didn't
+wait to try it myself, but took out for the Wide Paw-paw Hollows, to
+visit Uncle Silas Lovejoy, who was an uncle on my mother's side, and
+Aunt Melissy and my little cousins; and they all seemed glad to see me,
+especially my little cousins, until they found they had to give me some
+of their things and most of their food, because I was young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> and
+growing, besides being quite sad about my folks, and so, of course, had
+to eat a good deal to keep well and from taking my loss too hard.</p>
+
+<p>"But by-and-by Uncle Lovejoy said that he didn't believe that he and the
+hired man&mdash;who was the same one he had brought home to wait on him when
+he came from town&mdash;to be his valet, he said&mdash;though he got to be a hired
+man right after Aunt Melissy met him and got hold of the
+shinny-sticks&mdash;Aunt Melissy being a spry, stirring person who liked to
+see people busy. I remember how she used to keep me and my little
+cousins busy until sometimes I wished I had stayed with my folks and put
+up with the sweet potatoes and let Uncle Silas and his family alone."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. 'Possum stopped to light his pipe, and Mr. Rabbit said that he
+supposed, of course, Mr. 'Possum knew his story and how to tell it, but
+that if he ever intended to finish what Uncle Lovejoy had said about
+himself and the hired man he wished he'd get at it pretty soon.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. 'Possum said of course he meant to, as soon as he could get his
+breath, and think a minute. "Well, then," he said, "Uncle Silas told
+Aunt Melissy that he didn't believe he and the hired man could raise and
+catch enough for the family since I had come to stay with them, and he
+thought they had better move farther west to a place where the land was
+better and where Mr. Man's chickens were not kept<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> up in such close,
+unhealthy places, but were allowed to roost out in the open air, on the
+fences and in the trees. He said he didn't think their house was quite
+stylish enough either, which he knew would strike Aunt Melissy, who was
+a Glenwood, and primpy, and fond of the best things.</p>
+
+<p>"So then we began to pack up right away, and Uncle Silas and Aunt
+Melissy quarrelled a good deal about what was worth taking and what
+wasn't, and they took turns scolding the hired man about a good many
+things he didn't do and almost all of the things he did do, and my
+little cousins and I had a fine time running through the empty rooms and
+playing with things we had never seen before, but we had to keep out of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>
+Aunt Melissy's reach if we wanted to enjoy it much.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_045" id="ILL_045"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_045.jpg" width="500" height="425" alt="AUNT MELISSY HAD ARRANGED A BUNDLE FOR UNCLE SILAS, AND
+SHE HAD FIXED UP THE HIRED MAN TOO" title="" />
+<span class="caption">AUNT MELISSY HAD ARRANGED A BUNDLE FOR UNCLE SILAS, AND
+SHE HAD FIXED UP THE HIRED MAN TOO</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Well, by-and-by we were all packed up and ready to start. We had
+everything in bundles or tied together, and Aunt Melissy had arranged a
+big bundle for Uncle Silas to carry, and several things to tie and hang
+about on his person in different places, and she had fixed up the hired
+man too, besides some bundles for me and my little cousins.</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt Melissy said she would take charge of the lunch-basket and lead
+the way, and she was all dressed up and carried an umbrella, and didn't
+look much as if she belonged to the rest of our crowd.</p>
+
+<p>"It was pretty early when we started, for it was getting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> dangerous to
+camp out in that section, and we wanted to get as far as we could the
+first day, though we didn't any of us have any idea then how long a trip
+we <i>would</i> make that day, nor of the way we were going to make it.
+Nobody could guess a guess like that, even if he was the best guesser in
+the world and made his living that way."</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 401px;"><a name="ILL_046" id="ILL_046"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_046.jpg" width="401" height="500" alt="DIDN&#39;T LOOK AS IF SHE BELONGED TO THE REST OF OUR CROWD" title="" />
+<span class="caption">DIDN&#39;T LOOK AS IF SHE BELONGED TO THE REST OF OUR CROWD</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mr. 'Possum stopped to light his pipe again, and said that if anybody
+wanted a chance to guess how far they went that first day and how they
+travelled, they could guess now. But the Hollow Tree People said they
+didn't want to guess, and they did want Mr. 'Possum to go ahead and tell
+them about it.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Mr. 'Possum, "we travelled fifty miles that first day, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>
+we travelled it in less than two hours."</p>
+
+<p>"Fifty miles in two hours!" said all the Hollow Tree People. And Jack
+Rabbit said:</p>
+
+<p>"Why, a menagerie like that couldn't travel fifty miles in two years!"</p>
+
+<p>"But we did, though," said Mr. 'Possum; "we travelled it in a balloon."</p>
+
+<p>"In a balloon!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, not exactly in a balloon, but <i>with</i> a balloon. It happened just
+as I'm going to tell you.</p>
+
+<p>"We went along pretty well until we got to the Wide Grass Lands, though
+Aunt Melissy scolded Uncle Silas a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> good deal because he got behind and
+didn't stand up in a nice stylish way with all the things he had to
+carry, and she used her umbrella once on the hired man because he
+dropped the clock.</p>
+
+<p>"When we got out to the Wide Grass Lands there was a high east wind
+blowing, getting ready for a storm, and when we got on top of a little
+grassy hill close to the Wide Blue Water it blew Uncle Silas and the
+hired man so they could hardly stand up, and it turned Aunt Melissy's
+umbrella wrong side out, which made her mad, and she said that it was
+Uncle Silas's fault and mine, and that she had never wanted to move
+anyway.</p>
+
+<p>"But just then one of my little cousins looked up in the sky and said,
+'Oh, look at that funny bird!' and we all looked up, and there was a
+great big long bag of a thing coming right toward us, not very high up,
+and Uncle Silas spoke up and said 'That's a balloon,' for Uncle Silas
+had seen one in town when he was there visiting Cousin Glenwood, and the
+hired man, too. Then while we were all standing there watching it, we
+saw that there was a long rope that hung from the balloon most to the
+ground, and that it had something tied to the end of it (a big iron
+thing with a lot of hooks on it), and that it was swooping down straight
+toward us.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Silas called out as loud as he could, 'That's the anchor! Look
+out!' but it was too late to look out, for it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> was coming as fast as the
+wind blew the balloon, and Uncle Silas and the hired man being loaded
+with the things couldn't move very quick, and the rest of us were too
+scared to know which way to jump, and down came that thing right among
+us, and I saw it catch among Uncle Silas's furniture and the hired
+man's, and I heard Uncle Silas say, 'Grab hold, all of you' and we all
+did, some one way and some another, and away we went.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it was certainly very curious how we all were lucky enough to get
+hold of that anchor, with all our bundles and things; but of course we
+could do it better than if we had not been given those nice useful tails
+which belong to our family. I had hold that way, and some of the others
+did, too. Uncle Silas didn't need to hold on at all, for some of the
+furniture was tied to him, and he just sat back in a chair that was hung
+on behind and took it easy, though he did drop some of his things when
+he first got aboard, and Aunt Melissy scolded him for that as soon as
+she caught her breath and got over being frightened and was sitting up
+on her part of the anchor enjoying the scenery.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 384px;"><a name="ILL_047" id="ILL_047"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_047.jpg" width="384" height="500" alt="THE BALLOON WENT OVER THE WIDE BLUE WATER JUST AFTER IT
+GOT OUR FAMILY" title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE BALLOON WENT OVER THE WIDE BLUE WATER JUST AFTER IT
+GOT OUR FAMILY</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"I never had such a trip as that before, and never expect to have one
+again. The balloon went over the Wide Blue Water just after it got our
+family, and we were all afraid we would be let down in it and drowned;
+but the people who were in the balloon threw out something heavy which
+we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> thought at first they were throwing at us, but it must have been
+something to make the balloon go up; for we did go up until Aunt Melissy
+said if we'd just get a little nearer one of those clouds she'd step out
+on it and live there, as she'd always wanted to do since she was a
+child.</p>
+
+<p>"Then we all sat up and held on tight, above and below, and said what a
+nice day it was to travel, and that we'd always travel that way
+hereafter; and Uncle Silas and the hired man unhooked their furniture,
+so they could land easier when the time came, and Aunt Melissy passed
+around the lunch, and we looked down and saw the water and the land
+again and a lot of houses and trees, and Aunt Melissy said that nobody
+could ever make her believe the world was that big if she hadn't seen it
+with her own eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"And Uncle Silas and the hired man said that of course this was going<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>
+pretty fast, but that they had travelled a good deal faster sometimes
+when they were in town with Cousin Glenwood, and pretty soon he showed
+us the town where Cousin Glenwood lived, and he and the hired man tried
+to point out the house to us, but they couldn't agree about which it was
+because the houses didn't look the same from up there in the air as they
+did from down on the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"I know I shall never forget that trip. We saw ever so many different
+Mr. Men and Mr. Dogs, and animals of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> every kind, and houses that had
+chimneys taller than any tree, and a good many things that even Uncle
+Silas did not know about. Then by-and-by we came to some woods
+again&mdash;the biggest kind of Big Deep Woods&mdash;and we saw that we were
+getting close to the tree-tops, and we were all afraid we would get hit
+by the branches and maybe knocked off with our things.</p>
+
+<p>"And pretty soon, sure enough, that anchor did drop right down among the
+trees, and such a clapping and scratching as we did get!</p>
+
+<p>"We shut our eyes and held on, and some of our furniture was brushed off
+of Uncle Silas and the hired man, and Aunt Melissy lost her umbrella,
+and I lost a toy chicken, which I could never find again. Then all at
+once there was a big sudden jerk that jarred Uncle Silas loose, and made
+Aunt Melissy holler that she was killed, and knocked the breath out of
+the rest of us for a few minutes.</p>
+
+<p>"But we were all there, and the anchor was fast on the limb of a big
+tree&mdash;a tree almost as big as the Hollow Tree, and hollow, just like it,
+with a nice handy place to go in.</p>
+
+<p>"So when we got our senses back we picked up all our things that we
+could find, and moved into the new place, and Aunt Melissy looked at the
+clock, which was still running, and it was just a little over two hours
+since we started.</p>
+
+<p>"Then pretty soon we heard Mr. Man and his friends<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> who had been up in
+the balloon coming, and we stayed close inside till they had taken the
+anchor and everything away, and after that, when it was getting dark,
+Uncle Silas and the hired man went out and found, not very far off,
+where there were some nice chickens that roosted in handy places, and
+brought home two or three, and Aunt Melissy set up the stove and cooked
+up a good supper, and we all sat around the kitchen fire, and the storm
+that the east wind had been blowing up came along sure enough and it
+rained all night, but we were snug and dry, and went to sleep mostly in
+beds made down on the floor, and lay there listening to the rain and
+thinking what a nice journey we'd had and what a good new home we'd
+found.</p>
+
+<p>"And it <i>was</i> a good place, for I lived there till I grew up, and if I'm
+not mistaken some of Uncle Silas's and Aunt Melissy's children live
+there still. I haven't heard from any of them for a long time, but I am
+thinking of going on a visit over that way in the spring, and if that
+balloon is still running I'm going to travel with it.</p>
+
+<p>"And that," said Mr. 'Possum, "is a true story&mdash;all true, every word,
+for I was there."</p>
+
+<p>Nobody said anything for a minute or two after Mr. 'Possum had finished
+his story&mdash;nobody <i>could</i> say anything.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 391px;"><a name="ILL_048" id="ILL_048"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_048.jpg" width="391" height="500" alt="MR. TURTLE SAID THAT WHAT MR. &#39;POSSUM HAD TOLD THEM WAS
+TRUE" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. TURTLE SAID THAT WHAT MR. &#39;POSSUM HAD TOLD THEM WAS
+TRUE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Rabbit coughed a little and remarked that he was glad that Mr.
+'Possum said that the story was true,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> for no one would ever have
+suspected it. He said if Mr. 'Possum hadn't said it was true he would
+have thought it was one of those pleasant dreams that Mr. 'Possum had
+when he slept hanging to a peg head down.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Turtle, who had been sitting with his eyes shut and looking as
+if he were asleep, knocked the ashes out of his pipe, and said that what
+Mr. 'Possum had told them was true&mdash;at least, <i>some</i> of it was true; for
+he himself had been sitting in the door of his house on the shore of the
+Wide Blue Water when the balloon passed over, and he had seen Uncle
+Silas Lovejoy's family sitting up there anchored and comfortable; and he
+had picked up a chair that Uncle Silas had dropped, and he had it in his
+house to this day, it being a good strong chair and better than any that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>
+was made nowadays.</p>
+
+<p>Well, of course after that nobody said anything about Mr. 'Possum's
+story not being true, for they remembered how old and wise Mr. Turtle
+was and could always prove things, and they all talked about it a great
+deal, and asked Mr. 'Possum a good many questions.</p>
+
+<p>They said how nice it was to know somebody who had had an adventure like
+that, and Mr. Rabbit changed his seat so he could be next to Mr.
+'Possum, because he said he wanted to write it all down to keep.</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. 'Possum said he never would forget how good<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> those chickens
+tasted that first night in the new home, and that Mr. Rabbit mustn't
+forget to put them in.</p>
+
+<p>Then they all remembered that they were hungry now, and Mr. Crow and Mr.
+Squirrel and Mr. Robin hustled around to get a bite to eat before
+bedtime, and Mr. 'Possum hurried down to bring up the stove-wood, and
+was gone quite awhile, though nobody spoke of it&mdash;not then&mdash;even if they
+did wonder about it a little&mdash;and after supper they all sat around the
+fire again and smoked and dropped off to sleep while the clock ticked
+and the blaze flickered about and made queer shadows on the wall of the
+Hollow Tree.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_BARK_OF_OLD_HUNGRY-WOLF" id="THE_BARK_OF_OLD_HUNGRY-WOLF"></a>THE BARK OF OLD HUNGRY-WOLF</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE BARK OF OLD HUNGRY-WOLF</h2>
+
+<h3>HOW THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE HAVE A MOST UNWELCOME VISITOR, AND WHAT
+BECOMES OF HIM</h3>
+
+<p>"What made Mr. 'Possum so anxious to get the wood, and what made him
+stay down-stairs so long when he went after it?" asks the Little Lady
+next evening, when the Story Teller is lighting his pipe and getting
+ready to remember the history of the Hollow Tree.</p>
+
+<p>"We're coming to that. You may be sure there was some reason for it, for
+Mr. 'Possum doesn't hurry after wood or stay long in a cold place if he
+can help it, unless he has something on his mind. Perhaps some of the
+Deep Woods People thought of that too, but if they did they didn't say
+anything&mdash;not at the time. I suppose they thought it didn't matter much,
+anyhow, if they got the wood."</p>
+
+<p>So they went right on having a good time, keeping up a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> nice fire, and
+eating up whatever they had; for they thought the big snow couldn't last
+as long as their wood and their things to eat, and every day they went
+up to look out of the up-stairs windows to see how much had melted, and
+every day they found it just about the same, only maybe a little
+crustier on top, and the weather stayed <i>very cold</i>.</p>
+
+<p>But they didn't mind it so long as they were warm and not hungry, and
+they played games, and recited their pieces, and sang, and danced, and
+said they had never had such a good time in all their lives.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_049" id="ILL_049"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_049.jpg" width="500" height="423" alt="ONE DAY MR. CROW FOUND HE WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL
+OF EVERYTHING" title="" />
+<span class="caption">ONE DAY MR. CROW FOUND HE WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL
+OF EVERYTHING</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>But one day when Mr. Crow went down into the store-room for supplies he
+found that he was at the bottom of the barrel of everything they had,
+and he came up looking pretty sober, though he didn't say anything about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>
+it&mdash;not then, for he knew there were plenty of bones and odds and ends
+he could scrape up, and he had a little flour and some meal in his
+pantry; so he could make soup and gravy and johnny-cake and hash, which
+he did right away, and they all said how fine such things were for a
+change, and told Mr. Crow to go right on making them as long as he
+wanted to, even if the snow stayed on till spring. And Mr. 'Possum and
+Mr. 'Coon said it was like old times, and that Mr. Crow was probably the
+very best provider in the Big Deep Woods.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crow smiled, too, but he didn't feel like it much, for he knew that
+even johnny-cake and gravy wouldn't last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> forever, and that unless the
+snow went away pretty soon they would all be hungry and cold, for the
+wood was getting low, too.</p>
+
+<p>And one morning, when Mr. Crow went to his meal-sack and his flour-bag
+and his pile of odds and ends there was just barely enough for
+breakfast, and hardly that. And Mr. Crow didn't like to tell them about
+it, for he knew they all thought he could keep right on making
+johnny-cake and gravy forever, because they didn't have to stop to think
+where things came from, as he did, and he was afraid they would blame
+him when there was nothing more left.</p>
+
+<p>So the Old Black Crow tried to step around lively and look pleasant, to
+keep anybody from noticing, because he thought it might turn warm that
+day and melt the snow; and when breakfast was ready he put on what there
+was and said he hadn't cooked very much because he had heard that light
+breakfasts were better for people who stayed in the house a good deal,
+and as for himself, he said he guessed he wouldn't eat any breakfast
+that morning at all.</p>
+
+<p>Then while the others were eating he crept down-stairs and looked at the
+empty boxes and barrels and the few sticks of wood that were left, and
+he knew that if that snow didn't melt off right away they were going to
+have a <i>very hard time</i>. Then he came back up in the big living-room and
+went on up-stairs to his own room, to look out the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> window to see if it
+wasn't going to be a warm, melting day. But Mr. Crow came back pretty
+soon. He came back in a hurry, too, and he slammed his door and locked
+it, and then let go of everything and just slid down-stairs. Then the
+Deep Woods People jumped up quick from the table and ran to him, for
+they thought he was having a fit of some kind, and they still thought so
+when they looked into his face: for Mr. Crow's eyes were rolled up and
+his bill was pale, and when he tried to speak he couldn't. And Mr.
+Rabbit said it was because Mr. Crow had done without his breakfast, and
+he ran to get something from the table; but Mr. Crow couldn't eat, and
+then they saw that some of the feathers on top of his head were turning
+gray, and they knew he had seen some awful thing just that little moment
+he was in his room.</p>
+
+<p>So then they all looked at one another and wondered what it was, and
+they were glad Mr. Crow had locked the door. Then they carried him over
+to the fire, and pretty soon he got so he could whisper a little, and
+when they knew what he was saying they understood why he was so scared
+and why he had locked the door; for the words that Mr. Crow kept
+whispering over and over were: "Old Hungry-Wolf! Old Hungry-Wolf! Old
+Hungry-Wolf!"</p>
+
+<p>All the Deep Woods People know what that means. They know that when Old
+Hungry-Wolf comes, or even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> when you hear him bark, it means that there
+is no food left in the Big Deep Woods for anybody, and that nobody can
+tell how long it will be before there <i>will</i> be food again. And all the
+Deep Woods People stood still and held their breath and listened for the
+bark of Old Hungry-Wolf, because they knew Mr. Crow had seen his face
+looking in the window. And they all thought they heard it, except Mr.
+'Possum, who said he didn't believe it was Old Hungry-Wolf at all that
+Mr. Crow had seen, but only Mr. Gray Wolf himself, who had perhaps
+slipped out and travelled over the snow to see if they were all at home
+and comfortable.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 421px;"><a name="ILL_050" id="ILL_050"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_050.jpg" width="421" height="500" alt="THEN MR. &#39;COON SLAMMED HIS DOOR" title="" />
+<span class="caption">THEN MR. &#39;COON SLAMMED HIS DOOR</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>But Mr. Crow said:</p>
+
+<p>"No, no; it was Old Hungry-Wolf! He was big and black, and I saw his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>
+great fiery eyes!"</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Possum looked very brave, and said he would see if Old
+Hungry-Wolf was looking into his window too, and he went right up, and
+soon came back and said there wasn't any big black face at his window,
+and he thought that Mr. Crow's empty stomach had made him imagine
+things.</p>
+
+<p>So then Mr. 'Coon said that he would go up to <i>his</i> room if the others
+would like to come along, and they could see for themselves whether Old
+Hungry-Wolf was trying to get in or not.</p>
+
+<p>Then they all went very quietly up Mr. 'Coon's stair (all except Mr.
+'Possum, who stayed with Mr. Crow), and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> they opened Mr. 'Coon's door
+and took one look inside, and then Mr. 'Coon he slammed <i>his</i> door shut,
+and locked it, and they all let go of everything and came sliding down
+in a heap, for they had seen the great fiery eyes and black face of Old
+Hungry-Wolf glaring in at Mr. 'Coon's window.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 427px;"><a name="ILL_051" id="ILL_051"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_051.jpg" width="427" height="500" alt="Mr. &#39;POSSUM SAID NOT TO MOVE, THAT HE WOULD GO AFTER A
+PIECE OF WOOD" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Mr. &#39;POSSUM SAID NOT TO MOVE, THAT HE WOULD GO AFTER A
+PIECE OF WOOD</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>So they all huddled around the fire and lit their pipes&mdash;for they still
+had some tobacco&mdash;and smoked, but didn't say anything, until by-and-by
+Mr. Crow told them that there wasn't another bite to eat in the house
+and very little wood, and that that was the reason why Old Hungry-Wolf<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>
+had come. And they talked about it in whispers&mdash;whether they ought to
+exercise any more, because though exercise would help them to keep warm
+and save wood, it would make them hungrier. And some of them said they
+thought they would try to go to sleep like Mr. Bear, who slept all
+winter and never knew that he was hungry until spring. So they kept
+talking, and now and then they would stop and listen, and they all said
+they could hear the bark of Old Hungry-Wolf&mdash;all except Mr. 'Possum,
+which was strange, because Mr. 'Possum is fond of good things and would
+be apt to be the very first to hear Old Hungry's bark.</p>
+
+<p>And when the fire got very low and it was getting cold, Mr. 'Possum said
+for them not to move; that he would go down after a piece of wood, and
+he would attend to the fire<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> as long as the wood lasted, and try to
+make it last as long as possible. And every time the fire got very low
+Mr. 'Possum would bring a piece of wood, and sometimes he stayed a good
+while (just for one piece of wood), but they still didn't think much
+about it&mdash;not then. What they did think about was how hungry they were,
+and Mr. Crow said he knew he could eat as much as the old ancestor of
+his that was told about in a book which he had once borrowed from Mr.
+Man's little boy who had left it out in the yard at dinner-time.</p>
+
+<p>Then they all begged Mr. Crow to get the book and read it to them, and
+perhaps they could imagine they were not so hungry. So Mr. Crow brought
+the book and read them the poem about</p>
+
+<h4>THE RAVENOUS RAVEN</h4>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 378px;"><a name="ILL_052" id="ILL_052"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_052.jpg" width="378" height="500" alt="HE WOULD SMOKE IN THE SUN WHEN THE MORNINGS WERE FAIR" title="" />
+<span class="caption">HE WOULD SMOKE IN THE SUN WHEN THE MORNINGS WERE FAIR</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Oh, there was an old raven as black as could be,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And a wonderful sort of a raven was he;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">For his house he kept tidy, his yard he kept neat,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And he cooked the most marvellous dainties to eat.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">He could roast, he could toast, he could bake, he could fry,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">He could stir up a cake in the wink of an eye,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">He could boil, he could broil, he could grill, he could stew</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 21em;">Oh, there wasn't a thing that this bird couldn't do.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">He would smoke in the sun when the mornings were fair,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And his plans for new puddings and pies would prepare;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">But, alas! like the famous Jim Crow with his shelf,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">He was greedy, and ate all his dainties himself.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_053" id="ILL_053"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_053.jpg" width="500" height="346" alt="WITH A LOOK AND A SIGH THEY WOULD STAND AND BEHOLD" title="" />
+<span class="caption">WITH A LOOK AND A SIGH THEY WOULD STAND AND BEHOLD</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">It was true he was proud of the things he could cook,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And would call in his neighbors sometimes for a look,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Or a taste, it may be, when his pastry was fine;</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 21em;">But he'd never been known to invite them to dine.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">With a look and a sigh they could stand and behold</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">All the puddings so brown and the sauces of gold;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">With a taste and a growl they'd reluctantly go</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Praying vengeance to fall on that greedy old crow.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_054" id="ILL_054"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_054.jpg" width="500" height="442" alt="THE TASTIEST PASTRY THAT EVER WAS KNOWN" title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE TASTIEST PASTRY THAT EVER WAS KNOWN</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Now, one morning near Christmas when holly grows green,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And the best of good things in the markets are seen,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">He went out for a smoke in the crisp morning air,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And to think of some holiday dish to prepare.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Mr. Rabbit had spices to sell at his store,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Mr. Reynard had tender young chicks by the score,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And the old raven thought, as he stood there alone,</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 21em;">Of the tastiest pastry that ever was known.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Then away to the market he hurried full soon,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Dropping in for a chat with the 'possum and 'coon</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Just to tell them his plans, which they heard with delight,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And to ask them to call for a moment that night</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">For a look and a taste of his pastry so fine,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And he hinted he might even ask them to dine.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Then he hurried away, and the rest of the day</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Messrs. 'Possum and 'Coon were expectant and gay.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 382px;"><a name="ILL_055" id="ILL_055"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_055.jpg" width="382" height="500" alt="THEN TO STIR AND TO BAKE HE BEGAN RIGHT AWAY" title="" />
+<span class="caption">THEN TO STIR AND TO BAKE HE BEGAN RIGHT AWAY</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Oh, he hurried away and to market he went,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And his money for spices and poultry he spent,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">While behind in the market were many, he knew,</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 21em;">Who would talk of the marvellous things he would do;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">So with joy in his heart and with twinkling eye</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">He returned to his home his new project to try,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Then to stir and to bake he began right away,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And his dish was complete at the end of the day.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Aye, the marvel was done&mdash;'twas a rich golden hue,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And its smell was delicious&mdash;the old raven knew</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">That he never had made such a pastry before,</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 21em;">And a look of deep trouble his countenance wore;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"For," thought he, "I am certain the' possum and 'coon</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">That I talked with to-day will be coming here soon,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And expect me to ask them to dine, when, you see,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">There is just a good feast in this dainty for me."</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Now, behold, he'd scarce uttered his thoughts when he heard</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">At the casement a tapping&mdash;this greedy old bird&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And the latch was uplifted, and gayly strode in</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Both the 'coon and the 'possum with faces agrin.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">They were barbered and brushed and arrayed in their best,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">In the holiday fashion their figures were dressed,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">While a look in each face, to the raven at least,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Said, "We've come here to-night, sir, prepared for a feast."</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And the raven he smiled as he said, "Howdy-do?"</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">For he'd thought of a plan to get rid of the two;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And quoth he, "My dear friends, I am sorry to say</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">That the wonderful pastry I mentioned to-day</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">When it came to be baked was a failure complete,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Disappointing to taste and disturbing to eat.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">I am sorry, dear friends, for I thought 'twould be fine;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">I am sorry I cannot invite you to dine."</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And the 'coon and the 'possum were both sorry, too,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And suspicious, somewhat, for the raven they knew.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">They declared 'twas too bad all that pudding to waste,</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 21em;">And they begged him to give them at least just a taste,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">But he firmly refused and at last they departed,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">While the greedy old crow for the dining-room started,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And the pie so delicious he piled on his plate,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And he ate, and he ate, and he ate, and he ate!</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_056" id="ILL_056"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_056.jpg" width="500" height="446" alt="THE GREEDY OLD RAVEN, BUT GREEDY NO MORE" title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE GREEDY OLD RAVEN, BUT GREEDY NO MORE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Well, next morn when the 'possum and 'coon passed along</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">They could see at the raven's that something was wrong,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">For no blue curling smoke from the chimney-top came;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">So they opened his door and they called out his name,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And they entered inside, and behold! on the floor</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 21em;">Was the greedy old raven, but greedy no more:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">For his heart it was still&mdash;not a flutter was there&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And his toes were turned up and the table was bare;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Now his epitaph tells to the whole country-side</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">How he ate, and he ate, and he ate till he died.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>When Mr. Crow finished, Mr. Rabbit said it was certainly an interesting
+poem, and if he just had a chance now to eat till he died he'd take it,
+and Mr. 'Coon said he'd give anything to know how that pie had tasted,
+and he didn't see how any <i>one</i> pie could be big enough to kill anybody
+that felt as hungry as <i>he</i> did now. And Mr. 'Possum didn't say much of
+anything, but only seemed drowsy and peaceful-like, which was curious
+for <i>him</i> as things were.</p>
+
+<p>Well, all that day, and the next day, and the next, there wasn't
+anything to eat, and they sat as close as they could around the little
+fire and wished they'd saved some of the big logs and some of the food,
+too, that they had used up so fast when they thought the big snow would
+go away. And the bark of Old Hungry-Wolf got louder and louder, and he
+began to gnaw, too, and they all heard it, day and night&mdash;all except Mr.
+'Possum, who said he didn't know why, but that for some reason he
+couldn't hear a sound like that at all, which was <i>very</i> strange,
+indeed.</p>
+
+<p>But there was something else about Mr. 'Possum that was strange. He
+didn't get any thinner. All the others began to show the change right
+away, but Mr. 'Possum still<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> looked the same, and still kept cheerful,
+and stepped around as lively as ever, and that was <i>very strange</i>.</p>
+
+<p>By-and-by, when Mr. 'Possum had gone down-stairs for some barrel staves
+to burn, for the wood was all gone, Mr. Rabbit spoke of it, and said he
+couldn't understand it; and then Mr. 'Coon, who had been thinking about
+it too, said he wondered why it sometimes took Mr. 'Possum so long to
+get a little bit of wood. Then they all remembered how Mr. Possum had
+stayed so long down-stairs whenever he went, even before Old Hungry-Wolf
+came to the Hollow Tree, and they couldn't understand it <i>at all</i>.</p>
+
+<p>And just then Mr. 'Possum came up with two little barrel staves which he
+had been a long time getting, and they all turned and looked at him very
+closely, which was a thing they had never done until that time. And
+before Mr. 'Possum noticed it, they saw him chew&mdash;a kind of last,
+finishing chew&mdash;and then give a little swallow&mdash;a sort of last,
+finishing swallow&mdash;and just then he noticed them watching him, and he
+stopped right in his tracks and dropped the two little barrel staves and
+looked very scared and guilty, which was strange, when he had always
+been so willing about the wood.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 441px;"><a name="ILL_057" id="ILL_057"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_057.jpg" width="441" height="500" alt="LOOKED STRAIGHT AT MR. &#39;POSSUM AND SAID, &quot;WHAT WAS THAT
+YOU WERE CHEWING JUST NOW?&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">LOOKED STRAIGHT AT MR. &#39;POSSUM AND SAID, &quot;WHAT WAS THAT
+YOU WERE CHEWING JUST NOW?&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Then they all got up out of their chairs and looked straight at Mr.
+'Possum, and said:</p>
+
+<p>"What was that you were chewing just now?"</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then they all said:</p>
+
+<p>"What was that you were swallowing just now?"</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.</p>
+
+<p>Then they all said:</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you always stay so long when you go for wood?"</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.</p>
+
+<p>Then they all said:</p>
+
+<p>"Why is it that you don't get thin, like the rest of us?"</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then they all said:</p>
+
+<p>"Why is it you never hear the bark of Old Hungry-Wolf?"</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. 'Possum said, very weakly:</p>
+
+<p>"I did think I heard it a little while ago."</p>
+
+<p>Then they all said:</p>
+
+<p>"And was that why you went down after wood?"</p>
+
+<p>And once more Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.</p>
+
+<p>Then they all said:</p>
+
+<p>"What have you got <i>down there</i> to eat? And <i>where</i> do you keep it?"</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Possum seemed to think of something, and picked up the two
+little barrel staves and brought them over to the fire and put them on,
+and looked very friendly, and sat down and lit his pipe and smoked a
+minute, and said that climbing the stairs had overcome him a little, and
+that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> he wasn't feeling very well, but if they'd let him breathe a
+minute he'd tell them all about it, and how he had been preparing a nice
+surprise for them, for just such a time as this; but when he saw they
+had found out something, it all came on him so sudden that, what with
+climbing the stairs and all, he couldn't quite gather himself, but that
+he was all right now, and the surprise was ready.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you know," Mr. 'Possum said, "that I have travelled a good
+deal, and have seen a good many kinds of things happen, and know about
+what to expect. And when I saw how fast we were using up the food, and
+how deep the snow was, I knew we might expect a famine that even Mr.
+Crow's johnny-cake and gravy wouldn't last through; and Mr. Crow
+mentioned something of the kind once himself, though he seemed to forget
+it right away again, for he went on giving us just as much as ever. But
+I didn't forget about it, and right away I began laying aside in a quiet
+place some of the things that would keep pretty well, and that we would
+be glad to have when Old Hungry-Wolf should really come along and we had
+learned to live on lighter meals and could make things last."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. 'Possum was going right on, but Mr. 'Coon interrupted him, and said
+that Mr. 'Possum could call it living on lighter meals if he wanted to
+but that he hadn't eaten any meal at all for three days, and that if Mr.
+'Possum had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> put away anything for a hungry time he wished he'd get it
+out right now, without any more explaining, for it was food that he
+wanted and not explanations, and all the others said so too.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Possum said he was just coming to that, but he only wished to
+say a few words about it because they had seemed to think that he was
+doing something that he shouldn't, when he was really trying to save
+them from Old Hungry-Wolf, and he said he had kept his surprise as long
+as he could, so it would last longer, and that he had been pretending
+not to hear Old Hungry's bark just to keep their spirits up, and he
+supposed one of the reasons why he hadn't got any thinner was because he
+hadn't been so worried, and had kept happy in the nice surprise he had
+all the time, just saving it for when they would begin to need it most.
+As to what he had been chewing and swallowing when he came up-stairs,
+Mr. 'Possum said that he had been taking just the least little taste of
+some of the things to see if they were keeping well&mdash;some nice cooked
+chickens, for instance, from a lot that Mr. Crow had on hand and didn't
+remember about, and a young turkey or two, and a few ducks, and a bushel
+or so of apples, and a half a barrel of doughnuts, and&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. 'Possum didn't get any further, for all the Deep Woods People
+made a wild scramble for the stairs, with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> Mr. 'Possum after them, and
+when they got down in the store-room he took them behind one of the big
+roots of the Hollow Tree, and there was a passageway that none of them
+had ever suspected, and Mr. 'Possum lit a candle and led them through it
+and out into a sort of cave, and there, sure enough, were all the things
+he had told them about and some mince-pies besides. And there was even
+some wood, for Mr. 'Possum had worked hard to lay away a supply of
+things for a long snowed-in time.</p>
+
+<p>Then all the Hollow Tree People sat right down there and had some of the
+things, and by-and-by they carried some more up-stairs, and some wood,
+too, and built up a fine big fire, and lit their pipes and smoked, and
+forgot everything unpleasant in the world. And they all said how smart
+and good Mr. 'Possum was to save all that food for the very time when
+they would need it most, when all the rest of them had been just eating
+it up as fast as possible and would have been now without a thing in the
+world except for Mr. 'Possum.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Possum asked them if they could hear Old Hungry-Wolf any more,
+and they listened but they couldn't hear a sound, and then they went up
+into Mr. Crow's room, and into Mr. Coon's room, and into Mr. 'Possum's
+room, and they couldn't see a thing of him anywhere, though it was just
+the time of day to see him, for it was late in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> evening&mdash;the time
+Old Hungry-Wolf is most likely to look in the window.</p>
+
+<p>And that night it turned warm, and the big snow began to thaw; and it
+thawed, and it thawed, and all the brooks and rivers came up, and even
+the Wide Blue Water rose so that the Deep Woods Company had to stay a
+little longer in the Hollow Tree, even when all the snow was nearly
+gone. Mr. Rabbit was pretty anxious to get home, and started out one
+afternoon with Mr. Turtle along, because Mr. Turtle is a good swimmer.
+But there was too much water to cross and they came back again just at
+sunset, and Mr. Crow let them in,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> so they had to wait several days
+longer. But Mr. 'Possum's food lasted, and by the time it was gone they
+could get plenty more; and when they all went away and left the three
+Hollow Tree People together again, they were very happy because they had
+had such a good time; and the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow
+were as good friends as ever, though the gray feathers on the top of Mr.
+Crow's head never did turn quite black again, and some of the Deep Woods
+People call him Silver-Top to this day.</p>
+
+<p>The Little Lady looks anxiously at the Story Teller.</p>
+
+<p>"Did Old Hungry-Wolf ever get inside of the Hollow Tree?" she asks.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No, he never did get inside; they only saw him through the window, and
+heard him bark."</p>
+
+<p>"And why couldn't Mr. 'Possum ever hear him sometimes?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you see, Old Hungry isn't a real wolf, but only a shadow
+wolf&mdash;the shadow of famine. He only looks in when people dread famine,
+and he only barks and gnaws when they feel it. A famine, you know, is
+when one is very hungry and there is nothing to eat. I don't think Mr.
+'Possum was very hungry, and he had all those nice things laid away, so
+he would not care much about that old shadow wolf, which is only another<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>
+name for hunger."</p>
+
+<p>The Little Lady clings very close to the Story Teller.</p>
+
+<p>"Will we ever see Old Hungry-Wolf and hear his bark?"</p>
+
+<p>The Story Teller sits up quite straight, and gathers the Little Lady
+tight.</p>
+
+<p>"Good gracious, no!" he says. "He moved out of our part of the country
+before you were born, and we'll take good care that he doesn't come back
+any more."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad," says the Little Lady. "You can sing now&mdash;you know&mdash;the
+'Hollow Tree Song.'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="AN_EARLY_SPRING_CALL_ON_MR_BEAR" id="AN_EARLY_SPRING_CALL_ON_MR_BEAR"></a>AN EARLY SPRING CALL ON MR. BEAR</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>AN EARLY SPRING CALL ON ON MR. BEAR</h2>
+
+<h3>MR. 'POSSUM'S CURIOUS DREAM AND WHAT CAME OF IT</h3>
+
+<p>"What did they do then?" asks the Little Lady. "What did the Deep Woods
+People all do after they got through being snowed in?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, let's see. It got to be spring then pretty soon&mdash;early spring&mdash;of
+course, and Mr. Jack Rabbit went to writing poetry and making garden;
+Mr. Robin went to meet Mrs. Robin, who had been spending the winter down
+South; Mr. Squirrel, who is quite young, went to call on a very nice
+young Miss Squirrel over toward the Big West Hills; Mr. Dog had to help
+Mr. Man a good deal with the spring work; Mr. Turtle got out all his
+fishing-things and looked them over, and the Hollow Tree People had a
+general straightening up after company. They had a big house-cleaning,
+of course, with most of their things out on the line, and Mr. 'Possum
+said that he'd just about as soon be snowed-in for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> good as to have to
+beat carpets and carry furniture up and down stairs all the rest of his
+life."</p>
+
+<p>But they got through at last, and everything was nice when they were
+settled, only there wasn't a great deal to be had to eat, because it had
+been such a long, cold winter that things were pretty scarce and hard to
+get.</p>
+
+<p>One morning Mr. 'Possum said he had had a dream the night before, and he
+wished it would come true. He said he had dreamed that they were all
+invited by Mr. Bear to help him eat the spring breakfast which he takes
+after his long winter nap, and that Mr. Bear had about the best
+breakfast he ever sat down to. He said he had eaten it clear through,
+from turkey to mince-pie, only he didn't get the mince-pie because Mr.
+Bear had asked him if he'd have it hot or cold, and just as he made up
+his mind to have some of both he woke up and didn't get either.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Coon said he wished he could have a dream like that; that he'd
+take whatever came along and try to sleep through it, and Mr. Crow
+thought a little while and said that sometimes dreams came true,
+especially if you helped them a little. He said he hadn't heard anything
+of Mr. Bear this spring, and it was quite likely he had been taking a
+longer nap than usual. It might be a good plan, he thought, to drop over
+that way and just look in in passing, because if Mr. Bear should be
+sitting down to breakfast<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> he would be pretty apt to ask them to sit up
+and have a bite while they told him the winter news.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Possum said that he didn't believe anybody in the world but
+Mr. Crow would have thought of that, and that hereafter he was going to
+tell him every dream he had. They ought to start right away, he said,
+because if they should get there just as Mr. Bear was clearing off the
+table it would be a good deal worse than not getting the mince-pie in
+his dream.</p>
+
+<p>So they hurried up and put on their best clothes and started for Mr.
+Bear's place, which is over toward the Edge of the World, only farther
+down, in a fine big cave which is fixed up as nice as a house and nicer.
+But when they got pretty close to it they didn't go so fast and
+straight, but just sauntered along as if they were only out for a little
+walk and happened to go in that direction, for they thought Mr. Bear<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>
+might be awake and standing in his door.</p>
+
+<p>They met Mr. Rabbit about that time and invited him to go along, but Mr.
+Rabbit said his friendship with Mr. Bear was a rather distant one, and
+that he mostly talked to him from across the river or from a hill that
+had a good clear running space on the other slope. He said Mr. Bear's
+taste was good, for he was fond of his family, but that the fondness had
+been all on Mr. Bear's side.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 474px;"><a name="ILL_058" id="ILL_058"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_058.jpg" width="474" height="500" alt="THEY WENT ALONG, SAYING WHAT A NICE MAN THEY THOUGHT MR.
+BEAR WAS" title="" />
+<span class="caption">THEY WENT ALONG, SAYING WHAT A NICE MAN THEY THOUGHT MR.
+BEAR WAS</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>So the Hollow Tree People went along, saying what a nice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> man they
+thought Mr. Bear was, and saying it quite loud, and looking every which
+way, because Mr. Bear might be out for a walk too.</p>
+
+<p>But they didn't see him anywhere, and by-and-by they got right to the
+door of his cave and knocked a little, and nobody came. Then they
+listened, but couldn't hear anything at first, until Mr. 'Coon, who has
+very sharp ears, said that he was sure he heard Mr. Bear breathing and
+that he must be still asleep. Then the others thought they heard it,
+too, and pretty soon they were sure they heard it, and Mr. 'Possum said
+it was too bad to let Mr. Bear oversleep himself this fine weather, and
+that they ought to go in and let him know how late it was.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 473px;"><a name="ILL_059" id="ILL_059"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_059.jpg" width="473" height="500" alt="MR. BEAR MUST HAVE BEEN VERY TIRED AND GONE TO SLEEP RIGHT WHERE HE WAS" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. BEAR MUST HAVE BEEN VERY TIRED AND GONE TO SLEEP RIGHT WHERE HE WAS</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>So then they pushed open the door and went tiptoeing in to where Mr.
+Bear was. They thought, of course, he would be in bed, but he wasn't. He
+was sitting up in a big arm-chair in his dressing-gown, with his feet up
+on a low stool, before a fire that had gone out some time in December,
+with a little table by him that had a candle on it which had burned down
+about the time the fire went out. His pipe had gone out too, and they
+knew that Mr. Bear had been smoking, and must have been very tired and
+gone to sleep right where he was, and hadn't moved all winter long.</p>
+
+<p>It wasn't very cheerful in there, so Mr. 'Possum said maybe they'd
+better stir up a little fire to take the chill off<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> before they woke
+Mr. Bear, and Mr. 'Coon found a fresh candle and lighted it, and Mr.
+Crow put the room to rights a little, and wound up the clock, and set
+it, and started it going. Then when the fire got nice and bright they
+stood around and looked at Mr. Bear, and each one said it was a good
+time now to wake him up, but nobody just wanted to do it, because Mr.
+Bear isn't always good-natured, and nobody could tell what might happen
+if he should wake up cross and hungry, and he'd be likely to do that if
+his nap was broken too suddenly. Mr. Possum said that Mr. Crow was the
+one to do it, as he had first thought of this trip, and Mr. Crow said
+that it was Mr. 'Possum's place, because it had been in his dream. Then
+they both said that as Mr. 'Coon hadn't done anything at all so far, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>
+might do that.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. 'Coon said that he'd do it quick enough, only he'd been listening to
+the way Mr. Bear breathed, and he was pretty sure he wouldn't be ready
+to wake up for a week yet, and it would be too bad to wake him now when
+he might not have been resting well during the first month or so of his
+nap and was making it up now. He said they could look around a little
+and see if Mr. Bear's things were keeping well, and perhaps brush up his
+pantry so it would be nice and clean when he did wake.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Crow said he'd always wanted to see Mr. Bear's pantry, for he'd
+heard it was such a good place to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> keep things, and perhaps he could get
+some ideas for the Hollow Tree; and Mr. 'Possum said that Mr. Bear had
+the name of having a bigger pantry and more things in it than all the
+rest of the Deep Woods People put together.</p>
+
+<p>So they left Mr. Bear all nice and comfortable, sleeping there by the
+fire, and lit another candle and went over to his pantry, which was at
+the other side of the room, and opened the door and looked in.</p>
+
+<p>Well, they couldn't say a word at first, but only just looked at one
+another and at all the things they saw in that pantry. First, on the top
+shelf there was a row of pies, clear around. Then on the next shelf
+there was a row of cakes&mdash;first a fruit-cake, then a jelly-cake, then
+another fruit-cake and then another jelly-cake, and the cakes went all
+the way around, too, and some of them had frosting on them, and you
+could see the raisins in the fruit-cake and pieces of citron. Then on
+the next shelf there was a row of nice cooked partridges, all the way
+around, close together. And on the shelf below was a row of meat-pies
+made of chicken and turkey and young lamb, and on the shelf below that
+there was a row of nice canned berries, and on the floor, all the way
+around, there were jars of honey&mdash;nice comb honey that Mr. Bear had
+gathered in November from bee-trees.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Crow spoke first.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Well, I never," he said, "never in all my life, saw anything like it!"</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum both said:</p>
+
+<p>"He can't do it&mdash;a breakfast like that is too much for <i>any</i> bear!"</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Crow said:</p>
+
+<p>"He oughtn't to be <i>allowed</i> to do it. Mr. Bear is too nice a man to
+lose."</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. 'Possum said:</p>
+
+<p>"He <i>mustn't</i> be allowed to do it&mdash;we'll help him."</p>
+
+<p>"Where do you suppose he begins? said Mr. 'Coon.</p>
+
+<p>"At the top, very likely," said Mr. Crow. "He's got it arranged in
+courses."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care where he begins," said Mr. 'Possum; "I'm going to begin
+somewhere, now, and I think I will begin on a meat-pie."</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. Crow said he thought he'd begin on a nice partridge, and Mr.
+'Coon said he believed he'd try a mince-pie or two first, as a kind of a
+lining, and then fill in with the solid things afterward.</p>
+
+<p>So then Mr. 'Possum took down his meat-pie, and said he hoped this
+wasn't a dream, and Mr. Crow took down a nice brown partridge, and Mr.
+'Coon stood up on a chair and slipped a mince-pie out of a pan on the
+top shelf, and everything would have been all right, only he lost his
+balance a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> little and let the pie fall. It made quite a smack when it
+struck the floor, and Mr. 'Possum jumped and let his pie fall, too, and
+that made a good deal more of a noise, because it was large and in a tin
+pan.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Crow blew out the light quick, and they all stood perfectly
+still and listened, for it seemed to them a noise like that would wake
+the dead, much more Mr. Bear, and they thought he would be right up and
+in there after them.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Bear was too sound asleep for that. They heard him give a little
+cough and a kind of a grunt mixed with a sleepy word or two, and when
+they peeked out through the door, which was open just a little ways,
+they saw him moving about in his chair, trying first one side and then
+the other, as if he wanted to settle down and go to sleep again, which
+he didn't do, but kept right on grunting and sniffing and mumbling and
+trying new positions.</p>
+
+<p>Then, of course, the Hollow Tree People were scared, for they knew
+pretty well he was going to wake up. There wasn't any way to get out of
+Mr. Bear's pantry except by the door, and you had to go right by Mr.
+Bear's chair to get out of the cave. So they just stood there, holding
+their breath and trembling, and Mr. 'Possum wished now it <i>was</i> a dream,
+and that he could wake up right away before the nightmare began.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Well, Mr. Bear he turned this way and that way, and once or twice seemed
+about to settle down and sleep again; but just as they thought he really
+had done it, he sat up pretty straight and looked all around.</p>
+
+<p>Then the Hollow Tree People thought their time had come, and they wanted
+to make a jump, and run for the door, only they were afraid to try it.
+Mr. Bear yawned a long yawn, and stretched himself, and rubbed his eyes
+open, and looked over at the fire and down at the candle on the table
+and up at the clock on the mantel. The 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old
+Black Crow thought, of course, he'd know somebody had been there by all
+those things being set going, and they expected him to roar out
+something terrible and start for the pantry first thing.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Bear didn't seem to understand it at all, or to suppose that
+anything was wrong, and from what he mumbled to himself they saw right
+away that he thought he'd been asleep only a little while instead of all
+winter.</p>
+
+<p>"Humph!" they heard him growl, "I must have gone to sleep, and was
+dreaming it's time to wake up. I didn't sleep long, though, by the way
+the fire and the candle look, besides it's only a quarter of ten, and I
+remember winding the clock at half after eight. Funny I feel so hungry,
+after eating a big supper only two hours ago. Must be the reason I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>
+dreamed it was spring. Humph! guess I'll just eat a piece of pie and go
+to bed."</p>
+
+<p>So Mr. Bear got up and held on to his chair to steady himself, and
+yawned some more and rubbed his eyes, for he was only about half awake
+yet, and pretty soon he picked up his candle and started for the pantry.</p>
+
+<p>Then the Hollow Tree People felt as if they were going to die. They
+didn't dare to breathe or make the least bit of noise, and just huddled
+back in a corner close to the wall, and Mr. 'Possum all at once felt as
+if he must sneeze right away, and Mr. 'Coon would have given anything to
+be able to scratch his back, and Mr. Crow thought if he could only cough
+once more and clear his throat he wouldn't care whether he had anything
+to eat, ever again.</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. Bear he came shuffling along toward the pantry with his candle
+all tipped to one side, still rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up,
+and everything was just as still as still&mdash;all except a little scratchy
+sound his claws made dragging along the floor, though that wasn't a nice
+sound for the Hollow Tree People to hear. And when he came to the pantry
+door Mr. Bear pushed it open quite wide and was coming straight in, only
+just then he caught his toe a little on the door-sill and <i>stumbled</i> in,
+and that was too much for Mr. 'Possum, who turned loose a sneeze that
+shook the world.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon made a dive under Mr. Bear's legs, and Mr.
+'Possum did too, and down came Mr. Bear and down came his candle, and
+the candle went out, but not any quicker than the Hollow Tree People,
+who broke for the cave door and slammed it behind them, and struck out
+for the bushes as if they thought they'd never live to get there.</p>
+
+<p>But when they got into some thick hazel brush they stopped a minute to
+breathe, and then they all heard Mr. Bear calling "Help! Help!" as loud
+as he could, and when they listened they heard him mention something
+about an earthquake and that the world was coming to an end.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_060" id="ILL_060"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_060.jpg" width="500" height="498" alt="MR. COON SCRATCHED HIS BACK AGAINST A LITTLE BUSH" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. COON SCRATCHED HIS BACK AGAINST A LITTLE BUSH</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Possum said that from the sound of Mr. Bear's voice he seemed
+to be unhappy about something, and that it was too bad for them to just<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>
+pass right by without asking what was the trouble, especially if Mr.
+Bear, who had always been so friendly, should ever hear of it. So then
+they straightened their collars and ties and knocked the dust off a
+little, and Mr. 'Coon scratched his back against a little bush and Mr.
+Crow cleared his throat, and they stepped out of the hazel patch and
+went up to Mr. Bear's door and pushed it open a little and called out:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mr. Bear, do you need any help?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes," groaned Mr. Bear, "come quick! I've been struck by an
+earthquake and nearly killed, and everything<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> I've got must be ruined.
+Bring a light and look at my pantry!</p>
+
+<p>"So then Mr. 'Coon ran with a splinter from Mr. Bear's fire and lit the
+candle, and Mr. Bear got up, rubbing himself and taking on, and began
+looking at his pantry shelves, which made him better right away.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," he said, "how lucky the damage is so small! Only two pies and a
+partridge knocked down, and they are not much hurt. I thought everything
+was lost, and my nerves are all upset when I was getting ready for my
+winter sleep. How glad I am you happened to be passing. Stay with me,
+and we will eat to quiet our nerves."</p>
+
+<p>Then the Hollow Tree People said that the earthquake had made them
+nervous too, and that perhaps a little food would be good for all of
+them; so they flew around just as if they were at home, and brought Mr.
+Bear's table right into the pantry, and some chairs, and set out the
+very best things and told Mr. Bear to sit right up to the table and help
+himself, and then all the others sat up, too, and they ate everything
+clear through, from meat-pie in mince-pie, just as if Mr. 'Possum's
+dream had really come true.</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. Bear said he didn't understand how he could have such a good
+appetite when he had such a big supper only two hours ago, and he said
+that there must have been two earthquakes, because a noise of some kind
+had roused<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> him from a little nap he had been taking in his chair, but
+that the real earthquake hadn't happened until he got to the pantry
+door, where he stumbled a little, which seemed to touch it off. He said
+he hoped he'd never live to go through with a thing like that again.</p>
+
+<p>Then the Hollow Tree People said they had heard both of the shocks, and
+that the last one was a good deal the worst, and that of course such a
+thing would sound a good deal louder in a cave anyway. And by-and-by,
+when they were all through eating, they went in by the fire and sat down
+and smoked, and Mr. Bear said he didn't feel as sleepy as he thought he
+should because he was still upset a good deal by the shock, but that he
+guessed he would just crawl into bed while they were there, as it seemed
+nice to have company.</p>
+
+<p>So he did, and by-and-by he dropped off to sleep again, and the Hollow
+Tree People borrowed a few things, and went out softly and shut the door
+behind them. They stopped at Mr. Rabbit's house on the way home, and
+told him they had enjoyed a nice breakfast with Mr. Bear, and how Mr.
+Bear had sent a partridge and a pie and a little pot of honey to Mr.
+Rabbit because of his fondness for the family. Then Mr. Rabbit felt
+quite pleased, because it was too early for spring vegetables and hard
+to get good things for the table.</p>
+
+<p>"And did Mr. Bear sleep all summer?" asks the Little Lady.</p>
+
+<p>"No, he woke up again pretty soon, for he had finished<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> his nap, and of
+course the next time when he looked around he found his fire out and the
+candle burned down and the clock stopped, so he got up and went outside,
+and saw it was spring and that he had slept a good deal longer than
+usual. But when he went to eat his spring breakfast he couldn't
+understand why he wasn't very hungry, and thought it must be because
+he'd eaten two such big suppers.</p>
+
+<p>"But why didn't the Hollow Tree People tell him it was spring and not
+let him go to bed again?"</p>
+
+<p>Well, I s'pose they thought it wouldn't be very polite to tell Mr. Bear
+how he'd been fooled, and, besides, he needed a nice nap again after the
+earthquake&mdash;anyhow, he thought it was an earthquake, and was a good deal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>
+upset.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 486px;"><a name="ILL_061" id="ILL_061"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_061.jpg" width="486" height="500" alt="MR. RABBIT THANKED HIM FROM ACROSS THE RIVER" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. RABBIT THANKED HIM FROM ACROSS THE RIVER</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>And it was a long time before he found out what <i>had really</i> happened,
+and he never would have known, if Mr. Rabbit hadn't seen him fishing one
+day and thanked him from across the river for the nice breakfast he had
+sent him by the Hollow Tree People.</p>
+
+<p>That set Mr. Bear to thinking, and he asked Mr. Rabbit a few questions
+about things in general and earthquakes in particular, and the more he
+found out and thought about it the more he began to guess just how it
+was, and by-and-by when he did find out all about it, he didn't care any
+more, and really thought it quite a good joke on himself for falling
+asleep in his chair and sleeping there all winter long.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="MR_CROWS_GARDEN" id="MR_CROWS_GARDEN"></a>MR. CROW'S GARDEN</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>MR. CROW'S GARDEN</h2>
+
+<h3>THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE LEARN HOW TO RAISE FINE VEGETABLES</h3>
+
+<p>One morning, right after breakfast in the Hollow Tree, Mr. Crow said
+he'd been thinking of something ever since he woke up, and if the 'Coon
+and the 'Possum thought it was a good plan he believed he'd do it. He
+said of course they knew how good Mr. Rabbit's garden always was, and
+how he nearly lived out of it during the summer, Mr. Rabbit being a good
+deal of a vegetarian; by which he meant that he liked vegetables better
+than anything, while the Hollow Tree People, Mr. Crow said, were a
+little different in their tastes, though he didn't know just what the
+name for them was. He said he thought they might be humanitarians,
+because they liked the things that Mr. Man and other human beings liked,
+but that he wasn't sure whether that was the right name or not.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Possum said for him to never mind about the word, but to go on
+and talk about his plan if it had anything<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> to do with something to eat,
+for he was getting pretty tired of living on little picked-up things
+such as they had been having this hard spring, and Mr. 'Coon said so
+too. So then Mr. Crow said:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I've been planning to have a garden this spring like Mr.
+Rabbit's."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph!" said Mr. 'Possum, "I thought you were going to start a chicken
+farm."</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Crow said "No," that the Big Deep Woods didn't seem a healthy
+place for chickens, and that they could pick up a chicken here and there
+by-and-by, and then if they had nice green pease to go with it, or some
+green corn, or even a tender salad, it would help out, especially when
+they had company like Mr. Robin, or Mr. Squirrel, or Mr. Rabbit, who
+cared for such things.</p>
+
+<p>So then the 'Coon and the 'Possum both said that to have green pease and
+corn was a very good idea, especially when such things were mixed with
+young chickens with plenty of dressing and gravy, and that as this was a
+pleasant morning they might walk over and call on Jack Rabbit so that
+the Old Black Crow could find out about planting things. Mr. 'Possum
+said that his uncle Silas Lovejoy always had a garden, and he had worked
+it a good deal when he was young, but that he had forgotten just how
+things should be planted, though he knew the moon had something to do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>
+with it, and if you didn't get the time right the things that ought to
+grow up would grow down and the down things would all grow up, so that
+you'd have to dig your pease and pick your potatoes when the other way
+was the fashion and thought to be better in this climate.</p>
+
+<p>So then the Hollow Tree People put on their things and went out into the
+nice April sunshine and walked over to Jack Rabbit's house, saying how
+pleasant it was to take a little walk this way when everything was
+getting green, and they passed by where Mr. and Mrs. Robin were building
+a new nest, and they looked in on a cozy little hollow tree where Mr.
+Squirrel, who had just brought home a young wife from over by the Big
+West Hills, had set up housekeeping with everything new except the
+old-fashioned feather-bed and home-made spread which Miss Squirrel had
+been given by her folks. They looked through Mr. Squirrel's house and
+said how snug it was, and that perhaps it would be better not to try to
+furnish it too much at once, as it was nice just to get things as one
+was able, instead of doing everything at the start.</p>
+
+<p>When they got to Mr. Rabbit's house he was weaving a rag carpet for his
+front room, and they all stood behind him and watched him weave, and
+by-and-by Mr. 'Coon wanted to try it, but he didn't know how to run the
+treadle exactly, and got some of the strands too loose and some too
+tight,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> so he gave it up, and they all went out to look at Mr. Rabbit's
+garden.</p>
+
+<p>Well, Mr. Rabbit did have a nice garden. It was all laid out in rows,
+and was straight and trim, and there wasn't a weed anywhere. He had
+things up, too&mdash;pease and lettuce and radishes&mdash;and he had some
+tomato-plants growing in a box in the house, because it was too early to
+put them out.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rabbit said that a good many people bought their plants, but that he
+always liked to raise his own from seed, because then he knew just what
+they were and what to expect. He told them how to plant the different
+things and about the moon, and said there was an old adage in his family
+that if you remembered it you'd always plant at the right time. The
+adage, he said, was:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"Pease and beans in the light of the moon&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Both in the pot before it's June."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>And of course you only had to change "light" to "dark" and use it for
+turnips and potatoes and such things, though really it was sometimes
+later than June, but June was near enough, and rhymed with "moon" better
+than July and August. He said he would give Mr. Crow all the seeds he
+wanted, and that when he was ready to put out tomatoes he would let him
+have plenty of plants too.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Coon said it would be nice to have a few flower seeds, and
+they all looked at Mr. 'Coon because they knew he had once been in love,
+and they thought by his wanting flowers that he might be going to get
+that way again.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Rabbit said he was fond of flowers, too, especially the
+old-fashioned kind, and he picked out some for Mr. 'Coon; and then he
+went to weaving again, and the Hollow Tree People watched him awhile,
+and he pointed out pieces of different clothes he had had that he was
+weaving into his carpet, and they all thought how nice it was to use up
+one's old things that way.</p>
+
+<p>Then by-and-by the Hollow Tree People went back home, and they began
+their garden right away. It was just the kind of a day to make garden
+and they all felt like it, so they spaded and hoed and raked, and didn't
+find it very easy because the place had never been used for a garden
+before, and there were some roots and stones; and pretty soon Mr.
+'Possum said that Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon might go on with the digging
+and he would plant the seeds, as he had been used to such work when he
+lived with his uncle Silas as a boy.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 500px;"><a name="ILL_062" id="ILL_062"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_062.jpg" width="500" height="361" alt="ONE SAID IT WAS ONE WAY AND THE OTHER THE OTHER WAY" title="" />
+<span class="caption">ONE SAID IT WAS ONE WAY AND THE OTHER THE OTHER WAY</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>So then he took the seeds, but he couldn't remember Mr. Rabbit's adages
+which told whether beets and carrots and such things as grow below the
+ground had to be planted in the dark of the moon or the light of the
+moon, and it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> the same about beans and pease and the things that
+grow above the ground; and when he spoke to Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon about
+it, one said it was one way and the other the other way, and then Mr.
+'Possum said he wasn't planting the things in the moon anyhow, and he
+thought Mr. Rabbit had made the adages to suit the day he was going to
+plant and that they would work either way.</p>
+
+<p>So then Mr. 'Possum planted everything there was, and showed Mr. 'Coon
+how to plant his flower seeds; and when they were all done they stood
+off and admired their nice garden, and said it was just about as nice as
+Jack Rabbit's, and maybe nicer in some ways, because it had trees around<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>
+it and was a pleasant place to work.</p>
+
+<p>Well, after that they got up every morning and went out to look at their
+garden, to see if any of the things were coming up; and pretty soon they
+found a good <i>many</i> things coming up, but they were not in hills and
+rows, and Mr. 'Possum said they were weeds, because he remembered that
+Uncle Silas's weeds had always looked like those, and how he and his
+little cousins had had to hoe them. So then they got their hoes and hoed
+every morning, and by-and-by they had to hoe some during the day too, to
+keep up with the weeds, and the sun was pretty hot, and Mr. 'Possum did
+most of his hoeing over by the trees where it wasn't so sunny, and said
+that hereafter he thought it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> would be a good plan to plant all their
+garden in the shade.</p>
+
+<p>And every day they kept looking for the seeds to come up, and by-and-by
+a few did come up, and then they were quite proud, and went over and
+told Jack Rabbit about it, and Mr. Rabbit came over to give them some
+advice, and said he thought their garden looked pretty well for being
+its first year and put in late, though it looked to him, he said, as if
+some of it had been planted the wrong time of the moon, and he didn't
+think so much shade was very good for most things.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. 'Possum said he'd rather have more shade and less things, and he
+thought next year he'd let his part of the garden out on shares.</p>
+
+<p>Well, it got hotter and hotter, and the weeds grew more and more, and
+the Hollow Tree People had to work and hoe and pull nearly all day in
+the sun to keep up with them, and they would have given it up pretty
+soon, only they wanted to show Jack Rabbit that they could have a garden
+too, and by-and-by, when their things got big enough to eat, they were
+so proud that they invited Mr. Rabbit to come over for dinner, and they
+sent word to Mr. Turtle, too, because he likes good things and lives
+alone, not being a family man like Mr. Robin and Mr. Squirrel.</p>
+
+<p>Now of course the Hollow Tree People knew that they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> had no such fine
+things in their garden as Jack Rabbit had in his, and they said they
+couldn't expect to, but they'd try to have other things to make up; and
+Mr. Crow was cooking for two whole days getting his chicken-pies and his
+puddings and such things ready for that dinner. And then when the
+morning came for it he was out long before sun-up to pick the things in
+the garden while they were nice and fresh, with the dew on them.</p>
+
+<p>But when Mr. Crow looked over his garden he felt pretty bad, for, after
+all, the new potatoes were little and tough, and the pease were small
+and dry, and the beans were thin and stringy, and the salad was pretty
+puny and tasteless, and the corn was just nubbins, because it didn't
+grow in a very good place and maybe hadn't been planted or tended very
+well. So Mr. Crow walked up and down the rows and thought a good deal,
+and finally decided that he'd just take a walk over toward Jack Rabbit's
+garden to see if Mr. Rabbit's things were really so much better after
+all.</p>
+
+<p>It was just about sunrise, and Mr. Crow knew Jack Rabbit didn't get up
+so soon, and he made up his mind he wouldn't wake him when he got there,
+but would just take a look over his nice garden and come away again. So
+when he got to Mr. Rabbit's back fence he climbed through a crack, and
+sat down in the weeds to rest a little and to look around, and he saw
+that Mr. Rabbit's house was just as still<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> and closed up as could be,
+and no signs of Jack Rabbit anywhere.</p>
+
+<p>So then Mr. Crow stepped out into the corn patch and looked along at the
+rows of fine roasting ears, which made him feel sad because of those
+little nubbins in his own garden, and then he saw the fine fat pease and
+beans and salads in Jack Rabbit's garden, and it seemed to him that Mr.
+Rabbit could never in the world use up all those things himself.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 486px;"><a name="ILL_063" id="ILL_063"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_063.jpg" width="486" height="500" alt="MR. CROW DECIDED TO THIN OUT A FEW OF JACK RABBIT&#39;S
+THINGS" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. CROW DECIDED TO THIN OUT A FEW OF JACK RABBIT&#39;S
+THINGS</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Crow decided that he would thin out a few of Jack Rabbit's
+things, which seemed to be too thick anyway to do well. It would be too
+bad to disturb Mr. Rabbit to tell him about it, and Mr. Crow didn't have
+time to wait for him to get up if he was going to get his dinner ready
+on time.</p>
+
+<p>So Mr. Crow picked some large ears of corn and some of Mr. Rabbit's best
+pease and beans and salads, and filled his apron with all he could
+carry, and climbed through the back fence again, and took out for home
+without wasting any more time. And when he got there Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
+'Possum were just getting up, and he didn't bother to tell them about
+borrowing from Mr. Rabbit's garden, but set out some breakfast, and as
+soon as it was over pitched in to get ready for company. Mr. 'Coon and
+Mr. 'Possum flew around, too, to make the room look nice, and by-and-by
+everything was ready, and the table was set, and the Hollow Tree People
+were all dressed up and looking out the window.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then pretty soon they saw Mr. Turtle coming through the timber, and just
+then Jack Rabbit came in sight from the other direction. Mr. Turtle had
+brought a basket of mussels, which always are nice with a big dinner,
+like oysters, and Mr. Rabbit said he would have brought some things out
+of his garden, only he knew the Hollow Tree People had a garden, too,
+this year, and would want to show what they could do in that line
+themselves. He said he certainly must take a look at their garden
+because he had heard a good deal about it from Mr. Robin.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Crow felt a little chilly, for he happened to think that if Mr.
+Rabbit went out into their garden and then saw the fine things which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>
+were going to be on the table he'd wonder where they came from. So he
+said right away that dinner was all ready, and they'd better sit down
+while things were hot and fresh.</p>
+
+<p>Then they all sat down, and first had the mussels which Mr. Turtle had
+brought, and there were some fine sliced tomatoes with them, and Mr.
+Rabbit said he hadn't supposed that such fine big tomatoes as those
+could come out of a new garden that had been planted late, and that he
+certainly must see the vines they came off of before he went home,
+because they were just as big as his tomatoes, if not bigger, and he
+wanted to see just how they could do so well.</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. Crow felt <i>real</i> chilly, and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> both
+said they hadn't supposed their tomatoes were so big and ripe, though
+they hadn't looked at them since yesterday. But Mr. Rabbit said that a
+good many things could happen over night, and Mr. Crow changed the
+subject as quick as he could, and said that things always looked bigger
+and better on the table than they did in the garden, but that he'd
+picked all the real big, ripe tomatoes and he didn't think there'd be
+any more.</p>
+
+<p>Then after the mussels they had the chicken-pie, and when Mr. Rabbit saw
+the vegetables that Mr. Crow served with it he looked at them and said:</p>
+
+<p>"My, what fine pease and beans, and what splendid corn! I am sure your
+vegetables are as good as anything in my garden, if not better. I
+certainly <i>must see</i> just the spot where they grew. I would never have
+believed you could have done it, never, if I hadn't seen them right here
+on your table with my own eyes."</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Turtle said they were the finest he ever tasted, and Mr.
+'Possum and Mr. 'Coon both said they wouldn't have believed it
+themselves yesterday, and it was wonderful how much everything had grown
+over night. Then the Old Black Crow choked a little and coughed, and
+said he didn't seem to relish his food, and pretty soon he said that of
+course their garden <i>had</i> done <i>pretty</i> well, but that it was about
+through now, as these were things he had been saving for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> this dinner,
+and he had gathered all the biggest and best of them this morning before
+Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon were up.</p>
+
+<p>When Mr. Crow said that, Jack Rabbit looked the other way and made a
+very queer face, and you might have thought he was trying to keep from
+laughing if you had seen him, but maybe he was only trying to keep from
+coughing, for pretty soon he did cough a little and said that the early
+morning was the proper time to gather vegetables; that one could always
+pick out the best things then, and do it quietly before folks were up.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Crow felt a cold, shaky chill that went all the way up and
+down, and he was afraid to look up, though of course he didn't believe
+Mr. Rabbit knew anything about what he had done, only he was afraid that
+he would look so guilty that everybody would see it. He said that his
+head was a little dizzy with being over the hot stove so much, and he
+hoped they wouldn't think of going out until the cool of the evening, as
+the sun would be too much for him, and of course he wanted to be with
+them.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 305px;"><a name="ILL_064" id="ILL_064"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_064.jpg" width="305" height="500" alt="MR. CROW WAS ALMOST AFRAID TO BRING ON THE SALAD" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. CROW WAS ALMOST AFRAID TO BRING ON THE SALAD</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Poor Mr. Crow was almost afraid to bring on the salad, but he was just
+as afraid not to. Only he did wish he had picked out Mr. Rabbit's
+smallest bunches instead of his biggest ones, for he knew there were no
+such other salads anywhere as those very ones he had borrowed from Mr.
+Rabbit's garden. But he put it off as long as he could, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> by-and-by
+Jack Rabbit said that there was one thing he was sure the Hollow Tree
+couldn't beat him on, and that was salad. He said he had never had such
+fine heads as he had this year, and that there were a few heads
+especially that he had been saving to show his friends. Then the 'Coon
+and 'Possum said "No," their salads were not very much, unless they had
+grown a great deal over night, like the other things&mdash;and when Mr. Crow
+got up to bring them he walked wobbly, and everybody said it was too bad
+that Mr. Crow <i>would</i> always go to so much trouble for company.</p>
+
+<p>Well, when he came in with that bowl of salad and set it down, Mr.
+Turtle and Jack Rabbit said, "Did you ever in your life!" But Mr.
+'Possum and Mr. 'Coon just sat and looked at it, for they thought it
+couldn't be true.</p>
+
+<p>Then pretty soon Mr. Rabbit said that he would take back everything he
+had told them about his salad, and that he was coming over to take some
+lessons from the Hollow Tree People, and especially from Mr. Crow, on
+how to raise vegetables. He said that there were a good many ways to
+raise vegetables&mdash;some raised them in a garden; some raised them in a
+hothouse; some raised them in the market; but that Mr. Crow's way was
+the best way there was, and he was coming over to learn it. He said they
+must finish their dinner before dark, for he certainly must <i>see</i> just
+where <i>all</i> Mr. Crow's wonderful things came from.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Crow felt the gray spot on his head getting a good deal grayer,
+and he dropped his knife and fork, and swallowed two or three times, and
+tried to smile, though it was a sickly smile. He said that Mr. Rabbit
+was very kind, but that Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon had done a good deal
+of the work, too.</p>
+
+<p>But Jack Rabbit said "No," that nobody but an industrious person like
+Mr. Crow could have raised <i>those</i> vegetables&mdash;a person who got up
+early, he said, and was used to taking a little trouble to get the best
+things.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Crow went after the dessert, and was glad enough that there
+were no more vegetables to come, especially of that kind.</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. Rabbit seemed to forget about looking at the garden until they
+were all through, and then he said that before they went outside he
+would read a little poem he had composed that morning lying in bed and
+looking at the sunrise across his own garden. He said he called it:</p>
+
+<h4>ME AND MY GARDEN</h4>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">Oh, it's nice to have a garden</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">On which to put my labors.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">It's nice to have a garden</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 28em;">Especially for my neighbors.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">I like to see it growing</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">When skies are blue above me;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">I like to see it gathered</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">By those who really love me.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">I like to think in winter</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">Of pleasant summer labors;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">Oh, it's nice to have a garden</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 28em;">Especially for my neighbors.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Everybody said that was a nice poem and sounded just like Mr. Rabbit,
+who was always so free-hearted&mdash;all except Mr. Crow, who tried to say it
+was nice, and couldn't. Then Mr. Rabbit said they'd better go out now to
+see the Hollow Tree garden, but Mr. Crow said really he couldn't stand
+it yet, and they could see by his looks that he was feeling pretty sick,
+and Mr. Turtle said it was too bad to think of taking Mr. Crow out in
+the sun when he had worked so hard.</p>
+
+<p>So then they all sat around and smoked and told stories, and whenever
+they stopped Mr. Crow thought of something else to do and seemed to get
+better toward night, and got a great deal better when it got dark, and
+Mr. Jack Rabbit said all at once that now it was too late to see the
+Hollow Tree garden, and that he was so sorry, for he knew he could have
+learned something if he could just have one look at it, for nobody could
+see those vegetables and that garden without learning a great deal.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 482px;"><a name="ILL_065" id="ILL_065"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_065.jpg" width="482" height="500" alt="JACK RABBIT CAPERED AND LAUGHED ALL THE WAY HOME" title="" />
+<span class="caption">JACK RABBIT CAPERED AND LAUGHED ALL THE WAY HOME</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Then he said he must go, and Mr. Turtle said he guessed <i>he</i> must go
+too, so they both set out for home, and when Jack Rabbit got out of
+sight of the Hollow Tree and into a little open moonlight place, he just
+laid down on the ground and rolled over and laughed and kicked his feet,
+and sat up and rocked and looked at the moon and laughed; and he capered
+and laughed all the way home at the good joke he had all to himself on
+Mr. Crow.</p>
+
+<p>For Mr. Rabbit had been lying awake in bed that morning when Mr. Crow
+was in his garden, and he had seen Mr. Crow <i>all</i> the time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="WHEN_JACK_RABBIT_WAS_A_LITTLE_BOY" id="WHEN_JACK_RABBIT_WAS_A_LITTLE_BOY"></a>WHEN JACK RABBIT WAS A LITTLE BOY</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>WHEN JACK RABBIT WAS A LITTLE BOY</h2>
+
+<h3>A STORY OF A VERY LONG TIME AGO</h3>
+
+<p>The Little Lady skips first on one foot and then on the other foot,
+around and around, until pretty soon she tumbles backward into <i>twelve
+flower-pots</i>.</p>
+
+<p>That, of course, makes a great damage, and though the Little Lady
+herself isn't hurt to speak of, she is frightened very much and has to
+be comforted by everybody, including the Story Teller, who comes last,
+and finishes up by telling about something that happened to Jack Rabbit
+when <i>he</i> was little.</p>
+
+<p>Once upon a time, it begins, when Mr. Jack Rabbit was quite small, his
+mother left him all alone one afternoon while she went across the Wide
+Grass Lands to visit an old aunt of hers and take her some of the nice
+blackberries she had been putting up that morning. Mrs. Rabbit had been
+very busy all the forenoon, and little Jack had been watching her and
+making believe he was putting up berries too.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And when Mrs. Rabbit got through she had cleaned her stove and polished
+it as nice as could be; then she gave little Jack Rabbit his dinner,
+with some of the berries that were left over, and afterward she washed
+his face and hands and found his blocks for him to play with, besides a
+new stick of red sealing-wax&mdash;the kind she used to seal her cans with;
+for they did not have patent screw-top cans in those days, but always
+sealed the covers on with red sealing-wax.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 466px;"><a name="ILL_066" id="ILL_066"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_066.jpg" width="466" height="500" alt="TOOK HER PARASOL AND HER RETICULE AND A CAN OF BERRIES,
+AND STARTED" title="" />
+<span class="caption">TOOK HER PARASOL AND HER RETICULE AND A CAN OF BERRIES,
+AND STARTED</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Then Mrs. Rabbit told little Jack that he could play with his blocks,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>
+and build houses, with the red stick for a chimney, and to be a good boy
+until she came home. So little Jack Rabbit promised, and Mrs. Rabbit
+kissed him twice and took her parasol and her reticule and a can of
+berries, and started. Little Jack would have gone with her, only it was
+too far.</p>
+
+<p>Well, after she had left, little Jack played with his blocks and built
+houses and set the stick of sealing-wax up for a brick chimney, and
+by-and-by he played he was canning fruit, and he wished he could have a
+little stove and little cans and a little stick of sealing-wax, so he
+could really do it all just as she did.</p>
+
+<p>Then little Jack Rabbit looked at the nice polished stove and wondered
+how it would be to use that, and to build a little fire in it&mdash;just a
+<i>little</i> fire&mdash;which would make everything<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> seem a good deal more real,
+he thought, than his make-believe stove of blocks.</p>
+
+<p>And pretty soon little Jack opened the stove door and looked in, and
+when he stirred the ashes there were still a few live coals there, and
+when he put in some shavings they blazed up, and when he put in some
+pieces of old shingles and things they blazed up too, and when he put in
+some of Mrs. Rabbit's nice dry wood the stove got <i>quite hot</i>!</p>
+
+<p>Then little Jack Rabbit became somewhat frightened, for he had only
+meant to make a very small fire, and he thought this might turn into a
+big fire. Also, he remembered some things his mother had told him about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>
+playing with fire and about <i>never going near a hot stove</i>. He thought
+he'd better open the stove door a little to see if the fire was getting
+too big, but he was afraid to touch it with his fingers for fear of
+burning them. He had seen his mother use a stick or something to open
+the stove door when it was hot, so he picked up the first thing that
+came handy, which was the stick of sealing-wax. But when he touched it
+to the hot door the red stick sputtered a little and left a bright red
+spot on the stove door.</p>
+
+<p>Then little Jack forgot all about putting up blackberries, admiring that
+beautiful red spot on the shiny black stove, and thinking how nice it
+would be to make some more like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> it, which he thought would improve the
+looks of the stove a great deal.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 370px;"><a name="ILL_067" id="ILL_067"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_067.jpg" width="370" height="500" alt="AND HE MADE SOME STRIPES, TOO&mdash;MOSTLY ON TOP OF THE
+STOVE" title="" />
+<span class="caption">AND HE MADE SOME STRIPES, TOO&mdash;MOSTLY ON TOP OF THE
+STOVE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>So then he touched it again in another place and made another spot, and
+in another place and made another spot, and in a lot of places and made
+a lot of spots, and he made some stripes, too&mdash;mostly on top of the
+stove, which was nice and smooth to mark on, though he made <i>some</i> on
+the pipe. You would hardly have known it was the same stove when he got
+all through, and little Jack thought how beautiful it was and how
+pleased his mother would be when she got home and <i>saw</i> it. But then
+right away he happened to think that perhaps she might not be so pleased
+after all, and the more he thought about it the more sure he was that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>
+she wouldn't like her nice red-striped and spotted stove as well as a
+black one; and, besides, she had told him <i>never</i> to play with fire.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 433px;"><a name="ILL_068" id="ILL_068"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_068.jpg" width="433" height="500" alt="LITTLE JACK KNEW PERFECTLY WELL THAT SHE WASN&#39;T AT ALL
+PLEASED" title="" />
+<span class="caption">LITTLE JACK KNEW PERFECTLY WELL THAT SHE WASN&#39;T AT ALL
+PLEASED</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>And just at that moment Mrs. Rabbit herself stepped in the door! And
+when she looked at her red-spotted and striped stove and then at little
+Jack Rabbit, little Jack knew perfectly well without her saying a single
+word that she wasn't <i>at all pleased</i>. So he began to cry very loud, and
+started to run, and tripped over his blocks and fell against a little
+stand-table that had Mrs. Rabbit's work-basket on it (for Mrs. Rabbit
+always knit or sewed while she was cooking anything), and all the spools
+and buttons and knitting-work<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> went tumbling, with little Jack Rabbit
+right among them, holloing, "Oh, I'm killed! I'm killed!"&mdash;just
+sprawling there on the floor, afraid to get up, and expecting every
+minute his mother would do something awful.</p>
+
+<p>But Mrs. Rabbit just stood and looked at him over her spectacles and
+then at her red-spotted and striped stove, and pretty soon she said:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, this is a lovely mess to come home to!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Which of course made little Jack take on a good deal worse and keep on
+bawling out that he was killed, until Mrs. Rabbit told him that he was
+making a good deal of noise for a <i>dead</i> man, and that if he'd get up
+and pick up all the things he'd upset maybe he'd come to life again.</p>
+
+<p>Then little Jack Rabbit got up and ran to his mother and cried against
+her best dress and got some tears on it, and Mrs. Rabbit sat down in her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>
+rocker and looked at her stove and rocked him until he felt better. And
+by-and-by she changed her dress and went to cleaning her stove while
+little Jack picked up all the things&mdash;all the spools and buttons and
+needles and knitting-work&mdash;every single thing.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 489px;"><a name="ILL_069" id="ILL_069"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_069.jpg" width="489" height="500" alt="PROMISED NEVER TO DISOBEY HIS MOTHER AGAIN" title="" />
+<span class="caption">PROMISED NEVER TO DISOBEY HIS MOTHER AGAIN</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>And after supper, when he said his prayers and went to bed, he promised
+never to disobey his mother again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="A_HOLLOW_TREE_PICNIC" id="A_HOLLOW_TREE_PICNIC"></a>A HOLLOW TREE PICNIC</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A HOLLOW TREE PICNIC</h2>
+
+<h3>THE LITTLE LADY AND THE STORY TELLER, AND THEIR FRIENDS</h3>
+
+<p>Not far from the House of Low Ceilings, which stands on the borders of
+the Big Deep Woods, there is a still smaller house, where, in
+summertime, the Story Teller goes to make up things and write them down.</p>
+
+<p>And one warm day he is writing away and not noticing what time it is
+when he thinks he hears somebody step in the door. So then he looks
+around, and he sees a little straw hat and a little round red face under
+it, and then he sees a basket, and right away he knows it is the Little
+Lady. And the Little Lady says:</p>
+
+<p>"I've brought the picnic&mdash;did you know it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, no!" the Story Teller says, looking surprised. "Is it time?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and I've got huckleberries and cream, and some hot biscuits."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Good gracious! Let's see!"</p>
+
+<p>So then the Story Teller looks, and, sure enough, there they are, and
+more things, too; and pretty soon the Little Lady and he go down to a
+very quiet place under some hemlock-trees by a big rock where there is a
+clear brook and a spring close by, and they sit down, and the Little
+Lady spreads the picnic all out&mdash;and there is ham too, and
+bread-and-butter, and doughnuts and they are so hungry that they eat
+everything, and both dip into one bowl when they get to huckleberries
+and cream.</p>
+
+<p>Then the Little Lady says:</p>
+
+<p>"Now tell me about the Hollow Tree People; they have picnics, too."</p>
+
+<p>"Sure enough, they do. And I think I'll have to tell you about their
+very last picnic and what happened."</p>
+
+<p>Well, once upon a time Mr. 'Possum said that he was getting tired of
+sitting down to a table every meal in a close room with the smell of
+cooking coming in, and if Mr. Crow would cook up a few things that would
+taste good cold he'd pack the basket (that is, Mr. 'Possum would) and
+Mr. 'Coon could carry it, and they'd go out somewhere and eat their
+dinner in a nice place under the trees.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. 'Coon said he knew a pleasant place to go, and Mr. Crow said he'd
+cook one of Mr. Man's chickens, which Mr. 'Possum had brought home the
+night before, though it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> would take time, he said, because it was pretty
+old&mdash;Mr. 'Possum having picked it out in the dark in a hurry.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 404px;"><a name="ILL_070" id="ILL_070"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_070.jpg" width="404" height="500" alt="AND HE TASTED OF THAT A LITTLE, TOO" title="" />
+<span class="caption">AND HE TASTED OF THAT A LITTLE, TOO</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>So then they all flew around and put away things, and Mr. Crow got the
+chicken on while Mr. 'Coon sliced the bread and Mr. 'Possum cut the
+cake, which they had been saving for Sunday, and he picked out a pie
+too, and a nice book to read which Mr. Crow had found lying in Mr. Man's
+yard while the folks were at dinner. Then he packed the basket all neat
+and nice, and ate a little piece of the cake when Mr. 'Coon had stepped
+out to see how the chicken was coming along, and when the chicken was
+ready he cut it all up nicely, and he tasted of that a little, too,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>
+while Mr. Crow was getting on his best picnic things to go.</p>
+
+<p>And pretty soon they all started out, and it was so bright and sunny
+that Mr. 'Possum began to sing a little, and Mr. 'Coon told him not to
+make a noise like that or they'd have company&mdash;Mr. Dog or Mr. Fox or
+somebody&mdash;when there was only just enough chicken for themselves, which
+made Mr. 'Possum stop right away. And before long they came to a very
+quiet place under some thick hemlock-trees behind a stone wall and close
+to a brook of clear water.</p>
+
+<p>That was the place Mr. 'Coon had thought of, and they sat down there and
+spread out all the things on some moss, and everything looked so nice
+that Mr. 'Possum said they ought to come here every day and eat dinner
+as long as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> hot weather lasted. Then they were all so hungry that
+they began on the chicken right away, and Mr. 'Possum said that maybe he
+<i>might</i> have picked out a tenderer one, but that he didn't think he
+could have found a bigger one, or one that would have lasted longer, and
+that, after all, size and lasting were what one needed for a picnic.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 389px;"><a name="ILL_071" id="ILL_071"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_071.jpg" width="389" height="500" alt="MR. POSSUM LEANED HIS BACK AGAINST A TREE AND READ
+HIMSELF TO SLEEP" title="" />
+<span class="caption">MR. POSSUM LEANED HIS BACK AGAINST A TREE AND READ
+HIMSELF TO SLEEP</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>So they ate first one thing and then another, and Mr. 'Coon asked if
+they remembered the time Mr. Dog had come to one of their picnics before
+they were friends with him, when he'd really been invited to stay away;
+and they all laughed when they thought how Mr. Rabbit had excused
+himself, and the others, too, one after another, until Mr. Dog had the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>
+picnic mostly to himself. And by-and-by the Hollow Tree People lit their
+pipes and smoked, and Mr. 'Possum leaned his back against a tree and
+read himself to sleep, and dreamed, and had a kind of a nightmare about
+that other picnic, and talked in his sleep about it, which made Mr.
+'Coon think of something to do.</p>
+
+<p>So then Mr. 'Coon got some long grass and made a strong band of it and
+very carefully tied Mr. 'Possum to the tree, and just as Mr. 'Possum
+began to have his dream again and was saying "Oh! Oh! here comes Mr.
+Dog!" Mr. 'Coon gave three loud barks right in Mr. 'Possum's ear, and
+Mr. Crow said "Wake up! Wake up, Mr. 'Possum! Here he comes!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And Mr. 'Possum did wake up, and jumped and jerked at that band, and
+holloed out as loud as he could:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, please let me go, Mr. Dog! Oh, please let me go, Mr. Dog!" for he
+thought it was Mr. Dog that had him, and he forgot all about them being
+friends.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 499px;"><a name="ILL_072" id="ILL_072"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_072.jpg" width="499" height="500" alt="SO MR. &#39;POSSUM PROMISED, AND MR. &#39;COON UNTIED HIM" title="" />
+<span class="caption">SO MR. &#39;POSSUM PROMISED, AND MR. &#39;COON UNTIED HIM</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>But just then he happened to see Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon rolling on the
+ground and laughing, and he looked down to see what had him and found he
+was tied to a tree, and he knew that they had played a joke on him. That
+made him pretty mad at first, and he said if he ever got loose he'd pay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>
+them back for their smartness.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Coon told him he most likely never would get loose if he
+didn't promise not to do anything, so Mr. 'Possum promised, and Mr. Coon
+untied him. Mr. 'Possum said he guessed the chicken must have been
+pretty hard to digest, and he knew it was pretty salty, for he was dying
+for a good cold drink.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. 'Coon said he knew where there was a spring over beyond the
+wall that had colder water than the brook, and he'd show them the way to
+it. So they climbed over the wall and slipped through the bushes to the
+spring, and all took a nice cold drink, and just as they raised their
+heads from drinking they heard somebody say something. And they all kept
+perfectly still and listened, and they heard it again, just beyond some
+bushes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>So then they crept softly in among the green leaves and branches and
+looked through, and what do you think they saw?</p>
+
+<p>The Story Teller turns to the Little Lady, who seems a good deal
+excited.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, why, what did they see?" she says. "Tell me, quick!"</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 468px;"><a name="ILL_073" id="ILL_073"></a>
+<img src="images/ill_073.jpg" width="468" height="500" alt="&quot;AND WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY SAW?&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;AND WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY SAW?&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Why," the Story Teller goes on, "they saw the Little Lady and the Story
+Teller having a picnic too, with all the nice things spread out by a
+rock, under the hemlock-trees."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," gasps the Little Lady, "did they really see us? and are they there
+now?"</p>
+
+<p>"They might be," says the Story Teller. "The Hollow Tree People slip<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>
+around very softly. Anyway, they were there then, and it was the first
+time they had ever seen the Little Lady and the Story Teller so close.
+And they watched them until they were all through with their picnic and
+had gathered up their things. Then the 'Coon and the 'Possum and Old
+Black Crow slipped away again, and crept over the wall and gathered up
+their own things and set out for home very happy."</p>
+
+<p>The Little Lady grasps the Story Teller's hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go and see their picnic place!" she says. "They may be there now."</p>
+
+<p>So the Little Lady and the Story Teller go softly down to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> the spring
+and get a drink; then they creep across to the mossy stone wall and peer
+over, and there, sure enough, is a green mossy place in the shade, the
+very place to spread a picnic; and the Little Lady jumps and says "Oh!"
+for she sees something brown whisk into the bushes. Anyhow, she knows
+the Hollow Tree People have been there, for there is a little piece of
+paper on the moss which they must have used to wrap up something, and
+she thinks they most likely heard her coming and are just gone.</p>
+
+<p>So the Story Teller lifts her over the wall, and they sit down on the
+green moss of the Hollow Tree picnic place, and she leans up against him
+and listens to the singing of the brook, and the Story Teller sings
+softly too, until by-and-by the Little Lady is asleep.</p>
+
+<p>And it may be, as they sit there and drowse and dream, that the Hollow
+Tree People creep up close and watch them.</p>
+
+<p>Who knows?</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/ill_074.jpg" width="500" height="435" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>The Hollow Tree and Deep Woods Book</i>, by the same author
+and artist.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i>Hollow Tree and Deep Woods Book</i>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> See <a href="#ILL_001"><b>picture on cover.</b></a></p></div>
+
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Hollow Tree Snowed-In, by Albert Bigelow Paine
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+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,4946 @@
+Project Gutenberg's The Hollow Tree Snowed-In, by Albert Bigelow Paine
+
+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 Hollow Tree Snowed-In
+       Being a continuation of stories about the Hollow Tree and
+       Deep Woods people
+
+Author: Albert Bigelow Paine
+
+Illustrator: J. M. Conde
+
+Release Date: October 4, 2010 [EBook #33948]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOLLOW TREE SNOWED-IN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from
+scanned images of public domain material from the Internet
+Archive.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Book Cover]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS PEOPLE
+
+Mr. Crow, Mr. Turtle, Mr. 'Coon, Mr. 'Possum, Mr. Robin, Mr. Squirrel,
+Mr. Dog, Mr. Rabbit
+
+THEN MR. DOG SAID: "I KNOW ALL ABOUT MENAGERIES, FOR I HAVE BEEN TO
+ONE"]
+
+
+
+
+THE HOLLOW TREE
+SNOWED-IN BOOK
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE STORIES ABOUT
+THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS PEOPLE
+
+
+BY
+ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE
+
+AUTHOR OF
+"THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS BOOK"
+
+
+WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
+J. M. CONDE
+
+[Illustration]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NEW YORK AND LONDON
+HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+MCMX
+
+
+
+
+BOOKS BY
+ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE
+
+  THE HOLLOW TREE SNOWED-IN BOOK. Crown 8vo       $1.50
+  THE SHIP-DWELLERS. Illustrated. 8vo       1.50
+  THE TENT-DWELLERS. Illustrated. Post 8vo       1.50
+  THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS BOOK. Illustrated. Post 8vo       1.50
+  FROM VAN-DWELLER TO COMMUTER. Ill'd. Post 8vo       1.50
+  LIFE OF THOMAS NAST. Ill'd. 8vo _net_       5.00
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, N. Y.
+
+
+Copyright, 1910, by HARPER & BROTHERS
+
+
+
+
+TO ALL DWELLERS IN
+THE BIG DEEP WOODS OF DREAM
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS COUNTRY]
+
+
+
+
+EXPLANATION OF MAP
+
+
+The top of the map is South. This is always so with the Hollow Tree
+People. The cross on the shelf below the edge of the world (where the
+ladder is) is where Mr. Dog landed, and the ladder is the one brought by
+Mr. Man for him to climb back on. The tree that Mr. Man cut down shows
+too. The spot on the edge of the world is where the Hollow Tree People
+sometimes sit and hang their feet over, and talk. A good many paths
+show, but not all by a good deal. The bridge and plank near Mr. Turtle's
+house lead to the Wide Grass Lands and Big West Hills. The spots along
+the Foot Race show where Grandpaw Hare stopped, and the one across the
+fence shows where Mr. Turtle landed. Most of the other things tell what
+they are, and all the things are a good deal farther apart than they
+look. Of course there was not room on the map for everything.
+
+
+
+
+TO FRIENDS OLD AND NEW
+
+
+I wonder if you have ever heard a story which begins like this: "Once
+upon a time, in the far depths of the Big Deep Woods, there was a Big
+Hollow Tree with three hollow branches. In one of these there lived a
+'Coon, in another a 'Possum, and in the third a Big Black Crow."
+
+That was the way the first story began in a book which told about the
+Hollow Tree People and their friends of the Big Deep Woods who used to
+visit them, and how they all used to sit around the table, or by the
+fire, in the parlor-room down-stairs, where they kept most of their
+things, and ate and talked and had good times together, just like
+folk.[1]
+
+And the stories were told to the Little Lady by the Story Teller, and
+there were pictures made for them by the Artist, and it was all a long
+time ago--so long ago that the Little Lady has grown to be almost a big
+lady now, able to read stories for herself, and to write them, too,
+sometimes.
+
+But the Story Teller and the Artist did not grow any older. The years do
+not make any difference to them. Like the Hollow Tree People they remain
+always the same, for though to see them you might think by their faces
+and the silver glint in their hair that they are older, it would not be
+so, because these things are only a kind of enchantment, made to
+deceive, when all the time they are really with the Hollow Tree People
+in the Big Deep Woods, where years and enchantments do not count. It was
+only Mr. Dog, because he lived too much with Mr. Man, who grew old and
+went away to that Far Land of Evening which lies beyond the sunset,
+taking so many of the Hollow Tree stories with him. We thought these
+stories were lost for good when Mr. Dog left us, but that was not true,
+for there came another Mr. Dog--a nephew of our old friend--and he grew
+up brave and handsome, and learned the ways of the Hollow Tree People,
+and their stories, and all the old tales which the first Mr. Dog did not
+tell.
+
+And now, too, there is another Little Lady--almost exactly like the
+first Little Lady--and it may be that it is this Little Lady, after all,
+who keeps the Artist and the Story Teller young, for when she thought
+they might be growing older, and forgetting, she went with them away
+from the House of Many Windows, in the city, to the House of Low
+Ceilings and Wide Fireplaces--a queer old house like Mr. Rabbit's--built
+within the very borders of the Big Deep Woods, where they could be
+always close to Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum and the Old Black Crow, and
+all the others, and so learn all the new tales of the Hollow Tree.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] _The Hollow Tree and Deep Woods Book_, by the same author and
+artist.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+  TO FRIENDS OLD AND NEW                                               7
+  THE FIRST SNOWED-IN STORY                                           15
+  MR. DOG AT THE CIRCUS                                               21
+  THE SECOND SNOWED-IN STORY                                          39
+  THE WIDOW CROW'S BOARDING-HOUSE                                     57
+  THE FINDING OF THE HOLLOW TREE                                      71
+  THE THIRD SNOWED-IN STORY                                           87
+  THE FOURTH SNOWED-IN STORY                                         103
+  THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB                                      119
+  THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB--PART II                             143
+  THE DISCONTENTED FOX                                               155
+  MR. 'POSSUM'S GREAT STORY                                          173
+  THE BARK OF OLD HUNGRY-WOLF                                        191
+  AN EARLY SPRING CALL ON MR. BEAR                                   219
+  MR. CROW'S GARDEN                                                  239
+  WHEN JACK RABBIT WAS A LITTLE BOY                                  261
+  A HOLLOW TREE PICNIC                                               273
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS PEOPLE                   _Frontispiece_
+  MAP OF THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS COUNTRY                        4
+  GATHERING NICE PIECES OF WOOD                                       17
+  THE PANTRY IN THE HOLLOW TREE                                       24
+  "SLIPPED IN BEHIND HIM WHEN HE WENT INTO THE TENT"                  29
+  "HE LOOKED SMILING AND GOOD-NATURED, AND I WENT OVER TO ASK
+    HIM SOME QUESTIONS"                                               31
+  "GAVE ME AN EXTRA BIG SWING AND CRACK"                              35
+  ALL AT ONCE HE HEARD A FIERCE BARK CLOSE BEHIND HIM                 43
+  THEN I SUDDENLY FELT LIKE A SHOOTING-STAR                           47
+  "THEN MR. DOG SAID, 'TELL ME ANOTHER'"                              49
+  "AND DID ROLL OFF THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, SURE ENOUGH"               53
+  "I SET OUT FOR HOME WITHOUT WAITING TO SAY GOOD-BYE"                55
+  CAME CLATTERING DOWN RIGHT IN FRONT OF MR. DOG                      61
+  SO THEN MR. DOG TRIED TO GET MR. 'POSSUM ON HIS SHOULDER            64
+  HE WAS AN OLD BACHELOR AND LIKED TO HAVE HIS OWN WAY                67
+  THEY SAW MR. CROW OUT IN THE YARD CUTTING WOOD FOR HIS
+    MOTHER-IN-LAW                                                     69
+  HAD TO STAY AT HOME AND PEEL POTATOES                               75
+  LISTENED NOW AND THEN AT WIDOW CROW'S DOOR TO BE SURE SHE
+    WAS ASLEEP                                                        79
+  MR. 'POSSUM SAID HE'D JUST GET ON AND HOLD THE THINGS               81
+  MR. 'POSSUM AND MR. 'COON TRIED TO PUT UP THE STOVE                 83
+  MR. FOX SAID HE DIDN'T HAVE MUCH TO DO FOR A FEW MINUTES
+    AND HE'D ACT AS JUDGE                                             93
+  SAILING ALONG, JUST TOUCHING THE HIGHEST POINTS                     97
+  AWAY WENT MR. TORTOISE, CLEAR OVER THE TOP RAIL                     99
+  SET OUT FOR HOME BY A BACK WAY                                     101
+  TRIED TO SPLICE HIS PROPERTY BACK IN PLACE                         107
+  GRANDFATHER WOULD LIGHT HIS PIPE AND THINK IT OVER                 109
+  SET UP HIS EARS AND WENT BY, LICKETY-SPLIT                         111
+  "'GLAD TO SEE YOU,' SAID KING LION; 'I WAS JUST THINKING
+    ABOUT HAVING A NICE RABBIT FOR BREAKFAST"                        113
+  GOT AROUND THE TABLE AND BEGAN TO WORK                             125
+  MR. 'POSSUM WANTED TO KNOW WHAT MR. RABBIT MEANT BY
+    SPINNING THEIR TAILS                                             129
+  MR. DOG SAID HE HAD MADE A FEW SKETCHES                            133
+  MR. 'POSSUM SAID IT MIGHT BE A GOOD ENOUGH STORY, BUT IT
+    COULDN'T BE TRUE                                                 137
+  SO THEN MR. RABBIT SAID THEY MUST CHOOSE WHO WOULD BE "IT"         147
+  MR. 'POSSUM HAD TO PUT ON THE HANDKERCHIEF AND DO MORE
+    EXERCISING THAN ANY OF THEM                                      149
+  WOULD FIND IT ON THE MANTEL-SHELF OR PERHAPS ON MR.
+    CROW'S BALD HEAD                                                 152
+  MR. 'POSSUM SAID HE HADN'T MEANT ANYTHING AT ALL BY WHAT
+    HE HAD SAID ABOUT THE STORY                                      162
+  AND SO THIS CAT GREW RICH AND FAT                                  164
+  HIS CLERKS                                                         167
+  A SOLEMN LOOK WAS IN HIS FACE                                      168
+  QUOTH HE; "MY PRIDE IS SATISFIED; THIS KINGDOM BUSINESS
+    DOES NOT PAY"                                                    171
+  AUNT MELISSY HAD ARRANGED A BUNDLE FOR UNCLE SILAS, AND
+    SHE HAD FIXED UP THE HIRED MAN TOO                               179
+  DIDN'T LOOK AS IF SHE BELONGED TO THE REST OF OUR CROWD            181
+  THE BALLOON WENT OVER THE WIDE BLUE WATER JUST AFTER IT
+    GOT OUR FAMILY                                                   184
+  MR. TURTLE SAID THAT WHAT MR. 'POSSUM HAD TOLD THEM WAS TRUE       189
+  ONE DAY MR. CROW FOUND HE WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL OF
+    EVERYTHING                                                       195
+  THEN MR. COON SLAMMED HIS DOOR                                     199
+  MR. 'POSSUM SAID NOT TO MOVE, THAT HE WOULD GO AFTER A PIECE
+    OF WOOD                                                          201
+  HE WOULD SMOKE IN THE SUN WHEN THE MORNINGS WERE FAIR              203
+  WITH A LOOK AND A SIGH THEY WOULD STAND AND BEHOLD                 204
+  THE TASTIEST PASTRY THAT EVER WAS KNOWN                            205
+  THEN TO STIR AND TO BAKE HE BEGAN RIGHT AWAY                       206
+  THE GREEDY OLD RAVEN, BUT GREEDY NO MORE                           208
+  LOOKED STRAIGHT AT MR. 'POSSUM AND SAID, "WHAT WAS THAT YOU
+    WERE CHEWING JUST NOW?"                                          211
+  THEY WENT ALONG, SAYING WHAT A NICE MAN THEY THOUGHT MR. BEAR WAS  224
+  MR. BEAR MUST HAVE BEEN VERY TIRED AND GONE TO SLEEP RIGHT
+    WHERE HE WAS                                                     226
+  MR. 'COON SCRATCHED HIS BACK AGAINST A LITTLE BUSH                 234
+  MR. RABBIT THANKED HIM FROM ACROSS THE RIVER                       237
+  ONE SAID IT WAS ONE WAY AND THE OTHER THE OTHER WAY                247
+  MR. CROW DECIDED TO THIN OUT A FEW OF JACK RABBIT'S THINGS         251
+  MR. CROW WAS ALMOST AFRAID TO BRING ON THE SALAD                   255
+  JACK RABBIT CAPERED AND LAUGHED ALL THE WAY HOME                   259
+  TOOK HER PARASOL AND HER RETICULE AND A CAN OF BERRIES,
+    AND STARTED                                                      265
+  AND HE MADE SOME STRIPES, TOO--MOSTLY ON TOP OF THE STOVE          267
+  LITTLE JACK KNEW PERFECTLY WELL THAT SHE WASN'T AT ALL PLEASED     269
+  PROMISED NEVER TO DISOBEY HIS MOTHER AGAIN                         271
+  AND HE TASTED OF THAT A LITTLE, TOO                                278
+  MR. 'POSSUM LEANED HIS BACK AGAINST A TREE AND READ HIMSELF
+    TO SLEEP                                                         280
+  SO MR. 'POSSUM PROMISED, AND MR. 'COON UNTIED HIM                  282
+  "AND WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY SAW?"                                  284
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: GATHERING NICE PIECES OF WOOD]
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+IN WHICH THE READER LEARNS TO KNOW THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE AND THEIR
+FRIENDS, AND THE LITTLE LADY, AND THE STORY TELLER
+
+
+Now this is the beginning of the Hollow Tree stories which the Story
+Teller told the Little Lady in the queer old house which stands in the
+very borders of the Big Deep Woods itself. They were told in the Room of
+the Lowest Ceiling and the Widest Fire--a ceiling so low that when the
+Story Teller stands upright it brushes his hair as he walks, and a fire
+so deep that pieces of large trees do not need to be split but can be
+put on whole. In the old days, several great-grandfathers back, as the
+Hollow Tree People might say, these heavy sticks were drawn in by a
+horse that came right through the door and dragged the wood to the wide
+stone hearth.
+
+It is at the end of New-Year's Day, and the Little Lady has been
+enjoying her holidays, for Santa Claus found his way down the big stone
+chimney and left a number of things she wanted. Now, when the night is
+coming down outside, and when inside there is a heap of blazing logs and
+a rocking-chair, it is time for the Story Teller. The Story Teller
+generally smokes and looks into the fire when he tells a Hollow Tree
+story, because the Hollow Tree People always smoke and look into the
+fire when _they_ tell _their_ stories, and the Little Lady likes
+everything to be "just the same," and the stories must be always told
+just the same, too. If they are not, she stops the Story Teller and sets
+him right. So while the Little Woman passes to and fro, putting away the
+tea-things, the Story Teller lights his pipe, and rocks, and looks into
+the fire, and holds the Little Lady close, and begins the Tales of the
+Hollow Tree.
+
+"Once upon a time," he begins--
+
+"Once upon a time," murmurs the Little Lady, settling herself.
+
+"Yes, once upon a time, in the old days of the Hollow Tree, when Mr. Dog
+had become friends with the 'Coon and the 'Possum and the Old Black Crow
+who lived in the three hollow branches of the Big Hollow Tree, and used
+to meet together in their parlor-room down-stairs and invite all their
+friends, and have good times together, just like folk--"
+
+"But they live there now, don't they?" interrupts the Little Lady,
+suddenly sitting up, "and still have their friends, just the same?"
+
+"Oh yes, of course, but this was one of the old times, you know."
+
+The Little Lady settles back, satisfied.
+
+"Go on telling, now," she says.
+
+"Well, then, this was one of the times when all the Deep Woods People
+had been invited to the Hollow Tree for Christmas Day, and were snowed
+in. Of course they didn't expect to be snowed in. Nobody ever expects to
+be snowed in till it happens, and then it's too late."
+
+"Was that the Christmas that Mr. Dog played Santa Claus and brought all
+the presents, and Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Robin and Mr. Turtle and Jack
+Rabbit came over, and they all sat around the fire and ate things and
+told nice stories? You said you would tell about that, and you never
+did."
+
+"I am going to tell it now, as soon as a Little Lady gets real still,"
+says the Story Teller. So then the Little Lady _is_ real still, and he
+tells the first snowed-in story, which is called:
+
+
+
+
+MR. DOG AT THE CIRCUS
+
+
+
+
+MR. DOG AT THE CIRCUS
+
+THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE LEARN SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT ABOUT SHOWS
+
+
+[Illustration: THE PANTRY IN THE HOLLOW TREE]
+
+That was a great Christmas in the Hollow Tree. The 'Coon and the 'Possum
+and the Old Black Crow had been getting ready for it for a long time,
+and brought in ever so many nice things to eat, which Mr. Crow had
+cooked for them, for Mr. Crow is the best cook of anybody in the Big
+Deep Woods. Then Mr. Dog had brought a lot of good things, too, which he
+had borrowed from Mr. Man's house, so they had the finest Christmas
+dinner that you can think of, and plenty for the next day when it would
+be even better, because chicken and turkey and dressing and such things
+are always better the next day, and even the _third_ day, with gravy,
+than they are when they are first cooked.
+
+Then, when they were all through and were standing around, smoking their
+new pipes and looking at each other's new neckties and other Christmas
+things, Mr. Crow said that he and Mr. Squirrel would clear off the table
+if the others would get in some wood and stir up the fire and set the
+room to rights, so they could gather round and be comfortable by-and-by;
+and then, he said, it might snow as much as it liked as long as they had
+plenty of wood and things to eat inside.
+
+So then they all skurried around getting on their things to go out after
+wood--all except Mr. Crow and Mr. Squirrel, who set about clearing off
+the table and doing up the dishes. And pretty soon Mr. Dog and Mr. Coon
+and the rest were hopping about where the snow was falling so soft and
+silent among the big, leafless trees, gathering nice pieces of wood and
+brushing the snow off of them and piling them into the first down-stairs
+of the Hollow Tree, which the 'Coon and 'Possum and Old Black Crow use
+for their wood-house and general store-room. It was great fun, and they
+didn't feel the least bit cold after their warm dinner and with all that
+brisk exercise.
+
+Mr. Robin didn't help carry the wood in. He was hardly strong enough for
+that, but he hopped about and looked for good pieces, and when he found
+one he would call to Mr. 'Coon or Mr. 'Possum, or maybe to one of the
+others, to throw it on his shoulder and carry it in, and then he would
+tell whoever it happened to be how strong he was and how fine he looked
+with that great chunk on his shoulder, and would say that he didn't
+suppose there was another 'Coon, or 'Possum, or Turtle, or Rabbit, or
+Dog that could begin to stand up straight under such a chunk as that
+anywhere outside of a menagerie. Mr. Robin likes to say pleasant things
+to his friends, and is always popular. And each one tried to carry the
+biggest load of wood to show how strong he was, and pretty soon they had
+the lower room of the Hollow Tree piled up high with the finest chunks
+and kindling pieces to be found anywhere. Then they all hurried
+up-stairs, stamping the snow off their feet, and gathered around the
+nice warm fire in the big parlor which was just below the three big
+hollow branches where the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow had
+their rooms.
+
+Mr. Crow and Mr. Squirrel were through with the table by this time, and
+all hands lit their pipes, and looked into the fire, and smoked, and
+rested, and thought a little before they began talking--thinking, of
+course, of what a good time they were having, and how comfortable and
+nice it was to be inside and warm when such a big snow was falling
+outside.
+
+Mr. 'Possum was the first one to say anything. He said he had been
+thinking of what Mr. Robin had said about them being outside of a
+menagerie, and that, come to think about it, he believed he didn't know
+what a menagerie was, unless it was a new name for a big dinner, as that
+was the only thing he could think of now that they were outside of, and
+he said if that was so, and if he could get outside of two menageries,
+he thought he could carry in a bigger chunk than any two chunks there
+were down-stairs.
+
+Then all the others laughed a good deal, and Mr. 'Coon said he had
+thought that perhaps a menagerie was something to wear that would make
+anybody who had it on very strong, and able to stand up under a big
+load, and to eat as much as Mr. 'Possum could, or even more.
+
+But Mr. Robin said that it didn't mean either of those things. He said
+he didn't really know what it did mean himself, but that it must be some
+kind of a place that had a great many large creatures in it, for he had
+heard his grandmother quite often call his grandfather the biggest goose
+outside of a menagerie, though, being very young then, Mr. Robin
+couldn't remember just what she had meant by it.
+
+Mr. Rabbit said he thought that the word "menagerie" sounded like some
+kind of a picnic, with swings and nice lively games, and Mr. Crow said
+that once when he was flying he passed over a place where there was a
+big sign that said Menagerie on it, and that there were some tents and a
+crowd of people and a great noise, but that he hadn't seen anything that
+he could carry off without being noticed, so he didn't stop.
+
+Mr. Squirrel thought that from what Mr. Crow said it must be a place
+where there would be a lot of fine things to see, and Mr. Turtle said
+that he was a good deal over three hundred years old and had often heard
+of a menagerie, but that he had never seen one. He said he had always
+supposed that it was a nice pond of clear water, with a lot of happy
+turtles and fish and wild geese and duck and such things in it, and
+maybe some animals around it, all living happily together, and taken
+care of by Mr. Man, who brought them a great many good things to eat. He
+had always thought he would like to live in a menagerie, he said, but
+that nobody had ever invited him, and he had never happened to come
+across one in his travels.
+
+Mr. Dog hadn't been saying anything all this time, but he knocked the
+ashes out of his pipe now, and filled it up fresh and lit it, and
+cleared his throat, and began to talk. It made him smile, he said, to
+hear the different ways people thought of a thing they had never seen.
+He said that Mr. Turtle was the only one who came anywhere near to what
+a menagerie really was, though of course Mr. Crow _had_ seen one on the
+outside. Then Mr. Dog said:
+
+[Illustration: "SLIPPED IN BEHIND HIM WHEN HE WENT INTO THE TENT"]
+
+"I know all about menageries, on the outside and the inside too, for I
+have been to one. I went once with Mr. Man, though I wasn't really
+invited to go. In fact, Mr. Man invited me to stay at home, and tried to
+slip off from me; but I watched which way he went, and took long
+roundin's on him, and slipped in behind him when he went into the
+tent. He didn't know for a while that I was there, and I wasn't there so
+very long. But it was plenty long enough--a good deal longer than I'd
+ever stay again, unless I was tied.
+
+"I never saw so many wild, fierce-looking creatures in my life as there
+were in that menagerie, and they were just as wild and fierce as they
+looked. They had a lot of cages full of them and they had some outside
+of cages, though I don't know why they should leave any of those
+dangerous animals around where they could damage folks that happened to
+come in reach, as I did. Those animals outside didn't look as wild and
+fierce as those in the cages, but they were.
+
+"I kept in the crowd, close behind Mr. Man at first, and nobody knew I
+was there, but by-and-by he climbed up into a seat to watch some people
+all dressed up in fancy clothes ride around a ring on horses, which I
+didn't care much about, so I slipped away, and went over to where there
+were some things that I wanted to take my time to see quietly."
+
+[Illustration: HE LOOKED SMILING AND GOOD-NATURED, AND I WENT OVER TO
+ASK HIM SOME QUESTIONS]
+
+"There was an animal about my size and style tied over in one corner of
+the tent, behind a rope, with a sign in front of him which said, 'The
+Only Tame Hyena in the World.' He looked smiling and good-natured, and I
+went over to ask him some questions.
+
+"But that sign wasn't true. He wasn't the least bit tame, and I'm sure
+now that he wasn't smiling. He grabbed me before I had a chance to say a
+word, and when I jerked loose, which I did right away, for I didn't want
+to stir up any fuss there, I left quite a piece of my ear with the tame
+hyena, and tripped backward over the rope and rolled right in front of a
+creature called an elephant, about as big as a house and not as useful.
+
+"I suppose they thought _he_ was tame, too, but he must have been tamed
+by the same man, for he grabbed me with a kind of a tail that grew on
+the end of his nose--a thing a good deal like Mr. 'Possum's tail, only
+about a million times as big--and I could hear my ribs crack as he waved
+me up and down.
+
+"Of course, as I say, I didn't want to stir up any fuss, but I couldn't
+keep still under such treatment as that, and I called right out to Mr.
+Man, where he sat looking at the fancy people riding, and told him that
+I had had enough of the show, and if he wanted to take any of me home,
+he ought not to wait very long, but come over that way and see if he
+couldn't get the tame elephant to practise that performance on the hyena
+or the next dog, because I had had plenty, and was willing to go home
+just as I was, all in one piece, even if not very lively.
+
+"Mr. Man _came_, too, and so did a lot of the others. They seemed to
+think that I was more to look at than those riding people; and some of
+them laughed, though what there was happening that was funny I have
+never been able to guess to this day. I kept right on telling Mr. Man
+what I wanted him to do, and mebbe I made a good deal of noise about it,
+for it seemed to stir up those other animals. There was a cage full of
+lions that started the most awful roaring you can think of, and a cage
+of crazy-looking things they called monkeys that screeched and howled
+and swung back and forth in rings and held on to the bars, and all the
+other things joined in, until I couldn't tell whether I was still saying
+anything or not. I suppose they were all jealous of the elephant because
+of the fun he was having, and howling to be let out so they could get
+hold of me too.
+
+"Well, you never heard of such a time. It nearly broke up the show.
+Everybody ran over to look, and even the riding people stopped their
+horses to enjoy it, too. If it only hadn't been so dangerous and
+unpleasant I should have been proud of the way they came to see me
+perform.
+
+"But Mr. Man didn't seem to like it much. I heard him tell somebody, as
+loud as he could, that I would be killed, and that I was the best dog he
+ever had, and that if I _was_ killed he'd sue the show."
+
+[Illustration: "GAVE ME AN EXTRA SWING AND CRACK"]
+
+"That made me proud, too, but I wished he wouldn't wait to sue the
+show, but would do something right away, and just then a man with a
+fancy dress on and a stick with a sharp iron hook on it came running up
+and said something I didn't understand and hit the elephant with the
+hook end of the stick, and he gave me an extra big swing and crack and
+flung me half-way across the tent, where I landed on a bunch of hay
+right in front of a long-necked thing called a camel--another terrible
+tame creature, I suppose--who had me about half eaten up with his old
+long under lip, before Mr. Man could get over there.
+
+"When Mr. Man did get hold of me, he said that I'd better take what was
+left of me home, for they were going to feed the animals pretty soon,
+and that I would likely get mixed up with the bill of fare.
+
+"After that he took me to the entrance and pushed me outside, and I
+heard all those fierce creatures in the cages growl and roar louder than
+ever, as if they had expected to sample me and were sorry to see me go.
+
+"That's what a menagerie is--it's a place where they have all the kinds
+of animals and things in the world, for show, and a good many birds, and
+maybe turtles, too, but they don't have any fine clear pond. They have
+just a big tent, like the one Mr. Crow saw, and a lot of cages inside.
+They keep most of the animals in cages, and they ought to keep them all
+there, and I don't think they feed them very much, nor the best
+things, or they wouldn't look so fierce and hungry.
+
+"They just keep them for Mr. Man and his friends to look at and talk
+about, and if Mr. Turtle will take my advice he will keep out of a
+menagerie and live in the Wide Blue Water where he was born. I wouldn't
+have gone there again unless I had been tied and dragged there, or
+unless they had put those tame animals into cages with the others. No
+doubt there are some very fine, strong animals in a menagerie, but they
+wouldn't be there if they could help it, and if anybody ever invites any
+of you to join a menagerie, take my advice and don't do it."
+
+Then Mr. Dog knocked the ashes out of his pipe again, and all the other
+Deep Woods People knocked the ashes out of _their_ pipes, too, and
+filled them up fresh, and one said one thing, and one said another about
+being in a menagerie or out of it, and every one thought it would be a
+terrible thing to be shut up in a cage, except Mr. 'Possum, who said he
+wouldn't mind it if they would let him sleep enough and give him all he
+could eat, but that a cage without those things would be a lonesome
+place.
+
+Then Mr. 'Coon said that a little adventure had happened to him once
+which he had never mentioned before, because he had never known just
+what to make of it; but he knew now, he said, that he had come very near
+getting into a menagerie, and he would tell them just what happened.
+
+The Story Teller looked down at the quiet figure in his lap. The Little
+Lady's head was nestled close to his shoulder, and her eyes were
+straining very hard to keep open.
+
+"I think we will save Mr. 'Coon's story till another night," he said.
+
+
+
+
+THE SECOND SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+
+
+
+THE SECOND SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+MR. 'COON TELLS HOW HE CAME NEAR BEING A PART OF A MENAGERIE, AND HOW HE
+ONCE TOLD A STORY TO MR. DOG
+
+
+"You can tell about Mr. 'Coon, now--the story you didn't tell last
+night, you know," and the Little Lady wriggles herself into a
+comfortable corner just below the Story Teller's smoke, and looks deep
+into a great cavern of glowing embers between the big old andirons,
+where, in her fancy, she can picture the Hollow Tree people and their
+friends.
+
+"Why, yes, let me see--" says the Story Teller.
+
+"Mr. Dog had just told about being at the menagerie, you know, and Mr.
+'Coon was just going to tell how he came very near getting into a
+menagerie himself."
+
+"Oh yes, of course--well, then, all the Hollow Tree people, the 'Coon
+and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow, and their friends who were visiting
+them--Mr. Dog and Mr. Robin and Jack Rabbit and Mr. Turtle and Mr.
+Squirrel--knocked the ashes out of their pipes and filled them up
+fresh--"
+
+"No, they had just done that."
+
+"That's so, I forgot. Well, anyway, as soon as they got to smoking and
+settled back around the fire again Mr. 'Coon told them his story, and I
+guess we'll call it
+
+"MR. 'COON'S EARLY ADVENTURE"
+
+[Illustration: ALL AT ONCE HE HEARD A FIERCE BARK CLOSE BEHIND HIM]
+
+Mr. 'Coon said he was quite young when it happened, and was taking a
+pleasant walk one evening, to think over things a little, and perhaps to
+pick out a handy tree where Mr. Man's chickens roosted, when all at once
+he heard a fierce bark close behind him, and he barely had time to get
+up a tree himself when a strange and very noisy Mr. Dog was leaping
+about at the foot of the tree, making a great fuss, and calling every
+moment for Mr. Man to hurry, for he had a young 'coon treed.
+
+"Of course I laid pretty low when I heard that," Mr. 'Coon said, "for I
+knew that Mr. Man would most likely have a gun, so I got into a bunch of
+leaves and brush that must have been some kind of an old nest and
+scrooched down so that none of me would show.
+
+"Then by-and-by I heard some big creature come running through the
+brush, and I peeked over a little, and there, sure enough, was Mr. Man
+with a long gun, and I noticed that he wore a thing on his head--a sort
+of hat, I suppose--made of what looked to be the skin of some relative
+of mine.
+
+"Of course that made me mad. I hadn't cared so much until I saw that;
+but I said right then to myself that any one who would do such a thing
+as that never could be a friend of mine, no matter how much he tried. So
+I scrooched down and laid low in that old nest, and didn't move or let
+on in any way that I was there.
+
+"Then I heard Mr. Man walking around the tree and talking to his dog and
+telling him that there wasn't anything up in that tree at all, and that
+Mr. Dog had just been fooling him. I could tell by his voice that he was
+getting mad at Mr. Dog, and I hoped that he'd get mad enough pretty soon
+to take a stick to him for chasing me up a tree like that, and then
+calling for Mr. Man to come and see me when there wasn't really anything
+to look at.
+
+"But Mr. Dog kept galloping around the tree and barking out, over and
+over, that I was there; that he had seen me, and that he knew that I was
+hiding up there somewhere; and pretty soon I heard Mr. Man going away,
+and I peeked over again.
+
+"Sure enough, he was going, but Mr. Dog was staying right there,
+sitting under the tree and looking up and making a good deal more noise
+than there was any need of to let me know he hadn't gone. I didn't see
+why he stayed there. I wished he'd go away and tend to his own business.
+
+"Being quite young, I still lived with my folks over near the Wide Grass
+Lands, and I wanted to get home for supper. It was a good way to go, for
+the tree I had climbed was over close to the edge of the world where the
+sun and moon rise, and you all know that's a good way, even from here.
+
+"Well, he didn't go, but just sat there, barking up that tree, and after
+a long time I heard somebody coming again, and I peeked over and there
+was Mr. Man, hurrying back, this time with an axe. I knew, right then,
+there was going to be trouble. I knew they were going to cut that tree
+down, and that I should most likely have quite a fuss with Mr. Dog, and
+perhaps go home with a black eye and a scratched nose, and then get
+whipped again for fighting, after I got there."
+
+Mr. 'Coon stopped and knocked the ashes out of his pipe and filled it up
+fresh, and all the others knocked the ashes out of their pipes and
+filled them up fresh, too. Then Mr. 'Possum poked up the fire and told
+Mr. Turtle to bring a stick of wood from down-stairs, and when it was
+blazing up high and bright again they all stepped over to the window a
+minute, to see how hard it was snowing and banking up outside, then
+went back to their chairs around the fire, and stretched out their feet
+and leaned back and smoked, and listened to the rest of Mr. 'Coon's
+story.
+
+Mr. Coon said he didn't like the sound of that axe when Mr. Man began to
+cut the tree down.
+
+"Every time he struck the tree I could feel it all through me," he said,
+"and I knew if he kept that noise up long enough it would give me a
+nervous headache. I wished the tree would hurry up and drop, so we could
+have what muss we were going to, and get it over with. I'd have got out
+of that old nest and made a jump for another tree if there had been any
+near enough, but there wasn't, so I just laid low and gritted my teeth
+and let him chop.
+
+[Illustration: THEN I SUDDENLY FELT LIKE A SHOOTING-STAR]
+
+"Well, by-and-by that tree began to go down. It seemed to teeter a
+little at first, this way and that; then it went very slow in one
+direction; then it went a little faster; then it went a good deal
+faster; then I suddenly felt like a shooting-star, I came down so fast,
+and there was a big crash, and I thought I had turned into a lot of
+stars, sure enough, and was shooting in every direction, and the next I
+knew I was tied to a tree, hand and foot and around the middle, and Mr.
+Man and Mr. Dog were sitting and looking at me, and grinning, and
+talking about what they were going to do.
+
+"Mr. Man wasn't scolding Mr. Dog any more. He was telling him what a
+good thing it was they had caught me alive, for now they could sell me
+to a show and get a great deal more for me than they could for my skin.
+I didn't know what a show was, then, or that a show is a menagerie, but
+I know now, and I can see just what they meant.
+
+"Pretty soon Mr. Man told Mr. Dog to stay there and watch me while he
+went home after a box to put me in. He said he didn't think it would be
+safe to carry me in his arms, and he was right about that.
+
+"So then Mr. Man walked off, and left Mr. Dog guarding me, and saying
+unpleasant things to me now and then.
+
+"At first I wouldn't answer him; but pretty soon I happened to think of
+something pleasant to say:
+
+"'Mr. Dog,' I said, 'I know a good story, if you'd like me to tell it.
+Mr. Man may be a good while getting that box, and mebbe you'd like to
+hear something to pass the time.'
+
+"Mr. Dog said he would. He said that Mr. Man would most likely have to
+make the box, and he didn't suppose he knew where the hammer and nails
+were, and it might be dark before Mr. Man got back.
+
+[Illustration: "THEN MR. DOG SAID, 'TELL ME ANOTHER'"]
+
+"I felt a good deal better when I heard Mr. Dog say that, and I told him
+a story I knew about how Mr. Rabbit lost his tail, and Mr. Dog laughed
+and seemed to like it, and said, 'Tell me another.'"
+
+Before Mr. 'Coon could go on with his story, Mr. Rabbit said that of
+course if that old tale had helped Mr. 'Coon out of trouble he was very
+glad, but that it wasn't at all true, and that some time _he_ would tell
+them himself the true story of how it happened.
+
+Then they all said that they hoped he would, for they'd always wanted to
+hear that story told right, and then Mr. 'Coon went on with his
+adventure.
+
+Mr. Coon said that when Mr. Dog said, 'Tell me another,' he knew he was
+in a good-humor, and that he felt better and better himself. "I thought
+if Mr. Man didn't come back too soon," he said, "I might get along
+pretty well with Mr. Dog.
+
+"'I know another story, Mr. Dog,' I said--'the funniest story there is.
+It would make you laugh until you fell over the edge of the world, but I
+can't tell it here.'
+
+"'Why,' he said,--'why can't you tell it here as well as anywhere?'
+
+"'Because it has to be acted,' I said, 'and my hands are tied.'
+
+"'Will you tell it if I untie your hands?' said Mr. Dog.
+
+"'Well,' I said, 'I'll begin it, and you can see how it goes.'
+
+"So Mr. Dog came over and untied my hands, for he said he could tie them
+again before Mr. Man came back, because he knew Mr. Man hadn't found
+that hammer yet.
+
+"'You can't get loose with just your hands untied, can you?' he said.
+
+"'No, of course not, Mr. Dog,' I said, pleasant and polite as could be.
+
+"'Let's see you try,' said Mr. Dog.
+
+"So I twisted and pulled, and of course I couldn't get loose.
+
+"'Now tell the story,' said Mr. Dog.
+
+"So I said: 'Once there was a man who had a very bad pain in his chest,
+and he took all kinds of medicine, and it didn't do him any good. And
+one day the Old Wise Man of the Woods told him if he would rub his chest
+with one hand and pat his head with the other, it might draw the pain
+out the top and cure him. So the man with the pain in his chest tried
+it, and he did it this way.'
+
+"Then I showed Mr. Dog just how he did it, and Mr. Dog thought that was
+funny, and laughed a good deal.
+
+"'Go on and tell the rest of it,' he said. 'What happened after that?'
+
+"But I let on as if I'd just remembered something, and I said, 'Oh, Mr.
+Dog, I'm _so_ sorry, but I can't tell the rest of that story here, and
+it's the funniest part, too. I know you'd laugh till you rolled over the
+edge of the world.'
+
+"'Why can't you tell the rest of that story here as well as anywhere?'
+said Mr. Dog, looking anxious.
+
+"'Because it has to be acted with the feet,' I said, 'and my feet are
+tied.'
+
+"'Will you tell it if I untie your feet?' said Mr. Dog.
+
+"'Well, I'll do the best I can,' I said.
+
+"So Mr. Dog came over and untied my feet. He said he knew that Mr. Man
+hadn't found the nails or the pieces to make the box yet, and there
+would be plenty of time to tie me again before Mr. Man got back.
+
+"'You can't get loose, anyway, with just your hands and feet untied, can
+you?' he said.
+
+"'No, of course not, Mr. Dog,' I said, more pleasant and polite than
+ever.
+
+"'Let's see you try,' said Mr. Dog.
+
+"So I squirmed and twisted, but of course with a strong string around my
+waist and tied behind I couldn't do anything.
+
+"'Now go on with the story,' said Mr. Dog.
+
+[Illustration: "AND DID ROLL OFF THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, SURE ENOUGH"]
+
+"'Well,' I said, 'the pain left his chest, but it went into his back,
+and he had a most terrible time, until one day the Old Wise Man of the
+Woods came along and told him that he thought he ought to know enough by
+this time to rub his back where the pain was and pat his head at the
+same time to draw it out at the top. So then the man with the pain
+rubbed his back and patted his head this way,' and I showed Mr. Dog how
+he did it; and I rubbed a good while about where the knot was, and made
+a face to show how the man with the pain looked, and then I said the
+pain came back into his chest again instead of being drawn out at the
+top; and I changed about and rubbed there awhile, and then I went around
+to my back again, chasing that pain first one side and the other; and
+then I said that the Old Wise Man of the Woods came along one day and
+told him that he must kick with his feet too if he ever wanted to get
+rid of that pain, because, after all, it might have to be kicked out at
+the bottom; and when I began to kick and dance with both feet and to rub
+with my hands at the same time, Mr. Dog gave a great big laugh--the
+biggest laugh I ever heard anybody give--and fell right down and rolled
+over and over, and did roll off the edge of the world, sure enough.
+
+"I heard him go clattering into a lot of brush and blackberry bushes
+that are down there, and just then I got that back knot untied, and I
+stepped over and looked down at Mr. Dog, who had lodged in a brier patch
+on a shelf about ten feet below the edge, where Mr. Man would have to
+get him up with a ladder or a rope.
+
+"'Do you want to hear the rest of the story, Mr. Dog?' I said.
+
+"'I'll story _you_,' he said, 'when I catch you!'
+
+"'I told you you'd laugh till you fell off the edge of the world,' I
+said.
+
+"'I'll make _you_ laugh,' he said, 'when I catch you!'
+
+[Illustration: "I SET OUT FOR HOME WITHOUT WAITING TO SAY GOOD-BYE"]
+
+"Then I saw he was cross about something, and I set out for home without
+waiting to say good-bye to Mr. Man, for I didn't want to waste any more
+time, though I missed my supper and got a scolding besides.
+
+"But I was glad I didn't bring home a black eye and scratched nose, and
+I'm more glad than ever now that Mr. Man didn't get back in time with
+that box, or I might be in a menagerie this minute instead of sitting
+here smoking and telling stories and having a good time on Christmas
+Day."
+
+The Story Teller looks down at the Little Lady.
+
+"I'm glad Mr. 'Coon didn't get into the menagerie, aren't you?" she
+says.
+
+"Very glad," says the Story Teller.
+
+"He went lickety-split home, didn't he?"
+
+"He did that!"
+
+"I like them to go lickety-split better than lickety-cut, don't you?"
+says the Little Lady. "They seem to go so much faster."
+
+"Ever so much faster," says the Story Teller.
+
+
+
+
+THE WIDOW CROW'S BOARDING-HOUSE
+
+
+
+
+THE WIDOW CROW'S BOARDING-HOUSE
+
+EARLY DOINGS OF THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE AND HOW THEY FOUND A HOME
+
+
+Anybody can tell by her face that the Little Lady has some plan of her
+own when the Story Teller is ready next evening to "sit by the fire and
+spin."
+
+"I want you to tell me," she says, climbing up into her place, "how the
+'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow ever got to living together in
+the Hollow Tree."
+
+That frightens the Story Teller. He is all ready with something
+different.
+
+"Good gracious!" he says, "that is an old story that all the Deep Woods
+People have known ever so long."
+
+"But I don't know it," says the Little Lady, "and I'd like to know that
+before you tell anything else. Rock, and tell it."
+
+So the Story Teller rocks slowly, and smokes, and almost forgets the
+Little Lady in remembering that far-away time, and presently he begins.
+
+"Well, it was all so long ago that perhaps I can't remember it very
+well. Mr. 'Possum was a young man in those days--a nice spry young
+fellow; and he used to think it was a good deal of fun to let Mr.
+Dog--who wasn't friendly then, of course--try to catch him; and when Mr.
+Dog would get pretty close and come panting up behind him, Mr. 'Possum
+would scramble up a tree, and run out on to the longest limb and swing
+from it, head down, and laugh, and say:
+
+"Come right up, Mr. Dog! Always at home to you, Mr. Dog! Don t stop to
+knock!"
+
+And then Mr. Dog would race around under the tree and make a great to
+do, and sometimes Mr. 'Possum would swing back and forth, and pretty
+soon give a great big swing and let go, and Mr. Dog would think surely
+he had him then, and bark and run to the place where he thought he was
+going to drop. Only Mr. 'Possum didn't drop--not far; for he had his
+limb all picked out, and he would catch it with his tail as he went by,
+and it would bend and sway with him, and he would laugh, and call again:
+
+"Don't go, Mr. Dog! Mr. Man can get up the cows alone to-night!"
+
+And then Mr. Dog would remember that he was a good ways from home, and
+that if he wasn't there in time to help Mr. Man get up the cows there
+might be trouble; and he would set out lickety-split for home, with Mr.
+'Possum calling to him as he ran.
+
+[Illustration: CAME CLATTERING DOWN RIGHT IN FRONT OF MR. DOG]
+
+But one time Mr. 'Possum made a mistake. He didn't know it, but he was
+getting older and a good deal fatter than he had been at first, and when
+he swung out for another limb that way, and let go, he missed the limb
+and came clattering down right in front of Mr. Dog. He wasn't hurt much,
+for the ground was soft, and there was a nice thick bed of leaves; but I
+tell you he was scared, and when Mr. Dog jumped right on top of him, and
+grabbed him, he gave himself up for lost, sure enough.
+
+But Mr. 'Possum is smart in some ways, and he knows how to play "dead"
+better than any other animal there is. He knew that Mr. Dog would want
+to show him to Mr. Man, and that he was too heavy for Mr. Dog to carry.
+He had thought about all that, and decided what to do just in that
+little second between the limb and the ground, for Mr. 'Possum can think
+quick enough when anything like that happens.
+
+So when he struck the ground he just gave one little kick with his hind
+foot and a kind of a sigh, as if he was drawing his last breath, and
+laid there: and even when Mr. Dog grabbed him and shook him he never let
+on, but acted almost deader than if he had been really dead and no
+mistake.
+
+Then Mr. Dog stood with his paws out and his nose down close, listening,
+and barking once in a while, and thinking maybe he would come to pretty
+soon, but Mr. 'Possum still never let on, or breathed the least little
+bit, and directly Mr. Dog started to drag him toward Mr. Man's house.
+
+That was a hard job, and every little way Mr. Dog would stop and shake
+Mr. 'Possum and bark and listen to see if he was really dead, and after
+a while he decided that he was, and started to get Mr. Man to come and
+fetch Mr. 'Possum home. But he only went a few steps, the first time,
+and just as Mr. 'Possum was about to jump up and run he came hurrying
+back, and stood over him and barked and barked as loud as ever he could
+for Mr. Man to come and see what he had for him. But Mr. Man was too far
+away, and even if he heard Mr. Dog he didn't think it worth while to
+come.
+
+[Illustration: SO THEN MR. DOG TRIED TO GET MR. 'POSSUM ON HIS SHOULDER]
+
+So then Mr. Dog tried to get Mr. 'Possum on his shoulder, to carry him
+that way; but Mr. 'Possum made himself so limp and loose and heavy that
+every time Mr. Dog would get him nearly up he would slide off again and
+fall all in a heap on the leaves; and Mr. Dog couldn't help believing
+that he was dead, to see him lying there all doubled up, just as he
+happened to drop.
+
+So, then, by-and-by Mr. Dog really did start for Mr. Man's, and Mr.
+'Possum lay still, and just opened one eye the least bit to see how
+far Mr. Dog had gone, and when he had gone far enough Mr. 'Possum jumped
+up quick as a wink and scampered up a tree, and ran out on a limb and
+swung with his head down, and called out:
+
+"Don't go away, Mr. Dog! We've had such a nice visit together! Don't go
+off mad, Mr. Dog! Come back and stay till the cows come home!"
+
+Then Mr. Dog was mad, I _tell_ you, and told him what he'd do next time;
+and he set out for home fast as he could travel, and went in the back
+way and hid, for Mr. Man was already getting up the cows when he got
+there.
+
+Well, Mr. 'Possum didn't try that swinging trick on Mr. Dog any more. He
+found out that it was dangerous, the way he was getting, and that made
+him think he ought to change his habits in other ways too. For one
+thing, he decided he ought to have some regular place to stay where he
+could eat and sleep and feel at home, instead of just travelling about
+and putting up for the night wherever he happened to be.
+
+Mr. 'Possum was always quite stylish, too, and had a good many nice
+clothes, and it wasn't good for them to be packed about all the time;
+and once some of his best things got rained on and he had to sleep on
+them for a long time to get them pressed out smooth again.
+
+[Illustration: HE WAS AN OLD BACHELOR AND LIKED TO HAVE HIS OWN WAY]
+
+So Mr. 'Possum made up his mind to find a home. He was an old bachelor
+and never wanted to be anything else, because he liked to have his own
+way, and go out all times of the night, and sleep late if he wanted to.
+So he made up his mind to look up a good place to board--some place that
+would be like a home to him--perhaps in a private family.
+
+One day when he was walking through the woods thinking about it, and
+wondering how he ought to begin to find a place like that, he met Mr. Z.
+'Coon, who was one of his oldest friends in the Big Deep Woods. They had
+often been hunting together, especially nights, for Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
+'Possum always like that time best for hunting, and have better luck in
+the dark than any other time. Mr. 'Coon had had his troubles with Mr.
+Dog, too, and had come very near getting caught one night when Mr. Man
+and some of his friends were out with Mr. Dog and his relatives and
+several guns looking for a good Sunday dinner. Mr. 'Coon _would_ have
+got caught that time, only when Mr. Man cut the tree down that he was in
+he gave a big jump as the tree was falling and landed in another tree,
+and then ran out on a limb and jumped to another tree that wasn't so far
+away, and then to another, so that Mr. Man and his friends and all the
+dog family lost track of him entirely.
+
+But Mr. 'Coon was tired of that kind of thing too, and wanted some
+place where he could be comfortable, and where he could lock the door
+nights and feel safe. Mr. 'Coon was a bachelor, like Mr. 'Possum, though
+he had once been disappointed in love, and told about it sometimes, and
+looked sad, and even shed tears.
+
+So when he met Mr. 'Possum that day they walked along and talked about
+finding a place to live, and just as they were wondering what they ought
+to do they happened to notice, right in front of them, a little piece of
+birch bark tacked up on a tree, and when they read it, it said:
+
+MRS. WIDOW CROW.
+
+WILL TAKE A FEW GUESTS.
+
+SINGLE GENTLEMEN PREFERRED;
+
+PLEASANT LOCATION NEAR
+
+RACE-TRACK.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum scratched his head and tried to think, and Mr. 'Coon
+scratched _his_ head and tried to think, and pretty soon Mr. 'Coon said:
+
+"Oh yes, I know about that. That's Mr. Crow's mother-in-law. He had a
+wife until last year, and his mother-in-law used to live with them. I
+believe she was pretty cross, but I've heard Mr. Crow say she was a good
+cook, and that he had learned to cook a great many things himself. I
+heard some time ago that she had moved over by the race-track, and
+perhaps Mr. Crow is boarding with her. Let's go over and see."
+
+[Illustration: THEY SAW MR. CROW OUT IN THE YARD CUTTING WOOD FOR HIS
+MOTHER-IN-LAW]
+
+So away they went, saying how nice it would be to be really settled, and
+pretty soon they got over to Mrs. Widow Crow's, and there, sure enough,
+they saw Mr. Crow out in the yard cutting wood for his mother-in-law;
+and when they asked him about the advertisement, he said he was helping
+her to get started, and she had two nice rooms, and that Mr. 'Possum and
+Mr. 'Coon would be just the ones to fill them.
+
+So they went right in and saw Mrs. Widow Crow about it, and by night
+they had their things moved and were all settled, and Widow Crow got a
+nice supper for them, and Mr. Crow helped her, and worked as hard as if
+he were a hired man instead of a boarder like the others, which he was,
+because he paid for his room as much as anybody, and got scolded besides
+when he didn't do things to suit his mother-in-law.
+
+
+
+
+THE FINDING OF THE HOLLOW TREE
+
+
+
+
+THE FINDING OF THE HOLLOW TREE
+
+HOW THE 'COON AND 'POSSUM AND THE OLD BLACK CROW MOVED AND SET UP
+HOUSEKEEPING
+
+
+Well, the Widow Crow set a very good table, and everything in her
+boarding-house went along quite well for a while, and Mr. 'Possum and
+Mr. 'Coon both said what a good thing it was to have a home, and Mr.
+Crow said so too, though he didn't look as if he enjoyed it as much as
+he said, for his mother-in-law kept him so busy cutting and carrying
+wood and helping her with the cooking that he never had any time for
+himself at all.
+
+[Illustration: HAD TO STAY AT HOME AND PEEL POTATOES]
+
+Even when Mr. Rabbit and some of his friends had the great fall handicap
+race he had to stay at home and peel potatoes, and not see it, besides
+being scolded all the time for wanting to go to such a thing as a rabbit
+race anyway. And Mr. Crow was sad because it reminded him of his
+married life, which he was trying to forget--Mrs. Crow having been the
+image of his mother-in-law and exactly like her about races and peeling
+potatoes and such things.
+
+And by-and-by, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon didn't like it so much, either.
+Widow Crow got so she scolded them, too, about their habits, especially
+about being out nights and lying in bed next morning, and she wouldn't
+give them any breakfast unless they got up in time.
+
+At last she even asked them to take care of their own rooms and to do
+other work, the same as Mr. Crow did; and she didn't cook as good
+things, nor as many of them, as she did when they first came. Then one
+day when they complained a little--not very much, for they were afraid
+of the Widow Crow, but a little--she told them that if they didn't like
+what she gave them they could find a place they liked better, and that
+she was tired of their ways anyhow.
+
+So then Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum all got together and
+talked it over. And Mr. Crow said _they_ might be pretty tired of it,
+but that they couldn't in a hundred years, thinking night and day, think
+how tired of it _he_ was. He said if they would just say the word he
+would take the things that belonged to him out of that house, and the
+three of them would find some good place and all live together, and
+never have anything more to do with mothers-in-law or their families. He
+said he knew how to cook as well as she did, and really liked to cook
+when he was in a pleasant place and wasn't henpecked to death.
+
+And he said if they moved his things they had better do it at night
+while his mother-in-law was asleep, so as not to disturb her.
+
+Well, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. Coon both spoke right up and said _they'd_ go
+in a minute, and that they'd hunt up the place to live that very day,
+though it wasn't the best time of year to move. And Mr. Crow said:
+
+"I know where there's a big Hollow Tree that would be _just_ the place.
+It's the biggest tree in the Big Deep Woods. It has three big hollow
+branches that would do for rooms, and with a little work it could be
+made into the finest place anywhere. The Old Wise Man of the Woods once
+lived there and fixed it all up with nice stairs, and a fireplace, and
+windows, and doors with good latches on them, and it's still just as he
+left it. All it needs are a few repairs, and we could move right in. I
+found it once as I was flying over, and I could tell _you_, so you could
+find it. It's in a thick swampy place, and you would never guess it was
+there if you didn't know it. Mr. Dog knows about it, but he never could
+get in if we kept the door latched, and it's not so far away from Mr.
+Man's that we could not borrow, when we ran out of little things we
+needed."
+
+Well, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon took the directions from Mr. Crow, and
+went right off to look at the Hollow Tree that very day, and decided
+they'd take it, and pitched in to clean it up and get it ready to live
+in. And next day they came with a hammer and some nails and worked all
+day again, and Mr. Rabbit heard the noise and came over and looked
+through the place and said how nice it was; and they were so tired at
+night that they never thought of going out, and were up early for
+breakfast.
+
+Widow Crow was so surprised she forgot what she had always scolded them
+for before, and scolded them this time for getting up so early that they
+had to stand around and wait for breakfast to be put on the table. But
+they didn't seem to mind the scolding at all, and Mr. Crow looked
+happier than he had looked for months, and skipped around and helped set
+the table, and brought in a big wood-box full of wood, and when Widow
+Crow scolded him for getting chips on the floor he laughed. Then she
+boxed his ears and told him he ought to remember the poor Missing One at
+such a time, and Mr. Crow said he did, and could almost imagine she was
+there now.
+
+Well, Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum got the Hollow Tree all ready, that day,
+and that night they moved.
+
+The Widow Crow was pretty fat, and liked to go to bed early, and sleep
+sound, and leave Mr. Crow to do the evening dishes; and that evening Mr.
+'Coon and' Mr. Possum pitched in and helped him, and they got through
+in a jiffy and began to move.
+
+Mr. Crow said he knew his own things, and that he wouldn't take any that
+belonged to the Missing One, because they had mostly come from her
+mother; and, besides, they would be a sad reminder, and didn't seem to
+go with the kind of a place they had planned to have. He said if they
+didn't have enough things they could borrow a few from Mr. Man when Mr.
+Man went away and left his windows open, and that they wouldn't need
+much to begin with.
+
+[Illustration: LISTENED NOW AND THEN AT WIDOW CROW'S DOOR TO BE SURE SHE
+WAS ASLEEP]
+
+So then they got Mr. Crow's cook-stove out of the back store-room, and a
+table that was his, and some chairs from different parts of the house,
+and a few dishes which had come to him from his side of the family, and
+they tiptoed around and listened now and then at Widow Crow's door to be
+sure she was asleep.
+
+They knew she _was_ by the sound; but still they were very quiet until
+Mr. 'Possum started to bring a rocking-chair of Mr. Crow's down-stairs
+and somehow got his legs through the rounds and fell and rolled clear to
+the bottom, expressing his feelings as he came down.
+
+That woke up Widow Crow with a jump, and she sat up in bed and called
+"Thieves!" and "Help!" and Mr. Crow ran to her door and said that it
+wasn't anything, only those scamps Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon had been
+out late again. He said they had brought home one of Mr. Man's
+beehives and had dropped it because the bees woke up just as they were
+climbing the stairs.
+
+Then Mrs. Crow called out quick, and said for him not to dare to open
+that door and let those pesky bees into her room, and that she hoped
+they'd sting that 'Possum and 'Coon until they wouldn't be able to tell
+themselves apart. She said she bet she'd get that pair out of her house
+if she lived through the night. Then she rolled over and went to sleep
+again, and Mr. 'Possum got up and limped a little, but wasn't much
+damaged, and they got all the things outside and loaded up, and set out
+for the Hollow Tree.
+
+It was moonlight and Mr. Crow led the way, and the minute they were far
+enough off to be sure they wouldn't wake up Widow Crow they sang the
+chorus of a song that Mr. Rabbit had made for them the day before when
+he called at the Hollow Tree, and they had told him what they were going
+to do. That was the Hollow Tree Song, which, of course, everybody in the
+Big Deep Woods knows now, but it had never been sung there before, and
+when they joined in the chorus,
+
+  Then here's to the 'Possum and the Old Black Crow
+    And the 'Coon with a one, two, three!
+  And here's to the hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow--
+    Then here's to the Hollow Tree,
+
+Mr. Owl, who was watching them from a limb overhead, thought he had
+never heard anything quite so fine.
+
+Well, they couldn't get along very fast, for the things got so heavy and
+they had to rest so often that it began to look as if they wouldn't get
+to the Hollow Tree by morning. But just as they got out into a little
+open place that was about half-way there they saw somebody coming, and
+who do you suppose it was?
+
+"I know," says the Little Lady, "it was the Old Wise Man of the Woods,
+to tell them they couldn't have his house."
+
+"No, he didn't live there any more--he had gone away for good. No, it
+wasn't the Old Wise Man; it was Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Turtle, coming to
+help them move. Mr. Rabbit had gone all the way to the Wide Blue Water
+after Mr. Turtle because he is so strong, and they would have been there
+a good deal sooner, only Mr. Turtle didn't get home till late, and
+travels slow."
+
+[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM SAID HE'D JUST GET ON AND HOLD THE THINGS]
+
+Well, it wasn't so hard to move after that. They just set the cook-stove
+on Mr. Turtle's back and piled on as much as would stay on, and he kept
+telling them to put on more, until pretty soon Mr. 'Possum said that he
+would just get on and hold the things from slipping off, which he did,
+and sat on the stove and rode and swung his feet and held the other
+things, while Mr. Crow and the rest walked and carried what was left.
+
+And when they got to the Hollow Tree it was just about sun-up, and Mr.
+'Possum said if they didn't have breakfast pretty soon he would starve
+to death with being up all night and working so hard holding on those
+things.
+
+[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM AND MR. 'COON TRIED TO PUT UP THE STOVE]
+
+So then Mr. Crow told him that he and Mr. 'Coon could set up the stove,
+and that he would unpack the food and stir up something as quick as he
+could if the others would bring a little wood and some water from the
+spring, and place the things around inside; for he saw a cloud coming,
+he said, and it might rain. And Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon tried to put
+up the stove in a hurry, and the pieces of pipe didn't fit very well,
+and they came as near having a quarrel over it as they ever did over
+anything, for even the best friends can't always put up stovepipe
+together without thinking and sometimes saying unpleasant things about
+each other, especially when they are hungry and not very warm and the
+house is all upset. Mr. 'Coon said he only wished he had another hand
+and he would do that job alone, and Mr. 'Possum told him that if he'd
+been provided with a handy and useful tail he'd _have_ the same as
+another hand, and could work more and not wish so much.
+
+Then Mr. Rabbit came to help them, and just as they got it about up it
+all came down again, and Mr. Crow said that if they'd all go away he'd
+set up the stove himself; which he did in about a minute, and had a
+fire in it and the coffee on in no time.
+
+Then the others rushed around and got the things straightened out, and a
+fire in the fireplace, and they said how nice rooms were, and when Mr.
+Crow called they all came hurrying down, and in about another minute the
+'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow, with Mr. Rabbit and Mr.
+Turtle, all sat down to the first meal in the Hollow Tree.
+
+It was then that Jack Rabbit read all of the "Hollow Tree Song" he had
+made for them, and they all sang it together; and then the storm that
+Mr. Crow had seen coming did come, and they shut all the doors and
+windows tight, and sat before the fire and smoked and went to sleep,
+because they were so tired with being up all night.
+
+And that was the first day in the Hollow Tree, and how the Possum and
+Coon and Old Black Crow came to live there, and they live there still.
+
+
+
+
+THE THIRD SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+
+
+
+THE THIRD SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+MR. RABBIT TELLS SOME INTERESTING FAMILY HISTORY
+
+
+The Little Lady waited until the Story Teller had lit his pipe and sat
+looking into the great open fire, where there was a hickory log so big
+that it had taken the Story Teller and the Little Lady's mother with two
+pairs of ice-tongs to drag it to the hearth and get it into place.
+Pretty soon the Little Lady had crept in between the Story Teller's
+knees. Then in another minute she was on one of his knees, helping him
+rock. Then she said:
+
+"Did Mr. Rabbit tell his story next? He promised to tell about losing
+his tail, you know."
+
+The Story Teller took his pipe from his mouth a moment, and sat thinking
+and gazing at the big log, which perhaps reminded him of one of the
+limbs of the Hollow Tree, where the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black
+Crow lived and had their friends visit them that long-ago snowy
+Christmas-time.
+
+"Why, yes," he said, "that's so, Mr. Rabbit _did_ tell that story. When
+Mr. 'Coon got through telling how he came near getting into a menagerie,
+they all said that it certainly was a very narrow escape, and Mr. 'Coon
+said he shouldn't wonder if that menagerie had to quit business, just
+because he wasn't in it; and Mr. 'Possum said he thought if anything
+would _save_ a menagerie that would, for it would keep them from being
+eaten out of house and home."
+
+Then Mr. Coon said that if that was so, Mr. 'Possum had saved at least
+three menageries by staying right where he was in the Big Deep Woods.
+This made Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Robin laugh, and the rest wondered what
+those two gigglers had noticed that was funny. Then they all knocked the
+ashes out of their pipes again, and walked over to the window, and
+looked at the snow banking up outside and piling up on the bare limbs of
+the big trees. They said how early it got dark this time of year,
+especially on a cloudy day. And pretty soon Mr. Crow said they had just
+about time for one more story before supper, and that Mr. Rabbit ought
+to tell now about how, a long time ago, his family had lost their tails.
+Mr. Rabbit didn't seem to feel very anxious to tell it, but they told
+him that he had promised, and that now was as good a time as any, so
+they went back and sat down, and Mr. Rabbit told them
+
+THE TRUE STORY OF THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE, AND HOW JACK RABBIT LOST
+HIS TAIL
+
+"Once upon a time," he said, "a great many great-grandfathers back, my
+family had long bushy tails, like Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Fox, only a good
+deal longer and finer and softer, and _very handsome_."
+
+When Mr. Rabbit said that, Mr. Squirrel sniffed and twitched his nose
+and gave his nice bushy tail a flirt, but he didn't say anything. Mr.
+Rabbit went right on.
+
+"Well, there was one fine, handsome rabbit who had the longest and
+plumiest tail of any of the family, and was very proud of it. He was my
+twenty-seventh great-grandfather, and was called Mr. Hare. He was young
+and smart then, and thought he was a good deal smarter than he really
+was, though he was smart enough and handsome enough to set the style for
+all the other rabbits, and not much ever happened to him, because he
+could beat anything running that there was in the Big Deep Woods.
+
+"That twenty-seventh great-grandfather of mine was very proud of his
+running, and used to brag that in a foot-race he could beat anything
+that lived between the Wide Grass Lands and the Edge of the World. He
+used to talk about it to almost everybody that came along, and one day
+when he met one of the Turtle family who used to be called Mr. Tortoise
+in those days, he stopped and began to brag to him how fast he could run
+and how nobody in the Big Deep Woods dared to race with him.
+
+"But Mr. Turtle, he just smiled a little and said: 'Oh, pshaw! you can't
+run very fast. I believe I can beat you myself!'
+
+"Well, that did make Grandfather Hare laugh--and made him a little mad,
+too.
+
+"'You!' he said. 'Why, I'll give you within ten yards of that rail fence
+of Mr. Man's, half a mile away, and then beat you across it. Just travel
+along, and some time this afternoon, when you get down that way, I'll
+come back and let you see me go by. But you'll have to look quick if you
+see me, for I'll be going fast.'
+
+[Illustration: MR. FOX SAID HE DIDN'T HAVE MUCH TO DO FOR A FEW MINUTES
+AND HE'D ACT AS JUDGE]
+
+"But Mr. Tortoise said he didn't want any start at all, that he was
+ready to begin the race right then; and that made Grandpaw Hare laugh so
+loud that Mr. Fox heard him as he was passing, and came over to see what
+the fun was. Then he said that he hadn't much to do for a few minutes,
+and that he'd stay and act as judge. He thought a race like that
+wouldn't last long; and it didn't, though it wasn't at all the kind of a
+race he had expected.
+
+"Well, he put Mr. Tortoise and my twenty-seventh great-grandfather side
+by side, and then he stood off and said 'Go!' and thought it would all
+be over in a minute.
+
+"Grandpaw Hare gave one great big leap, about twenty feet long, and then
+stopped. He was in no hurry, and he wanted to have some fun with Mr.
+Tortoise. He looked around to where Mr. Tortoise was coming straddling
+and panting along, and he laughed and rolled over to see how solemn he
+looked, and how he was travelling as if he meant to get somewhere before
+dark. He was down on all fours so he could use all his legs at once, and
+anybody would think, to look at him, that he really expected to win that
+race.
+
+"The more my Grandpaw Hare looked at him the more he laughed, and then
+he would make another long leap forward and stop, and look back, and
+wait for Mr. Tortoise to catch up again.
+
+"Then he would call to him, or maybe go back and take roundin's on him,
+and say, 'Come along there, old tobacco-box. Are you tied to something?'
+Mr. Fox would laugh a good deal, too, and he told my ancestor to go on
+and finish the race--that he couldn't wait around there all day. And
+pretty soon he said if they were going to fool along like that, he'd
+just go down to the fence and take a nap till they got there; and for
+Grandpaw Rabbit to call to him when he really started to come, so he
+could wake up and judge the finish.
+
+"Mr. Fox he loped away to the fence and laid down and went to sleep in
+the shade, and Grandpaw Hare thought it would be fun to pretend to be
+asleep, too. I've heard a story told about it that says that he really
+did go to sleep, and that Mr. Tortoise went by him and got to the fence
+before he woke up. But that is not the way it happened. My
+twenty-seventh great-grandfather was too smart to go to sleep, and even
+if he had gone to sleep, Mr. Tortoise made enough noise pawing and
+scratching along through the grass and gravel to wake up forty of our
+family.
+
+"My ancestor would wait until he came grinding along and got up even
+with him, then suddenly he'd sit up as if he'd been waked out of a nice
+dream and say, 'Hello, old coffee-mill! What do you want to wake me up
+for when I'm trying to get a nap?' Then he would laugh a big laugh and
+make another leap, and lie down and pretend again, with his fine plumy
+tail very handsome in the sun.
+
+"But Grandpaw Hare carried the joke a little too far. He kept letting
+Mr. Tortoise get up a little closer and closer every time, until Mr.
+Tortoise would almost step on him before he would move. And that was
+just what Mr. Tortoise wanted, for about the next time he came along he
+came right up behind my ancestor, but instead of stepping on him, he
+gave his head a quick snap, just as if he were catching fish, and
+grabbed my Grandpaw Hare by that beautiful plumy tail, and held on, and
+pinched, and my ancestor gave a squeal and a holler and set out for
+that rail fence, telling his troubles as he came.
+
+[Illustration: SAILING ALONG, JUST TOUCHING THE HIGHEST POINTS]
+
+"Mr. Fox had gone sound asleep and didn't hear the rumpus at first, and
+when he did, he thought grandpaw was just calling to him to wake up and
+be ready to judge the race, so he sat up quick and watched them come. He
+saw my twenty-seventh great-grandfather sailing along, just touching the
+highest points, with something that looked like an old black wash-pan
+tied to his tail.
+
+"When Mr. Fox saw what it was, he just laid down and laughed and rolled
+over, and then hopped up on the top rail and called, out 'All right, I'm
+awake, Mr. Hare! Come right along, Mr. Hare; you'll beat him yet!'
+
+"Then he saw my ancestor stop and shake himself, and paw, and roll over,
+to try to get Mr. Tortoise loose, which of course he couldn't do, for,
+as we all know, whenever any of the Turtle family get a grip they never
+let go till it thunders, and this was a bright day. So pretty soon
+grandpaw was up and running again with Mr. Tortoise sailing out behind
+and Mr. Fox laughing to see them come, and calling out: 'Come right
+along, Mr. Hare! come right along! You'll beat him yet!'
+
+[Illustration: AWAY WENT MR. TORTOISE, CLEAR OVER THE TOP RAIL]
+
+"But Mr. Fox made a mistake about that. Grandpaw Hare was really ahead,
+of course, when he came down the homestretch, but when he got pretty
+close to the fence he made one more try to get Mr. Tortoise loose,
+and gave himself and his tail a great big swing, and Mr. Tortoise
+didn't let go quite quick enough, and off came my twenty-seventh
+great-grandfather's beautiful plumy tail, and away went Mr. Tortoise
+with it, clear over the top rail of the fence, and landed in a brier
+patch on the other side.
+
+"Well, Grandpaw Hare was in such a state as you never heard of! He
+forgot all about the race at first, and just raved about his great loss,
+and borrowed Mr. Fox's handkerchief to tie up what was left, and said
+that he never in the world could show his face before folks again.
+
+"And Mr. Fox stopped laughing as soon as he could, and was really quite
+sorry for him, and even Mr. Tortoise looked through the fence, and asked
+him if he didn't think it could be spliced and be almost as good as
+ever.
+
+"He said he hadn't meant to commit any damage, and that he hoped Mr.
+Hare would live to forgive him, and that now there was no reason why my
+grandpaw shouldn't beat him in the next race.
+
+"Then my ancestor remembered about the race and forgot his other loss
+for a minute, and declared that Mr. Tortoise didn't win the race at
+all--that he couldn't have covered that much ground in a half a day
+alone, and he asked Mr. Fox if he was going to let that great
+straddle-bug ruin his reputation for speed and make him the
+laughing-stock of the Big Deep Woods, besides all the other damage he
+had done.
+
+"Then Mr. Fox scratched his head, and thought about it, and said he
+didn't see how he could help giving the race to Mr. Tortoise, for it was
+to be the first one across the fence, and that Mr. Tortoise was
+certainly the first one across, and that he'd gone over the top rail in
+style.
+
+[Illustration: SET OUT FOR HOME BY A BACK WAY]
+
+"Well, that made Grandpaw Hare madder than ever. He didn't say another
+word, but just picked up his property that Mr. Tortoise handed him
+through the fence, and set out for home by a back way, studying what he
+ought to do to keep everybody from laughing at him, and thinking that if
+he didn't do something he'd have to leave the country or drown himself,
+for he had always been so proud that if people laughed at him he knew he
+could never show his face again.
+
+"And that," said Mr. Rabbit, is the true story of that old race between
+the Hare and the Tortoise, and of how the first Rabbit came to lose his
+tail. I've never told it before, and none of my family ever did; but so
+many stories have been told about the way those things happened that we
+might just as well have this one, which is the only true one so far as I
+know.
+
+Then Mr. Rabbit lit his pipe and leaned back and smoked. Mr. Dog said it
+was a fine story, and he wished he could have seen that race, and Mr.
+Turtle looked as if he wanted to say something, and did open his mouth
+to say it, but Mr. Crow spoke up, and asked what happened after that to
+Mr. Rabbit's twenty-seventh great-grandfather, and how it was that the
+rest of the Rabbits had short tails, too.
+
+Then Mr. Rabbit said that that was another story, and Mr. Squirrel and
+Mr. Robin wanted him to tell it right away, but Mr. Crow said they'd
+better have supper now, and Mr. 'Possum thought that was a good plan,
+and Mr. 'Coon, too, and then they all hurried around to get up some
+sticks of wood from down-stairs, and to set the table, and everybody
+helped, so they could get through early and have a nice long evening.
+
+And all the time the snow was coming down outside and piling higher and
+higher, and they were being snowed in without knowing it, for it was
+getting too dark to see much when they tried again to look out the
+window through the gloom of the Big Deep Woods.
+
+
+
+
+THE FOURTH SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+
+
+
+THE FOURTH SNOWED-IN STORY
+
+MR. JACK RABBIT CONTINUES HIS FAMILY HISTORY
+
+
+"Did they have enough left for supper--enough for all the visitors, I
+mean?" asks the Little Lady the next evening, when the Story Teller is
+ready to go on with the history of the Hollow Tree.
+
+"Oh yes, they had plenty for supper, and more, too. They had been
+getting ready a good while for just such a time as this, and had carried
+in a lot of food, and they had a good many nice things down in the
+store-room where the wood was, but they didn't need those yet. They just
+put on what they had left from their big dinner, and Mr. Crow stirred up
+a pan of hot biscuits by his best receipt, and they passed them back and
+forth across the table so much that Mr. 'Possum said they went like hot
+cakes, sure enough, and always took two when they came his way."
+
+And they talked a good deal about the stories that Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
+Rabbit had told them, and everybody thought how sly and smart Mr. 'Coon
+had been to fool Mr. Dog that way; and Mr. 'Coon said that, now he came
+to think it over, he supposed it was a pretty good trick, though it
+really hadn't seemed so specially great to him at the time. He said he
+didn't think it half as smart as Mr. Tortoise's trick on Mr. Rabbit's
+Grandpaw Hare, when he beat him in the foot-race and went over the fence
+first, taking Mr. Hare's tail with him. And then they wondered if that
+had all really happened as Mr. Rabbit had told it--all but Mr. Turtle,
+who just sat and smiled to himself and didn't say anything at all,
+except "Please pass the biscuits," now and then, when he saw the plate
+being set down in front of Mr. 'Possum.
+
+Then by-and-by they all got through and hurried up and cleared off the
+table, and lit their pipes, and went back to the fire, and pretty soon
+Jack Rabbit began to tell
+
+HOW THE REST OF THE RABBITS LOST THEIR TAILS
+
+"Well," he said, "my twenty-seventh great-grandfather Hare didn't go out
+again for several days. He put up a sign that said 'Not at Home,' on his
+door, and then tried a few experiments, to see what could be done.
+
+[Illustration: TRIED TO SPLICE HIS PROPERTY BACK IN PLACE]
+
+"He first tried to splice his property back into place, as Mr. Tortoise
+had told him he might, but that plan didn't work worth a cent. He never
+could get it spliced on straight, and if he did get it about right, it
+would lop over or sag down or something as soon as he moved, and when he
+looked at himself in the glass he made up his mind that he'd rather do
+without his nice plumy brush altogether than to go out into society with
+it in that condition.
+
+"So he gave it up and put on some nice all-healing ointment, and before
+long what there was left of it was all well, and a nice bunch of soft,
+white cottony fur had grown out over the scar, and Grandpaw Hare thought
+when he looked at himself in the glass that it was really quite
+becoming, though he knew the rest of his family would always be saying
+things about it, and besides they would laugh at him for letting Mr.
+Tortoise beat him in a foot-race.
+
+[Illustration: GRANDFATHER WOULD LIGHT HIS PIPE AND THINK IT OVER]
+
+"Sometimes, when there was nobody around, my grandfather would go out
+into the sun and light his pipe and lean up against a big stone, or
+maybe a stump, and think it over.
+
+"And one morning, as he sat there thinking, he made up his mind what he
+would do. Mr. Lion lived in the Big Deep Woods in those days, and he was
+King. Whenever anything happened among the Deep Woods People that they
+couldn't decide for themselves, they went to where King Lion lived, in a
+house all by himself over by the Big West Hills, and he used to settle
+the question; and sometimes, when somebody that wasn't very old, and
+maybe was plump and tender, had done something that wasn't just right,
+King Lion would look at him and growl and say it was too bad for any one
+so young to do such things, and especially for them to grow up and keep
+on doing them; so he would have him for breakfast, or maybe for dinner,
+and that would settle everything in the easiest and shortest way.
+
+"Of course Grandfather Hare knew very well that Mr. Tortoise and Mr. Fox
+wouldn't go with him to King Lion, for they would be afraid to, after
+what they had done, so he made up his mind to go alone and tell him the
+whole story, because he was as sure as anything that King Lion would
+decide that he had really won the race, and would be his friend, which
+would make all the other Deep Woods People jealous and proud of him
+again, and perhaps make them wish they had nice bunches of white cottony
+fur in the place of long dragging tails that were always in the way.
+
+"And then some day he would show King Lion where Mr. Fox and Mr.
+Tortoise lived.
+
+[Illustration: SET UP HIS EARS AND WENT BY, LICKETY-SPLIT]
+
+"My Grandfather Hare didn't stop a minute after he thought of that, but
+just set out for King Lion's house over at the foot of the Big West
+Hills. He had to pass by Mr. Fox's house, and Mr. Fox called to him, but
+Grandpaw Hare just set up his ears as proud as could be and went by,
+lickety-split, without looking at Mr. Fox at all.
+
+"It was a good way to King Lion's house, but Grandpaw Hare didn't waste
+any time, and he was there almost before he knew it.
+
+"When he got to King Lion's door he hammered on the knocker, and when
+nobody came right away he thought maybe the King was out for a walk. But
+that wasn't so. King Lion had been sick for two or three days, and he
+was still in bed, and had to get up and get something around him before
+he could let Grandpaw in.
+
+"Grandpaw Hare had sat down on the steps to wait, when all at once the
+door opened behind him and he felt something grab him by the collar and
+swing him in and set him down hard on a seat, and then he saw it was
+King Lion, and he didn't much like his looks.
+
+[Illustration: "'GLAD TO SEE YOU,' SAID KING LION; 'I WAS JUST THINKING
+ABOUT HAVING A NICE RABBIT FOR BREAKFAST'"]
+
+"'So it was you, was it, making that noise,' he said. 'Well, I'm glad to
+see you, for I was just thinking about having a nice rabbit for
+breakfast.'
+
+"Then my twenty-seventh great-grandfather knew he'd made a mistake,
+coming to see King Lion when he was feeling that way, and he had to
+think pretty quick to know what to say. But our family have always been
+pretty quick in their thoughts, and Grandpaw Hare spoke right up as
+polite as could be, and said he would do anything he could to find a
+nice young plump rabbit for King Lion, and that he would even be proud
+to be a king's breakfast himself, only he wasn't so very young nor so
+very plump, and, besides, there was that old prophecy about the king and
+the cotton-tailed rabbit, which of course, he said, King Lion must have
+heard about.
+
+"Then King Lion said that my twenty-seventh great-grandfather was plenty
+young enough and plenty plump enough, and that he'd never heard of any
+prophecy about a cotton-tailed rabbit, and that he'd never heard of a
+cotton-tailed rabbit, either.
+
+"Then Grandpaw Hare just got up and turned around, and as he turned he
+said, as solemnly as he could:
+
+  "'When the King eats a hare with a cotton tail,
+  Then the King's good health will fail.
+
+"Well, that scared the King a good deal, for he was just getting over
+one sick spell, and he was afraid if he had another right away he'd die
+sure. He sat down and asked Grandpaw Hare to tell him how he came to
+have a tail like that, and grandpaw told him, and it made the King laugh
+and laugh, until he got well, and he said it was the best joke he ever
+heard of, and that he'd have given some of the best ornaments off of his
+crown to have seen that race.
+
+"And the better King Lion felt the hungrier he got, and when my
+Grandfather Hare asked him if he wouldn't decide the race in his favor,
+he just glared at him and said if he didn't get out of there and hunt
+him up a nice, young, plump, long-tailed rabbit, he'd eat him--cotton
+tail, prophecy, and all--for he didn't go much on prophecies anyway.
+
+"Then Grandpaw Hare got right up and said, 'Good-day' and backed out and
+made tracks for the rest of his family, and told them that King Lion had
+just got up from a sick spell that had given him an appetite for
+long-tailed rabbits. He said that the King had sent him out to get one,
+and that King Lion would most likely be along himself pretty soon. He
+said the sooner the Rabbit family took pattern after the new
+cotton-tailed style the more apt they'd be to live to a green old age
+and have descendants.
+
+"Well, that was a busy day in the Big Deep Woods. The Rabbit family got
+in line by a big smooth stump that they picked out for the purpose, and
+grandpaw attended to the job for them, and called out 'Next!' as they
+marched by. He didn't have to wait, either, for they didn't know what
+minute King Lion might come. Mr. Tortoise and Mr. Fox came along and
+stopped to see the job, and helped grandpaw now and then when his arm
+got tired, and by evening there was a pile of tails by that stump as big
+as King Lion's house, and there never was such a call for the
+all-healing ointment as there was that night in the Big Deep Woods.
+
+"And none of our family ever did have tails after that, for they never
+would grow any more, and all the little new rabbits just had bunches of
+cotton, too, and that has never changed to this day.
+
+"And when King Lion heard how he'd been fooled by Grandpaw Hare with
+that foolish prophecy that he just made up right there, out of his head,
+he knew that everybody would laugh at him as much as he had laughed at
+Mr. Hare, and he moved out of the country and never came back, and
+there's never been a king in the Big Deep Woods since, so my
+twenty-seventh great-grandfather did some good, after all.
+
+"And that," said Mr. Rabbit, "is the whole story of the Hare and the
+Tortoise and how the Rabbit family lost their tails. It's never been
+told outside of our family before, but it's true, for it's been handed
+down, word for word, and if Mr. Fox or Mr. Tortoise were alive now they
+would say so."
+
+Mr. Rabbit filled his pipe and lit it, and Mr. Crow was just about to
+make some remarks, when Mr. Turtle cleared his throat and said:
+
+"The story that Mr. Rabbit has been telling is all true, every word of
+it-- I was there."
+
+Then all the Deep Woods People took their pipes out of their mouths and
+just looked at Mr. Turtle with their mouths wide open, and when they
+could say anything at all, they said:
+
+"_You were there!_"
+
+You see, they could never get used to the notion of Mr. Turtle's being
+so old--as old as their twenty-seventh great-grandfathers would have
+been, if they had lived.
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Turtle, "and it all comes back to me as plain as day. It
+happened two hundred and fifty-eight years ago last June. They used to
+call us the Tortoise family then, and I was a young fellow of
+sixty-seven and fond of a joke. But I was surprised when I went sailing
+over that fence, and I didn't mean to carry off Mr. Hare's tail. Dear
+me, how time passes! I'm three hundred and twenty-five now, though I
+don't feel it."
+
+Then they all looked at Mr. Turtle again, for though they believed he
+was old, and might possibly have been there, they thought it pretty
+strange that he could be the very Mr. Tortoise who had won the race.
+
+Mr. 'Possum said, pretty soon, that when anybody said a thing like that,
+there ought to be some way to prove it.
+
+Then Mr. Turtle got up and began taking off his coat, and all the others
+began to get out of the way, for they didn't know what was going to
+happen to Mr. 'Possum, and they wanted to be safe; and Mr. 'Possum
+rolled under the table, and said that he didn't mean anything--that he
+loved Mr. Turtle, and that Mr. Turtle hadn't understood the way he meant
+it at all.
+
+But Mr. Turtle wasn't the least bit mad. He just laid off his coat,
+quietly, and unbuttoned his shirt collar, and told Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
+Crow to look on the back of his shell.
+
+And then Mr. Dog held a candle, and they all looked, one after another,
+and there, sure enough, carved right in Mr. Turtle's shell, were the
+words:
+
+BEAT MR. HARE
+
+FOOT-RACE
+
+JUNE 10, 1649
+
+"That," said Mr. Turtle, "was my greatest joke, and I had it carved on
+my shell."
+
+And all the rest of the forest people said that a thing like that was
+worth carving on anybody's shell that had one, and when Mr. Turtle put
+on his coat they gave him the best seat by the fire, and sat and looked
+at him and asked questions about it, and finally all went to sleep in
+their chairs, while the fire burned low and the soft snow was banking up
+deeper and deeper, outside, in the dark.
+
+
+
+
+THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB
+
+
+
+
+THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB
+
+MR. RABBIT PROPOSES SOMETHING TO PASS THE TIME
+
+
+"Did the Hollow Tree People and their company sleep in their chairs all
+night?" asks the Little Lady, as soon as she has finished her supper.
+"And were they snowed in when they woke up next morning?"
+
+The Story Teller is not quite ready to answer. He has to fill his pipe
+first, and puff a little and look into the fire before he sits down, and
+the Little Lady climbs into her place. The Little Lady knows the Story
+Teller, and waits. When he begins to rock a little she knows he has
+remembered, and then pretty soon he tells her about the Snowed-In
+Literary Club.
+
+Well, the Hollow Tree People went to sleep there by the fire and they
+stayed asleep a long while, for they were tired with all the good times
+and all the good things to eat they had been having. And when they woke
+up once, they thought it was still night, for it was dark, though they
+thought it must be about morning, because the fire was nearly out, and
+Mr. 'Possum said if there was anybody who wasn't too stiff he wished
+they'd put on a stick of wood, as he was frozen so hard that he knew if
+he tried to move he'd break.
+
+So Mr. Turtle, who had been drawn up mostly into his shell, and Mr. Dog,
+who was used to getting up at all hours of the night, stretched and
+yawned and crept down after some sticks and dry pieces and built up a
+good fire, and pretty soon they were all asleep again, as sound as ever.
+
+And when they woke up next time it was still just as dark, and the fire
+had gone almost out again, and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. Crow, too, said they
+didn't understand it, at all, for a fire like that would generally keep
+all night and all day too, and here two fires had burned out and it was
+still as dark as ever. Then Mr. Crow lit a splinter and looked at the
+clock, and said he must have forgotten to wind it, or maybe it was
+because it was so cold, as it had stopped a little after twelve, and Mr.
+'Possum said that from the way he felt it was no wonder the clock had
+stopped, for if he could tell anything by his feelings it must be at
+least day after to-morrow. He said he felt so empty that every time he
+breathed he could hear the wind whistle through his ribs.
+
+That made Mr. Rabbit think of something, and he stepped over to the
+window. Then he pushed it up a little, and put out his hand. But he
+didn't put it out far, for it went right into something soft and cold.
+Mr. Rabbit came over to where Mr. Crow was poking up the fire, bringing
+some of the stuff with him.
+
+"Now," he said, "you can all see what's the matter. We're snowed in. The
+snow is up over the window, and that's why it's so dark. It may be up
+over the top of the tree, and we may have been asleep here for a week,
+for all we know."
+
+Then they all gathered around to look at the snow, and went to the
+window and got some more, and tried to tell whether it was day or night,
+and Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum ran up-stairs to their rooms,
+and called back that it was day, for the snow hadn't come quite up to
+the tops of their windows.
+
+And it _was_ day, sure enough, and quite late in the afternoon at that,
+but they couldn't tell just what day it was, or whether they had slept
+one night, or two nights, or even longer.
+
+Well, of course the first thing was to get something to eat and a big
+fire going, and even Mr. 'Possum scrambled around and helped carry
+wood, so he could get warm quicker. They still had a good deal to eat in
+the Hollow Tree, and they were not much worried. Mr. 'Possum and Mr.
+'Coon remembered another time they were snowed in, when Mr. Crow had fed
+them on Johnnie cake and gravy, and they thought that if everything else
+gave out it would be great fun to live like that again.
+
+When they had finished eating breakfast, or dinner, or whatever it was,
+for it was nearer supper-time than anything else, they began to think of
+things to do to amuse themselves, and they first thought they'd have
+some more stories, like Mr. Rabbit's.
+
+But Mr. Rabbit, who is quite literary, and a good poet, said it would be
+better to make it a kind of a club, and each have a poem, or a story, or
+a song; or if anybody couldn't do any of those he must dance a jig.
+
+[Illustration: GOT AROUND THE TABLE AND BEGAN TO WORK]
+
+Then they all remembered a poetry club that Mr. Rabbit had got up once
+and how nice it was, and they all said that was just the thing, and they
+got around the table and began to work away at whatever they were going
+to do for the "Snowed-In" Literary Club.
+
+Mr. Rabbit wasn't very long at his piece, and pretty soon he jumped up
+and said he was through, and Mr. 'Possum said that if that was so, he
+might go down and bring up some wood and warm up the brains of the rest
+of them. So Mr. Rabbit stirred up the fire, and sat down and looked
+into it, and read over his poem to himself and changed a word here and
+there, and thought how nice it was; and by-and-by Mr. Dog said he was
+through, and Mr. Robin said he was through, too.
+
+Then Mr. Rabbit said he thought that would be more than enough for one
+evening anyway, and that the others might finish their pieces to-morrow
+and have them ready for the next evening.
+
+So then they all gathered around the fire again, and everybody said that
+as Mr. Rabbit had thought of the club first he must be the first to read
+his piece.
+
+Mr. Rabbit said he was sure it would be more modest for some one else to
+read first, but that he was willing to start things going if they wanted
+him to. Then he stood up, and turned a little to the light, and took a
+nice position, and read his poem, which was called
+
+SNOWED IN
+
+_By J. Rabbit_
+
+  Oh, the snow lies white in the woods to-night--
+    The snow lies soft and deep;
+  And under the snow, I know, oh, ho!
+    The flowers of the summer sleep.
+  The flowers of the summer sleep, I know,
+    Snowed in like you and me--
+  Under the sheltering leaves, oh, ho,
+    As snug and as warm as we--
+  As snug and as warm from the winter storm
+    As we of the Hollow Tree.
+  Snowed in are we in the Hollow Tree,
+  And as snug and as warm as they we be--
+    Snowed in, snowed in,
+  Are we, are we,
+  And as snug as can be in the Hollow Tree,
+    The wonderful Hollow Tree.
+
+  Oh, the snow lies cold on wood and wold,
+    But never a bit comes in,
+  As we smoke and eat, and warm our feet,
+    And sit by the fire and spin:
+  And what care we for the winter gales,
+    And what care we for the snow--
+  As we sit by the fire and spin our tales
+    And think of the things we know?
+  As we spin our tales in the winter gales
+    And wait for the snow to go?
+  Oh, the winds blow high and the winds blow low,
+  But what care we for the wind and snow,
+  Spinning our tales of the long ago
+    As snug as snug can be?
+  For never a bit comes in, comes in,
+  As we sit by the fire and spin, and spin
+  The tales we know, of the long ago,
+    In the wonderful Hollow Tree.
+
+Mr. Rabbit sat down then, and of course everybody spoke up as soon as
+they could get their breath and said how nice it was, and how Mr. Rabbit
+always expressed himself better in poetry than anybody else could in
+prose, and how the words and rhymes just seemed to flow along as if he
+were reeling it off of a spinning-wheel and could keep it up all day.
+
+And Mr. Rabbit smiled and said he supposed it came natural, and that
+sometimes it was harder to stop than it was to start, and that he
+_could_ keep it up all day as easy as not.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum said he'd been afraid that was what _would_ happen, and
+that if Mr. Rabbit hadn't stopped pretty soon that he--Mr. 'Possum, of
+course--would have been so tangled up in his mind that somebody would
+have had to come and undo the knot.
+
+[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM WANTED TO KNOW WHAT MR. RABBIT MEANT BY
+SPINNING THEIR TAILS]
+
+Then he said he wanted to ask some questions. He said he wanted to know
+what "wold" meant, and also what Mr. Rabbit meant by spinning their
+tails. He said he hadn't noticed that any of them were spinning their
+tails, and that he couldn't do it if he tried. He said that he could
+curl his tail and hang from a limb or a peg by it, and he had found it a
+good way to go to sleep when things were on his mind, and that he
+generally had better dreams when he slept that way.
+
+He said that of course Mr. Rabbit's poem had been about tails of the
+long ago, and he supposed that he meant the ones which his family had
+lost about three hundred years ago, according to Mr. Turtle, but that he
+didn't believe they ever could spin them much, or that Mr. Rabbit could
+spin what he had left.
+
+Mr. 'Possum was going on to say a good deal more on the subject, but Mr.
+Rabbit interrupted him.
+
+He said he didn't suppose there was anybody else in the world whose food
+seemed to do him so little good as Mr. 'Possum's, and that very likely
+it was owing to the habit he had of sleeping with his head hanging down
+in that foolish way. He said he had never heard of anybody who ate so
+much and knew so little.
+
+Of course, he said, everybody might not know what "wold" meant, as it
+wasn't used much except by poets who used the best words, but that it
+meant some kind of a field, and it was better for winter use, as it
+rhymed with cold and was nearly always used that way. As for Mr.
+'Possum's other remark, he said he couldn't imagine how anybody would
+suppose that the tales he meant were those other tails which were made
+to wave or wag or flirt or hang from limbs by, instead of being stories
+to be told or written, just as the Deep Woods People were telling and
+writing them now. He said there was an old expression about having a
+peg to hang a tale on, and that it was most likely gotten up by one of
+Mr. 'Possum's ancestors or somebody who knew as little about such things
+as Mr. 'Possum, and that another old expression which said "Thereby
+hangs a tale" was just like it, because the kind of tales he meant
+didn't hang, but were always told or written, while the other kind
+always did hang, and were never told or written, but were only sometimes
+told or written about, and it made him feel sad, he said, to have to
+explain his poem in that simple way.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum said that he was sorry Mr. Rabbit felt that way,
+because he didn't feel at all that way himself, and had only been trying
+to discuss Mr. Rabbit's nice poem. He said that of course Mr. Rabbit
+couldn't be expected to know much about tails, never having had a real
+one himself, and would be likely to get mixed up when he tried to write
+on the subject. He said he wouldn't mention such things again, and that
+he was sorry and hoped that Mr. Rabbit would forgive him.
+
+And Mr. Rabbit said that he was sorry, too--sorry for Mr. 'Possum--and
+that he thought whoever was ready had better read the next piece.
+
+[Illustration: MR. DOG SAID HE HAD MADE A FEW SKETCHES]
+
+Then Mr. Dog said that he supposed that he was as ready as he'd ever be,
+and that he'd like to read his and get it off his mind, so he wouldn't
+be so nervous and could enjoy listening to the others. He wasn't used to
+such things, he said, and couldn't be original like Mr. Rabbit, but he
+knew a story that was told among the fowls in Mr. Man's barnyard, and
+that he had tried to write it in a simple way that even Mr. 'Possum
+would understand. His story was about a duck--a young and foolish
+duck--who got into trouble, and Mr. Dog said he had made a few sketches
+to go with it, and that they could be handed around while he was
+reading. Now he would begin, he said, and the name of his story was
+
+ERASTUS, THE ROBBER DUCK
+
+_By Mr. Dog, with Sketches_
+
+Once upon a time there was a foolish young duck named Erastus (called
+'Rastus, for short). He was an only child, and lived with his mother in
+a small house on the bank of a pond at the foot of the farm-yard.
+
+Erastus thought himself a brave duck; he would chase his shadow, and was
+not afraid of quite a large worm.
+
+As he grew older he did not tell his mother everything. Once he slipped
+away, and went swimming alone. Then a worm larger than any he had ever
+seen came up out of the water, and would have swallowed Erastus if he
+had not reached the shore just in time, and gone screaming to his
+mother.
+
+His mother said the great worm was a water-snake, and she told Erastus
+snake-stories which gave him bad dreams.
+
+Erastus grew quite fast, and soon thought he was nearly grown up. Once
+he tried to smoke with some other young ducks behind the barn. It made
+Erastus sick, and his mother found it out. She gave Erastus some
+unpleasant medicine, and made him stay in bed a week.
+
+Erastus decided that he would run away. While his mother was taking her
+morning bath he packed his things in a little valise she had given him
+for Christmas. Then he slipped out the back door and made for the woods
+as fast as he could go. He had made up his mind to be a robber, and make
+a great deal of money by taking it away from other people.
+
+He had begun by taking a small toy pistol which belonged to Mr. Man's
+little boy. He wore it at his side. His mother had read to him about
+robbers. Erastus also had on his nice new coat and pretty vest.
+
+He did not rob anybody that day. There was nothing in the woods but
+trees and vines. Erastus tripped over the vines and hurt himself, and
+lost the toy pistol.
+
+Then it came night, and he was very lonesome. For the first time in his
+life Erastus missed his mother. There was a nice full moon, but Erastus
+did not care for it. Some of the black shadows about him looked as if
+they might be live things. By-and-by he heard a noise near him.
+
+Erastus the Robber Duck started to run; but he was lost, and did not
+know which way to go. All at once he was face to face with some large
+animal. It wore a long cape and a mask. It also carried a real pistol
+which it pointed at Erastus and told him to hold up his wings. Erastus
+the Robber Duck held up his wings as high as possible, and tried to get
+them higher. It did not seem to Erastus that he could hold them up high
+enough. His mother had read to him about robbers.
+
+Then the robber took all the things that Erastus had in his pockets. He
+took his new knife and his little watch; also the nice bag which his
+mother had given him for Christmas.
+
+Erastus kept his wings up a good while after the robber had gone. He was
+afraid the robber had not gone far enough. When he put them down they
+were cramped and sore. Then he heard something again, and thought it was
+the robber coming back after his clothes.
+
+Erastus fled with great speed, taking off his garments as he ran. At
+last he reached the edge of the wood, not far from where he lived. It
+was just morning, and his mother saw him coming. She looked sad, and
+embraced him.
+
+It was the first time Erastus had been out all night.
+
+Erastus was not allowed to go swimming or even to leave the yard for a
+long time. Whenever he remembered that night in the woods he shivered,
+and his mother thought he had a chill. Then she would put him to bed
+and give him some of the unpleasant medicine.
+
+Erastus did not tell his mother _all_ that had happened that night for a
+good while. He was ashamed to do so. But one day when he seemed quite
+sick and his mother was frightened, he broke down and told her all about
+it. Then his mother forgave him, and he got well right away.
+
+After that Erastus behaved, and grew to be the best and largest duck in
+Mr. Man's farm-yard.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+While Mr. Dog had been reading his story the Hollow Tree People--the
+'Coon and the 'Possum and the Old Black Crow--had been leaning forward
+and almost holding their breath, and Mr. Dog felt a good deal flattered
+when he noticed how interested they were. When he sat down he saw that
+Mr. 'Possum's mouth was open and his tongue fairly hanging out with
+being so excited.
+
+[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM SAID IT MIGHT BE A GOOD ENOUGH STORY, BUT IT
+COULDN'T BE TRUE]
+
+Then before any of the others could say a word, Mr. 'Possum said that it
+might be a good enough story, but that it couldn't be true. He said that
+he wasn't a judge of stories, but that he was a judge of ducks--young
+ducks, or old either--and that no young duck could pass the night in the
+Big Deep Woods and get home at sunrise or any other time, unless all the
+other animals were snowed in or locked up in a menagerie, and that the
+animal that had met Erastus might have robbed him, of course, but he
+would have eaten him first, and then carried off what was left, unless,
+of course, that robber was a rabbit, and he said that he didn't believe
+any rabbit would have spunk enough to be in that business.
+
+Mr. Rabbit was about to say something just then, but Mr. Crow and Mr.
+'Coon both interrupted and said they thought Mr. 'Possum was right for
+once, except about Mr. Rabbit, who was plenty brave enough, but too much
+of a gentleman to be out robbing people at night when he could be at
+home in bed asleep. Then Mr. Dog said:
+
+"I don't know whether the story is true or not. I wrote it down as I
+heard it among Mr. Man's fowls, and I know the duck that they still call
+Erastus, and he's the finest, fattest--"
+
+But Mr. Dog didn't get any further. For the Hollow Tree People broke in
+and said, all together:
+
+"Oh, take us to see him, Mr. Dog! Or perhaps you could bring him to see
+us. Invite him to spend an evening with us in the Hollow Tree. Tell him
+we will have him for dinner and invite our friends. Oh, do, Mr. Dog!"
+
+But Mr. Dog knew what they meant by having him for dinner, and he said
+he guessed Mr. Man would not be willing to have Erastus go out on an
+invitation like that, and that if Erastus came, Mr. Man might take a
+notion to visit the Hollow Tree himself. Then the Hollow Tree People
+all said, "Oh, never mind about Erastus! He's probably old and
+disagreeable anyway. We don't think we would care for him. But it was a
+nice story--very nice, indeed."
+
+And pretty soon Mr. Dog said he'd been thinking about the robber animal,
+too, and had made up his mind that it might have been one of Mr. Cat's
+family--for Mr. Man's little boy and girl had a book with a nice poem in
+it about a robber cat, and a robber dog, too, though he didn't think
+that the dog could have been any of _his_ family. Mr. Cat, he said,
+would not be likely to care for Erastus, feathers and all, that way, and
+no doubt it really was Mr. Cat who robbed him. Mr. Dog said that he had
+once heard of a Mr. Cat who wanted to be king--perhaps after Mr. Lion
+had gone out of the king business, and that there was an old poem about
+it that Mr. Dog's mother used to sing to him, but he didn't think it had
+ever been put into a book. He said there were a good many things in it
+he didn't suppose the Hollow Tree People would understand because it was
+about a different kind of a country--where his mother had been born--but
+that if they really would like to hear it he would try to remember it
+for them, as it would be something different from anything they had been
+used to. Then the Hollow Tree People and their friends all said how glad
+they would be to hear it, for they always liked to hear about new
+things and new parts of the country; so Mr. Dog said that if some of the
+others would read or sing or dance their jigs first, perhaps it would
+come to him and he would sing it for them by and by.
+
+Then Mr. Robin spoke up and said that he thought Mr. Dog's story had a
+good moral in it, and he said that _his_ story (Mr. Robin's, of course)
+was that kind of a story, too. Perhaps he'd better tell it now, he said,
+while their minds were running that way, though as for Mr. 'Possum's
+mind it seemed to be more on how good Erastus might be cooked than how
+good he had become in his behavior. He was sorry, he said, that his
+story didn't have any ducks in it, young or old, but that perhaps Mr.
+'Possum and the others would be willing to wait for the nice pair of
+cooked ones now hanging in Mr. Crow's pantry, to be served at the end of
+the literary exercises.
+
+But Mr. 'Possum said "No," he wasn't willing to wait any longer--that
+Mr. Dog's story and the mention of those nice cooked fowls was more than
+he could bear, and that if it was all the same to Mr. Robin and the
+others he voted to have supper first, and then he'd be better able to
+stand a strictly moral story on a full stomach.
+
+Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon said that was a good idea, and Mr. Rabbit said he
+thought they'd better postpone Mr. Robin's story until the next evening,
+as Mr. 'Possum had taken up so much time with his arguments that he
+must be hungrier than usual, and if he put in as much more time eating,
+it would be morning before they were ready to go on with the literary
+programme.
+
+Then they all looked at the clock and saw that it really was getting
+late, though that was the only way they could tell, for the snow covered
+all the windows and made no difference between day and night in the
+Hollow Tree.
+
+
+
+
+THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB--Part II
+
+
+
+
+THE "SNOWED-IN" LITERARY CLUB
+
+PART II
+
+MR. RABBIT STARTS SOME NEW AMUSEMENTS
+
+
+It was still dark in the Hollow Tree when the Deep Woods People woke up
+next morning, but they knew what was the matter now, and could tell by
+the clock and the fire that it was day outside, even before Mr. 'Possum
+ran up to his room and looked out the window and came back shivering,
+because he said the snow was blowing and drifting and some had drifted
+in around his windows and made his room as cold as all outdoors. He said
+he was willing to stay by the fire while this spell lasted, and take
+such exercise as he needed by moving his chair around to the table when
+he wanted to eat.
+
+Mr. 'Coon said that Mr. 'Possum might exercise himself on a little wood
+for the cook-stove in Mr. Crow's kitchen if he wanted any breakfast,
+and that if this spell kept up long enough, they wouldn't have anything
+left but exercise to keep them alive.
+
+So Mr. 'Possum went down-stairs after an armful of stove-wood, and he
+stayed a good while, though they didn't notice it at the time. Then they
+all helped with the breakfast, and after breakfast they pushed back all
+the things and played Blind Man's Buff, for Mr. Rabbit said that even if
+moving his chair from the fire to the table and back again was enough
+exercise for Mr. 'Possum, it wasn't enough for _him_, and the others
+said so, too.
+
+[Illustration: SO THEN MR. RABBIT SAID THEY MUST CHOOSE WHO WOULD BE
+"IT"]
+
+So then Mr. Rabbit said they must choose who would be It first, and they
+all stood in a row and Mr. Rabbit said:
+
+  "Hi, ho, hickory dee
+  One for you and one for me;
+  One for the ones you try to find,
+  And one for the one that wears the blind,"
+
+which was a rigmarole Mr. Rabbit had made up himself to use in games
+where somebody had to be "It," and Mr. Rabbit said it around and around
+the circle on the different ones--one word for each one--until he came
+to the word blind and that was Mr. 'Possum, who had to put on the
+handkerchief and do more exercising than any of them, until he caught
+Mr. Turtle, who had to be "It" quite often, because he couldn't get
+out of the way as well as the others.
+
+[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM HAD TO PUT ON THE HANDKERCHIEF AND DO MORE
+EXERCISING THAN ANY OF THEM]
+
+And Mr. 'Possum was "It" a good deal, too, and Mr. 'Coon, and all the
+rest, though Mr. Robin was "It" less than anybody, because he was so
+little and spry that he could get out of the way.
+
+Then when they were tired of "Blind Man's Bluff" they played "Pussy
+Wants a Corner" and "Forfeits," and Mr. 'Possum had to make a speech to
+redeem his forfeit, and he began:
+
+"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN" (though there were no ladies present)--"I am
+pleased to see you all here this evening" (though it wasn't evening)
+"looking so well dressed and well fed. It is better to be well fed than
+well dressed. It is better to be well dressed than not dressed at all.
+It is better to be not dressed at all than not fed at all. Ladies and
+gentlemen, I thank you for your kind attention and applause"--though
+they hadn't applauded yet, but they did, right away, and said it was a
+good speech, and Mr. Crow said it reminded him that it was about
+dinner-time, and that he would need some more wood.
+
+So Mr. 'Possum got right up to get the stove-wood again, which everybody
+thought was very good of Mr. 'Possum, who wasn't usually so spry and
+willing.
+
+Then in the afternoon they had games again, but nice quiet games, for
+they were all glad to sit down, and they played "Button! Button! Who's
+Got the Button?" and nobody could tell when Mr. 'Possum had the button,
+for his face didn't show it, because he was nearly always looking
+straight into the fire, and seemed to be thinking about something away
+off. And when the fire got low, he always jumped up and offered to go
+down into the store-room after the wood, and they all said how willing
+and spry Mr. 'Possum was getting all at once, and when he stayed a good
+while down-stairs they didn't think anything about it--not at the
+time--or if they did they only thought he was picking out the best
+pieces to burn. They played "Drop the Handkerchief", too, and when they
+got through Mr. Rabbit performed some tricks with the handkerchief and
+the button that made even Mr. 'Possum pay attention because they were so
+wonderful.
+
+There was one trick especially that Mr. Rabbit did a great many times
+because they liked it so much, and were so anxious to guess how it was
+done. Mr. Rabbit told them it was a trick that had come down to him from
+his thirty-second great-grandfather, and must never be told to any one.
+
+[Illustration: WOULD FIND IT ON THE MANTEL-SHELF OR PERHAPS ON MR.
+CROW'S BALD HEAD]
+
+It was a trick where he laid the button in the centre of the
+handkerchief and then folded the corners down on it, and pressed them
+down each time so that they could see that the button was still there,
+and he would let them press on it, too, to prove it, and then when he
+would lift up the handkerchief by the two corners nearest him there
+would be no button at all, and he would find it on the mantel-shelf or
+perhaps on Mr. Crow's bald head, or in Mr. 'Possum's pocket, or some
+place like that. But one time, when Mr. Rabbit had done it over and
+over, and maybe had grown a little careless, he lifted the handkerchief
+by the corners nearest him, and there was the button sticking fast,
+right in the centre of the handkerchief, for it had a little beeswax on
+it, to make it stick to one of the corners next to Mr. Rabbit, and by
+some mistake Mr. Rabbit had turned the button upside down!
+
+Then they all laughed, and all began to try it for themselves, and Mr.
+Rabbit laughed too, though perhaps he didn't feel much like it, and told
+them that they had learned one of the greatest secrets in his family,
+and that he would now tell them the adage that went with it if they
+would promise never to tell either the secret or the adage, and they all
+promised, and Mr. Rabbit told them the adage, which was:
+
+  "When beeswax grows on the button-tree,
+  No one knows what the weather'll be."
+
+"That," said Mr. Rabbit, "is a very old adage. I don't know what it
+means exactly, but I'm sure it means something, because old adages
+always do mean something, though often nobody can find out just what
+it is, and the less they seem to mean the better they are, as adages.
+There are a great many old adages in our family, and they have often got
+my ancestors out of trouble. When we didn't have an old one to fit the
+trouble we made a new one, and by-and-by it got old too, and useful in
+different ways, because by that time it didn't seem to mean anything
+special, and could be used almost anywhere."
+
+Then the Deep Woods People all said there was never anybody who knew so
+much and could do so many things as Mr. Jack Rabbit, and how proud they
+all were to have him in their midst, and Mr. Rabbit showed them how to
+do all the tricks he knew, and they all practised them and tried them on
+each other until Mr. Crow said he must look after the supper, and Mr.
+'Possum ran right off after an armful of stove-wood, and everybody
+helped with everything there was to do, for they were having such a good
+time and were so hungry.
+
+And after supper they all sat around the fire again and smoked a little
+before anybody said anything, until by-and-by Mr. Rabbit said that they
+would go on now with the literary club, and that Mr. Robin might read
+the story he had mentioned the night before.
+
+So Mr. Robin got up, and stood on a chair, and made a nice bow. He said
+it was not really his own story he had written, but one that his
+grandmother used to tell him sometimes, though he didn't think it had
+ever been put into a book.
+
+Then Mr. Rabbit spoke up and said that that didn't matter, that of
+course everybody couldn't be original, and that the story itself was the
+main thing and the way you told it. He said if Mr. Robin would go right
+on with the story now it would save time. So then they all knocked the
+ashes out of their pipes--all except Mr. Robin, who began right off to
+read his story:
+
+
+
+
+THE DISCONTENTED FOX
+
+
+
+
+THE DISCONTENTED FOX
+
+MR. ROBIN TELLS HOW A FOX LEARNED A GOOD LESSON BY TAKING A LONG JOURNEY
+
+
+Once upon a time there was a Fox who lived at the foot of a hill and had
+a _nice garden_. One morning when he began to hoe in it he got tired,
+and the sun was _very hot_. Then the Fox didn't like to hoe any more,
+and made up his mind that it wasn't very pleasant to have a garden,
+anyway.
+
+So then he started out to travel and find _pleasant things_. He put on
+his best clothes, and the first house he came to belonged to a Rabbit
+who kept bees. And the Rabbit showed the Fox his bees and how to take
+out the honey. And the Fox said, "What _pleasant work_!" and wanted to
+take out honey too. But when he did there was a bee on the honey, and it
+stung the Fox on the nose. And that hurt the Fox, and his nose began to
+swell up, and he said:
+
+"This is not pleasant work _at all_!" and of course it wasn't--not for
+_him_--though the Rabbit seemed to enjoy it _more than ever_.
+
+So the Fox travelled on, and the next house he came to belonged to a
+Crow who made pies. And the Fox looked at him awhile and said, "What
+_pleasant work_!" And the Crow let the Fox help him, and when the Fox
+went to take a pie out of the oven he burnt his fingers _quite badly_.
+Then he said, "No, it is _not_ pleasant work--not for _me_!" and that
+was true, though the Crow seemed to enjoy it _more than ever_.
+
+So the Fox went on again, and the next house he came to belonged to a
+'Coon who milked cows. And the Fox watched him milk, and pretty soon he
+said: "What pleasant work that _is_! Let _me_ milk." So the 'Coon let
+the Fox milk, and the Cow put her foot in the milk-pail and upset it
+_all over_ the Fox's nice _new clothes_. And the Fox was mad, and said:
+"This work is not in the _least_ pleasant!" and he _hurried away_,
+though the 'Coon seemed to enjoy it _more than ever_.
+
+And the next house the Fox came to belonged to a Cat who played the
+fiddle. And the Fox listened awhile and said: "What pleasant work that
+_must be_!" and he borrowed the Cat's fiddle. But when he started down
+the road playing, a Man ran around the corner and shot a loud gun at
+him, and that was not pleasant, _either_, though the Cat seemed to enjoy
+it _more than ever_.
+
+So the Fox kept on travelling and _doing_ things that he thought would
+be _pleasant_, but that did not turn out to _be_ pleasant--not for
+_him_--until by-and-by he had travelled _clear around the world_ and had
+come up on the other side, _back_ to his _own garden_ again. And his
+garden was just the same as he had left it, only the things had grown
+bigger, and there were _some weeds_.
+
+And the Fox jumped over the fence and commenced to _hoe_ the _weeds_,
+and pretty soon he said, "Why, this is _pleasant_!" Then he hoed some
+more, and said, "Why, what pleasant work _this is_!"
+
+So he kept on hoeing and finding it pleasant until by-and-by the weeds
+were _all gone_, and the _Rabbit_ and the _Crow_ and the _Cat_ and the
+_'Coon_ came and traded him honey and pies and milk and music for
+vegetables, because he had the best garden in the world. And he _has
+yet_!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Mr. Robin got through and sat down, Mr. Squirrel spoke up and said
+it was a good story because it had a moral lesson in it and taught folks
+to like the things they knew best how to do, and Mr. 'Possum said yes,
+that might be so, but that the story couldn't be true, because none of
+those animals would have enjoyed seeing that Fox leave them, but would
+have persuaded him to stay and help them, and would have taught him to
+do most of the work.
+
+Then Mr. Robin spoke up and said that Mr. 'Possum thought everybody was
+like himself, and that anyway Mr. 'Possum didn't need the lesson in that
+story, for he already liked to do the things he could do best, which
+were to eat and sleep and let other people do the work, though of course
+he had been very good about getting the wood, lately, which certainly
+was unusual.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum said he didn't see why Mr. Robin should speak in that
+cross way when he had only meant to be kind and show him the mistake in
+his story, so he could fix it right. And Mr. Rabbit said that as Mr.
+'Possum seemed to know so much how stories and poems ought to be
+written, perhaps he'd show now what he could do in that line himself.
+
+Mr. 'Possum said he hadn't written anything because it was too much
+trouble, but that he would tell them a story if they would like to hear
+it--something that had really happened, because he had been there, and
+was old enough to remember.
+
+But before he began Mr. Robin said that as they had not cared much about
+his story he would like to recite a few lines he had thought of, which
+would perhaps explain how he felt, and all the animals said, "Of course,
+go right on," and Mr. Robin bowed and recited a little poem he had made,
+called
+
+ONLY ME
+
+_By C. Robin_
+
+  How came a little bird like me
+    A place in this fine group to win?
+  My mind is small--it has to be--
+    The little place I keep it in.
+  How came a little bird like me
+  To be here in the Hollow Tree?
+
+  When all the others know so much,
+    And are so strong and gifted too,
+  How can I dare to speak of such
+    As I can know, and think, and do?
+  How can a little bird like me
+  Belong here in the Hollow Tree?
+
+[Illustration: MR. POSSUM SAID HE HADN'T MEANT ANYTHING AT ALL BY WHAT
+HE HAD SAID ABOUT THE STORY]
+
+Well, when Mr. Robin finished that, all the others spoke right up and
+said that Mr. Robin must never write anything so sad as that again. They
+said his story was just as good as it could be, and that Mr. Robin was
+one of the smartest ones there; and Mr. 'Possum burst into tears, and
+said that he hadn't meant anything at all by what he had said about the
+story, and that some time, when they were all alone, Mr. Robin must
+tell it to him again, and he would try to have sense enough to
+understand it.
+
+Then he ran over to Mr. Robin, and was going to embrace him and weep on
+his shoulder, and would very likely have mashed him if Mr. Turtle hadn't
+dragged him back to his seat and told him that he had done damage enough
+to people's feelings without killing anybody, and the best thing he
+could do now would be to go on with a story of his own if he had any.
+
+But Mr. 'Possum said he was too sleepy now, so Mr. Dog sang the poem
+which he had promised the evening before because, he said, singing would
+be a nice thing to go to sleep on. Mr. Dog's song was called
+
+THE CAT WHO WOULD BE KING
+
+  There was cat who kept a store,
+      With other cats for customers.
+        His milk and mice
+        All packed in ice
+      His catnip all in canisters.
+
+[Illustration: AND SO THIS CAT GREW RICH AND FAT]
+
+  Fresh milk he furnished every day--
+      Two times a day and sometimes three--
+        And so this cat
+        Grew rich and fat
+      And proud as any cat could be.
+
+  But though so fat and rich he grew
+      He was not satisfied at all--
+        At last quoth he,
+        "A king I'll be
+      Of other cats both great and small."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  Then hied he to the tinner cat,
+      Who made for him a tinsel crown,
+        And on the street,
+        A king complete,
+      He soon went marching up and down.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  Now, many cats came out to see,
+      And some were filled with awe at him;
+        While some, alack,
+        Behind his back
+      Did laugh and point a paw at him.
+
+  Mice, milk, and catnip did he scorn;
+      He went to business less and less--
+        And everywhere
+        He wore an air
+      Of arrogance and haughtiness.
+
+[Illustration: HIS CLERKS]
+
+  His clerks ate catnip all day long--
+      They spent much time in idle play;
+        They left the mice
+        From off the ice--
+      They trusted cats who could not pay.
+
+  While happy in his tin-shop crown
+      Each day the king went marching out,
+        Elate because
+        He thought he was
+      The kind of king you read about.
+
+[Illustration: A SOLEMN LOOK WAS IN HIS FACE]
+
+  But lo, one day, he strolled too far,
+      And in a dim and dismal place
+        A cat he met,
+        Quite small, and yet
+      A solemn look was in his face.
+
+  One fiery eye this feline wore--
+      A waif he was of low degrees--
+        No gaudy dress
+        Did he possess,
+      Nor yet a handsome cat was he.
+
+  But lo, he smote that spurious king
+      And stripped him of his tinsel crown,
+        Then like the wind
+        Full close behind
+      He chased His Highness into town.
+
+  With cheers his subjects saw him come.
+      He did not pause--he did not stop,
+        But straight ahead
+        He wildly fled
+      Till he was safe within his shop.
+
+  He caught his breath and gazed about--
+      A sorry sight did he behold:
+        No catnip there
+        Or watchful care--
+      No mice and milk and joy of old.
+
+[Illustration: QUOTH HE, "MY PRIDE IS SATISFIED; THIS KINGDOM BUSINESS
+DOES NOT PAY"]
+
+  He heaved a sigh and dropped a tear--
+      He sent those idle clerks away--
+        Quoth he, "My pride
+        Is satisfied;
+      This kingdom business does not pay."
+
+  With care once more he runs his store,
+      His catnip all in canisters--
+        His milk and mice
+        All packed in ice,
+      And humbly serves his customers.
+
+
+
+
+MR. 'POSSUM'S GREAT STORY
+
+
+
+
+MR. 'POSSUM'S GREAT STORY
+
+MR. 'POSSUM TELLS THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF THE 'POSSUM FAMILY, TO THE
+SURPRISE OF HIS FRIENDS
+
+
+"Now this," said the Story Teller, "is the story that Mr. Possum told
+the Snowed-In Literary Club in the Hollow Tree. It must be a true story,
+because Mr. 'Possum said so, and, besides, anybody that knows Mr.
+'Possum would know that he could never in the world have made it up out
+of his head."
+
+The Little Lady doesn't quite like that.
+
+"But Mr. 'Possum is smart," she says. "He knows ever so much."
+
+"Oh yes, of course, and that's why he never _has_ to make up things. He
+just tells what he knows, and this time he told
+
+"HOW UNCLE SILAS AND AUNT MELISSY MOVED
+
+"You may remember," he said, "my telling you once about Uncle Silas and
+Aunt Melissy Lovejoy, who lived in a nice place just beyond the Wide
+Paw-paw Hollows, and how Uncle Silas once visited Cousin Glenwood in
+town and came home all dressed up, leading a game chicken, and with a
+bag of shinny-sticks, and a young man to wait on him; and how Aunt
+Melissy--instead of being pleased, as Uncle Silas thought she would
+be--got mad when she saw him, and made him and the young man take off
+all their nice clothes and go to work in the garden, and kept them at it
+with that bag of shinny-sticks until fall.[2]
+
+"Well, this story is about them, too. I went to live with them soon
+after that, because I lost both of my parents one night when Mr. Man was
+hunting in the Black Bottoms for something to put in a pan with some
+sweet potatoes he had raised that year, and I suppose I would have been
+used with sweet potatoes too if I hadn't come away from there pretty
+lively instead of trying our old playing-dead trick on Mr. Man and his
+friends.
+
+"I thought right away that Mr. Man might know the trick, so I didn't
+wait to try it myself, but took out for the Wide Paw-paw Hollows, to
+visit Uncle Silas Lovejoy, who was an uncle on my mother's side, and
+Aunt Melissy and my little cousins; and they all seemed glad to see me,
+especially my little cousins, until they found they had to give me some
+of their things and most of their food, because I was young and
+growing, besides being quite sad about my folks, and so, of course, had
+to eat a good deal to keep well and from taking my loss too hard.
+
+"But by-and-by Uncle Lovejoy said that he didn't believe that he and the
+hired man--who was the same one he had brought home to wait on him when
+he came from town--to be his valet, he said--though he got to be a hired
+man right after Aunt Melissy met him and got hold of the
+shinny-sticks--Aunt Melissy being a spry, stirring person who liked to
+see people busy. I remember how she used to keep me and my little
+cousins busy until sometimes I wished I had stayed with my folks and put
+up with the sweet potatoes and let Uncle Silas and his family alone."
+
+Mr. 'Possum stopped to light his pipe, and Mr. Rabbit said that he
+supposed, of course, Mr. 'Possum knew his story and how to tell it, but
+that if he ever intended to finish what Uncle Lovejoy had said about
+himself and the hired man he wished he'd get at it pretty soon.
+
+Mr. 'Possum said of course he meant to, as soon as he could get his
+breath, and think a minute. "Well, then," he said, "Uncle Silas told
+Aunt Melissy that he didn't believe he and the hired man could raise and
+catch enough for the family since I had come to stay with them, and he
+thought they had better move farther west to a place where the land was
+better and where Mr. Man's chickens were not kept up in such close,
+unhealthy places, but were allowed to roost out in the open air, on the
+fences and in the trees. He said he didn't think their house was quite
+stylish enough either, which he knew would strike Aunt Melissy, who was
+a Glenwood, and primpy, and fond of the best things.
+
+"So then we began to pack up right away, and Uncle Silas and Aunt
+Melissy quarrelled a good deal about what was worth taking and what
+wasn't, and they took turns scolding the hired man about a good many
+things he didn't do and almost all of the things he did do, and my
+little cousins and I had a fine time running through the empty rooms and
+playing with things we had never seen before, but we had to keep out of
+Aunt Melissy's reach if we wanted to enjoy it much.
+
+[Illustration: AUNT MELISSY HAD ARRANGED A BUNDLE FOR UNCLE SILAS, AND
+SHE HAD FIXED UP THE HIRED MAN TOO]
+
+"Well, by-and-by we were all packed up and ready to start. We had
+everything in bundles or tied together, and Aunt Melissy had arranged a
+big bundle for Uncle Silas to carry, and several things to tie and hang
+about on his person in different places, and she had fixed up the hired
+man too, besides some bundles for me and my little cousins.
+
+[Illustration: DIDN'T LOOK AS IF SHE BELONGED TO THE REST OF OUR CROWD]
+
+"Aunt Melissy said she would take charge of the lunch-basket and lead
+the way, and she was all dressed up and carried an umbrella, and didn't
+look much as if she belonged to the rest of our crowd.
+
+"It was pretty early when we started, for it was getting dangerous to
+camp out in that section, and we wanted to get as far as we could the
+first day, though we didn't any of us have any idea then how long a trip
+we _would_ make that day, nor of the way we were going to make it.
+Nobody could guess a guess like that, even if he was the best guesser in
+the world and made his living that way."
+
+Mr. 'Possum stopped to light his pipe again, and said that if anybody
+wanted a chance to guess how far they went that first day and how they
+travelled, they could guess now. But the Hollow Tree People said they
+didn't want to guess, and they did want Mr. 'Possum to go ahead and tell
+them about it.
+
+"Well," said Mr. 'Possum, "we travelled fifty miles that first day, and
+we travelled it in less than two hours."
+
+"Fifty miles in two hours!" said all the Hollow Tree People. And Jack
+Rabbit said:
+
+"Why, a menagerie like that couldn't travel fifty miles in two years!"
+
+"But we did, though," said Mr. 'Possum; "we travelled it in a balloon."
+
+"In a balloon!"
+
+"Well, not exactly in a balloon, but _with_ a balloon. It happened just
+as I'm going to tell you.
+
+"We went along pretty well until we got to the Wide Grass Lands, though
+Aunt Melissy scolded Uncle Silas a good deal because he got behind and
+didn't stand up in a nice stylish way with all the things he had to
+carry, and she used her umbrella once on the hired man because he
+dropped the clock.
+
+"When we got out to the Wide Grass Lands there was a high east wind
+blowing, getting ready for a storm, and when we got on top of a little
+grassy hill close to the Wide Blue Water it blew Uncle Silas and the
+hired man so they could hardly stand up, and it turned Aunt Melissy's
+umbrella wrong side out, which made her mad, and she said that it was
+Uncle Silas's fault and mine, and that she had never wanted to move
+anyway.
+
+"But just then one of my little cousins looked up in the sky and said,
+'Oh, look at that funny bird!' and we all looked up, and there was a
+great big long bag of a thing coming right toward us, not very high up,
+and Uncle Silas spoke up and said 'That's a balloon,' for Uncle Silas
+had seen one in town when he was there visiting Cousin Glenwood, and the
+hired man, too. Then while we were all standing there watching it, we
+saw that there was a long rope that hung from the balloon most to the
+ground, and that it had something tied to the end of it (a big iron
+thing with a lot of hooks on it), and that it was swooping down straight
+toward us.
+
+"Uncle Silas called out as loud as he could, 'That's the anchor! Look
+out!' but it was too late to look out, for it was coming as fast as the
+wind blew the balloon, and Uncle Silas and the hired man being loaded
+with the things couldn't move very quick, and the rest of us were too
+scared to know which way to jump, and down came that thing right among
+us, and I saw it catch among Uncle Silas's furniture and the hired
+man's, and I heard Uncle Silas say, 'Grab hold, all of you' and we all
+did, some one way and some another, and away we went.
+
+"Well, it was certainly very curious how we all were lucky enough to get
+hold of that anchor, with all our bundles and things; but of course we
+could do it better than if we had not been given those nice useful tails
+which belong to our family. I had hold that way, and some of the others
+did, too. Uncle Silas didn't need to hold on at all, for some of the
+furniture was tied to him, and he just sat back in a chair that was hung
+on behind and took it easy, though he did drop some of his things when
+he first got aboard, and Aunt Melissy scolded him for that as soon as
+she caught her breath and got over being frightened and was sitting up
+on her part of the anchor enjoying the scenery.
+
+[Illustration: THE BALLOON WENT OVER THE WIDE BLUE WATER JUST AFTER IT
+GOT OUR FAMILY]
+
+"I never had such a trip as that before, and never expect to have one
+again. The balloon went over the Wide Blue Water just after it got our
+family, and we were all afraid we would be let down in it and drowned;
+but the people who were in the balloon threw out something heavy which
+we thought at first they were throwing at us, but it must have been
+something to make the balloon go up; for we did go up until Aunt Melissy
+said if we'd just get a little nearer one of those clouds she'd step out
+on it and live there, as she'd always wanted to do since she was a
+child.
+
+"Then we all sat up and held on tight, above and below, and said what a
+nice day it was to travel, and that we'd always travel that way
+hereafter; and Uncle Silas and the hired man unhooked their furniture,
+so they could land easier when the time came, and Aunt Melissy passed
+around the lunch, and we looked down and saw the water and the land
+again and a lot of houses and trees, and Aunt Melissy said that nobody
+could ever make her believe the world was that big if she hadn't seen it
+with her own eyes.
+
+"And Uncle Silas and the hired man said that of course this was going
+pretty fast, but that they had travelled a good deal faster sometimes
+when they were in town with Cousin Glenwood, and pretty soon he showed
+us the town where Cousin Glenwood lived, and he and the hired man tried
+to point out the house to us, but they couldn't agree about which it was
+because the houses didn't look the same from up there in the air as they
+did from down on the ground.
+
+"I know I shall never forget that trip. We saw ever so many different
+Mr. Men and Mr. Dogs, and animals of every kind, and houses that had
+chimneys taller than any tree, and a good many things that even Uncle
+Silas did not know about. Then by-and-by we came to some woods
+again--the biggest kind of Big Deep Woods--and we saw that we were
+getting close to the tree-tops, and we were all afraid we would get hit
+by the branches and maybe knocked off with our things.
+
+"And pretty soon, sure enough, that anchor did drop right down among the
+trees, and such a clapping and scratching as we did get!
+
+"We shut our eyes and held on, and some of our furniture was brushed off
+of Uncle Silas and the hired man, and Aunt Melissy lost her umbrella,
+and I lost a toy chicken, which I could never find again. Then all at
+once there was a big sudden jerk that jarred Uncle Silas loose, and made
+Aunt Melissy holler that she was killed, and knocked the breath out of
+the rest of us for a few minutes.
+
+"But we were all there, and the anchor was fast on the limb of a big
+tree--a tree almost as big as the Hollow Tree, and hollow, just like it,
+with a nice handy place to go in.
+
+"So when we got our senses back we picked up all our things that we
+could find, and moved into the new place, and Aunt Melissy looked at the
+clock, which was still running, and it was just a little over two hours
+since we started.
+
+"Then pretty soon we heard Mr. Man and his friends who had been up in
+the balloon coming, and we stayed close inside till they had taken the
+anchor and everything away, and after that, when it was getting dark,
+Uncle Silas and the hired man went out and found, not very far off,
+where there were some nice chickens that roosted in handy places, and
+brought home two or three, and Aunt Melissy set up the stove and cooked
+up a good supper, and we all sat around the kitchen fire, and the storm
+that the east wind had been blowing up came along sure enough and it
+rained all night, but we were snug and dry, and went to sleep mostly in
+beds made down on the floor, and lay there listening to the rain and
+thinking what a nice journey we'd had and what a good new home we'd
+found.
+
+"And it _was_ a good place, for I lived there till I grew up, and if I'm
+not mistaken some of Uncle Silas's and Aunt Melissy's children live
+there still. I haven't heard from any of them for a long time, but I am
+thinking of going on a visit over that way in the spring, and if that
+balloon is still running I'm going to travel with it.
+
+"And that," said Mr. 'Possum, "is a true story--all true, every word,
+for I was there."
+
+Nobody said anything for a minute or two after Mr. 'Possum had finished
+his story--nobody _could_ say anything.
+
+Then Mr. Rabbit coughed a little and remarked that he was glad that Mr.
+'Possum said that the story was true, for no one would ever have
+suspected it. He said if Mr. 'Possum hadn't said it was true he would
+have thought it was one of those pleasant dreams that Mr. 'Possum had
+when he slept hanging to a peg head down.
+
+[Illustration: MR. TURTLE SAID THAT WHAT MR. 'POSSUM HAD TOLD THEM WAS
+TRUE]
+
+But Mr. Turtle, who had been sitting with his eyes shut and looking as
+if he were asleep, knocked the ashes out of his pipe, and said that what
+Mr. 'Possum had told them was true--at least, _some_ of it was true; for
+he himself had been sitting in the door of his house on the shore of the
+Wide Blue Water when the balloon passed over, and he had seen Uncle
+Silas Lovejoy's family sitting up there anchored and comfortable; and he
+had picked up a chair that Uncle Silas had dropped, and he had it in his
+house to this day, it being a good strong chair and better than any that
+was made nowadays.
+
+Well, of course after that nobody said anything about Mr. 'Possum's
+story not being true, for they remembered how old and wise Mr. Turtle
+was and could always prove things, and they all talked about it a great
+deal, and asked Mr. 'Possum a good many questions.
+
+They said how nice it was to know somebody who had had an adventure like
+that, and Mr. Rabbit changed his seat so he could be next to Mr.
+'Possum, because he said he wanted to write it all down to keep.
+
+And Mr. 'Possum said he never would forget how good those chickens
+tasted that first night in the new home, and that Mr. Rabbit mustn't
+forget to put them in.
+
+Then they all remembered that they were hungry now, and Mr. Crow and Mr.
+Squirrel and Mr. Robin hustled around to get a bite to eat before
+bedtime, and Mr. 'Possum hurried down to bring up the stove-wood, and
+was gone quite awhile, though nobody spoke of it--not then--even if they
+did wonder about it a little--and after supper they all sat around the
+fire again and smoked and dropped off to sleep while the clock ticked
+and the blaze flickered about and made queer shadows on the wall of the
+Hollow Tree.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[2] _Hollow Tree and Deep Woods Book_.
+
+
+
+
+THE BARK OF OLD HUNGRY-WOLF
+
+
+
+
+THE BARK OF OLD HUNGRY-WOLF
+
+HOW THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE HAVE A MOST UNWELCOME VISITOR, AND WHAT
+BECOMES OF HIM
+
+
+"What made Mr. 'Possum so anxious to get the wood, and what made him
+stay down-stairs so long when he went after it?" asks the Little Lady
+next evening, when the Story Teller is lighting his pipe and getting
+ready to remember the history of the Hollow Tree.
+
+"We're coming to that. You may be sure there was some reason for it, for
+Mr. 'Possum doesn't hurry after wood or stay long in a cold place if he
+can help it, unless he has something on his mind. Perhaps some of the
+Deep Woods People thought of that too, but if they did they didn't say
+anything--not at the time. I suppose they thought it didn't matter much,
+anyhow, if they got the wood."
+
+So they went right on having a good time, keeping up a nice fire, and
+eating up whatever they had; for they thought the big snow couldn't last
+as long as their wood and their things to eat, and every day they went
+up to look out of the up-stairs windows to see how much had melted, and
+every day they found it just about the same, only maybe a little
+crustier on top, and the weather stayed _very cold_.
+
+But they didn't mind it so long as they were warm and not hungry, and
+they played games, and recited their pieces, and sang, and danced, and
+said they had never had such a good time in all their lives.
+
+[Illustration: ONE DAY MR. CROW FOUND HE WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL
+OF EVERYTHING]
+
+But one day when Mr. Crow went down into the store-room for supplies he
+found that he was at the bottom of the barrel of everything they had,
+and he came up looking pretty sober, though he didn't say anything about
+it--not then, for he knew there were plenty of bones and odds and ends
+he could scrape up, and he had a little flour and some meal in his
+pantry; so he could make soup and gravy and johnny-cake and hash, which
+he did right away, and they all said how fine such things were for a
+change, and told Mr. Crow to go right on making them as long as he
+wanted to, even if the snow stayed on till spring. And Mr. 'Possum and
+Mr. 'Coon said it was like old times, and that Mr. Crow was probably the
+very best provider in the Big Deep Woods.
+
+Mr. Crow smiled, too, but he didn't feel like it much, for he knew that
+even johnny-cake and gravy wouldn't last forever, and that unless the
+snow went away pretty soon they would all be hungry and cold, for the
+wood was getting low, too.
+
+And one morning, when Mr. Crow went to his meal-sack and his flour-bag
+and his pile of odds and ends there was just barely enough for
+breakfast, and hardly that. And Mr. Crow didn't like to tell them about
+it, for he knew they all thought he could keep right on making
+johnny-cake and gravy forever, because they didn't have to stop to think
+where things came from, as he did, and he was afraid they would blame
+him when there was nothing more left.
+
+So the Old Black Crow tried to step around lively and look pleasant, to
+keep anybody from noticing, because he thought it might turn warm that
+day and melt the snow; and when breakfast was ready he put on what there
+was and said he hadn't cooked very much because he had heard that light
+breakfasts were better for people who stayed in the house a good deal,
+and as for himself, he said he guessed he wouldn't eat any breakfast
+that morning at all.
+
+Then while the others were eating he crept down-stairs and looked at the
+empty boxes and barrels and the few sticks of wood that were left, and
+he knew that if that snow didn't melt off right away they were going to
+have a _very hard time_. Then he came back up in the big living-room and
+went on up-stairs to his own room, to look out the window to see if it
+wasn't going to be a warm, melting day. But Mr. Crow came back pretty
+soon. He came back in a hurry, too, and he slammed his door and locked
+it, and then let go of everything and just slid down-stairs. Then the
+Deep Woods People jumped up quick from the table and ran to him, for
+they thought he was having a fit of some kind, and they still thought so
+when they looked into his face: for Mr. Crow's eyes were rolled up and
+his bill was pale, and when he tried to speak he couldn't. And Mr.
+Rabbit said it was because Mr. Crow had done without his breakfast, and
+he ran to get something from the table; but Mr. Crow couldn't eat, and
+then they saw that some of the feathers on top of his head were turning
+gray, and they knew he had seen some awful thing just that little moment
+he was in his room.
+
+So then they all looked at one another and wondered what it was, and
+they were glad Mr. Crow had locked the door. Then they carried him over
+to the fire, and pretty soon he got so he could whisper a little, and
+when they knew what he was saying they understood why he was so scared
+and why he had locked the door; for the words that Mr. Crow kept
+whispering over and over were: "Old Hungry-Wolf! Old Hungry-Wolf! Old
+Hungry-Wolf!"
+
+All the Deep Woods People know what that means. They know that when Old
+Hungry-Wolf comes, or even when you hear him bark, it means that there
+is no food left in the Big Deep Woods for anybody, and that nobody can
+tell how long it will be before there _will_ be food again. And all the
+Deep Woods People stood still and held their breath and listened for the
+bark of Old Hungry-Wolf, because they knew Mr. Crow had seen his face
+looking in the window. And they all thought they heard it, except Mr.
+'Possum, who said he didn't believe it was Old Hungry-Wolf at all that
+Mr. Crow had seen, but only Mr. Gray Wolf himself, who had perhaps
+slipped out and travelled over the snow to see if they were all at home
+and comfortable.
+
+But Mr. Crow said:
+
+"No, no; it was Old Hungry-Wolf! He was big and black, and I saw his
+great fiery eyes!"
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum looked very brave, and said he would see if Old
+Hungry-Wolf was looking into his window too, and he went right up, and
+soon came back and said there wasn't any big black face at his window,
+and he thought that Mr. Crow's empty stomach had made him imagine
+things.
+
+So then Mr. 'Coon said that he would go up to _his_ room if the others
+would like to come along, and they could see for themselves whether Old
+Hungry-Wolf was trying to get in or not.
+
+[Illustration: THEN MR. 'COON SLAMMED HIS DOOR]
+
+Then they all went very quietly up Mr. 'Coon's stair (all except Mr.
+'Possum, who stayed with Mr. Crow), and they opened Mr. 'Coon's door
+and took one look inside, and then Mr. 'Coon he slammed _his_ door shut,
+and locked it, and they all let go of everything and came sliding down
+in a heap, for they had seen the great fiery eyes and black face of Old
+Hungry-Wolf glaring in at Mr. 'Coon's window.
+
+So they all huddled around the fire and lit their pipes--for they still
+had some tobacco--and smoked, but didn't say anything, until by-and-by
+Mr. Crow told them that there wasn't another bite to eat in the house
+and very little wood, and that that was the reason why Old Hungry-Wolf
+had come. And they talked about it in whispers--whether they ought to
+exercise any more, because though exercise would help them to keep warm
+and save wood, it would make them hungrier. And some of them said they
+thought they would try to go to sleep like Mr. Bear, who slept all
+winter and never knew that he was hungry until spring. So they kept
+talking, and now and then they would stop and listen, and they all said
+they could hear the bark of Old Hungry-Wolf--all except Mr. 'Possum,
+which was strange, because Mr. 'Possum is fond of good things and would
+be apt to be the very first to hear Old Hungry's bark.
+
+[Illustration: Mr. 'POSSUM SAID NOT TO MOVE, THAT HE WOULD GO AFTER A
+PIECE OF WOOD]
+
+And when the fire got very low and it was getting cold, Mr. 'Possum said
+for them not to move; that he would go down after a piece of wood, and
+he would attend to the fire as long as the wood lasted, and try to
+make it last as long as possible. And every time the fire got very low
+Mr. 'Possum would bring a piece of wood, and sometimes he stayed a good
+while (just for one piece of wood), but they still didn't think much
+about it--not then. What they did think about was how hungry they were,
+and Mr. Crow said he knew he could eat as much as the old ancestor of
+his that was told about in a book which he had once borrowed from Mr.
+Man's little boy who had left it out in the yard at dinner-time.
+
+Then they all begged Mr. Crow to get the book and read it to them, and
+perhaps they could imagine they were not so hungry. So Mr. Crow brought
+the book and read them the poem about
+
+THE RAVENOUS RAVEN
+
+[Illustration: HE WOULD SMOKE IN THE SUN WHEN THE MORNINGS WERE FAIR]
+
+  Oh, there was an old raven as black as could be,
+  And a wonderful sort of a raven was he;
+  For his house he kept tidy, his yard he kept neat,
+  And he cooked the most marvellous dainties to eat.
+  He could roast, he could toast, he could bake, he could fry,
+  He could stir up a cake in the wink of an eye,
+  He could boil, he could broil, he could grill, he could stew
+  Oh, there wasn't a thing that this bird couldn't do.
+  He would smoke in the sun when the mornings were fair,
+  And his plans for new puddings and pies would prepare;
+  But, alas! like the famous Jim Crow with his shelf,
+  He was greedy, and ate all his dainties himself.
+
+[Illustration: WITH A LOOK AND A SIGH THEY WOULD STAND AND BEHOLD]
+
+  It was true he was proud of the things he could cook,
+  And would call in his neighbors sometimes for a look,
+  Or a taste, it may be, when his pastry was fine;
+  But he'd never been known to invite them to dine.
+  With a look and a sigh they could stand and behold
+  All the puddings so brown and the sauces of gold;
+  With a taste and a growl they'd reluctantly go
+  Praying vengeance to fall on that greedy old crow.
+
+[Illustration: THE TASTIEST PASTRY THAT EVER WAS KNOWN]
+
+  Now, one morning near Christmas when holly grows green,
+  And the best of good things in the markets are seen,
+  He went out for a smoke in the crisp morning air,
+  And to think of some holiday dish to prepare.
+  Mr. Rabbit had spices to sell at his store,
+  Mr. Reynard had tender young chicks by the score,
+  And the old raven thought, as he stood there alone,
+  Of the tastiest pastry that ever was known.
+
+  Then away to the market he hurried full soon,
+  Dropping in for a chat with the 'possum and 'coon
+  Just to tell them his plans, which they heard with delight,
+  And to ask them to call for a moment that night
+  For a look and a taste of his pastry so fine,
+  And he hinted he might even ask them to dine.
+  Then he hurried away, and the rest of the day
+  Messrs. 'Possum and 'Coon were expectant and gay.
+
+[Illustration: THEN TO STIR AND TO BAKE HE BEGAN RIGHT AWAY]
+
+  Oh, he hurried away and to market he went,
+  And his money for spices and poultry he spent,
+  While behind in the market were many, he knew,
+  Who would talk of the marvellous things he would do;
+  So with joy in his heart and with twinkling eye
+  He returned to his home his new project to try,
+  Then to stir and to bake he began right away,
+  And his dish was complete at the end of the day.
+
+  Aye, the marvel was done--'twas a rich golden hue,
+  And its smell was delicious--the old raven knew
+  That he never had made such a pastry before,
+  And a look of deep trouble his countenance wore;
+  "For," thought he, "I am certain the' possum and 'coon
+  That I talked with to-day will be coming here soon,
+  And expect me to ask them to dine, when, you see,
+  There is just a good feast in this dainty for me."
+
+  Now, behold, he'd scarce uttered his thoughts when he heard
+  At the casement a tapping--this greedy old bird--
+  And the latch was uplifted, and gayly strode in
+  Both the 'coon and the 'possum with faces agrin.
+  They were barbered and brushed and arrayed in their best,
+  In the holiday fashion their figures were dressed,
+  While a look in each face, to the raven at least,
+  Said, "We've come here to-night, sir, prepared for a feast."
+
+  And the raven he smiled as he said, "Howdy-do?"
+  For he'd thought of a plan to get rid of the two;
+  And quoth he, "My dear friends, I am sorry to say
+  That the wonderful pastry I mentioned to-day
+  When it came to be baked was a failure complete,
+  Disappointing to taste and disturbing to eat.
+  I am sorry, dear friends, for I thought 'twould be fine;
+  I am sorry I cannot invite you to dine."
+
+  And the 'coon and the 'possum were both sorry, too,
+  And suspicious, somewhat, for the raven they knew.
+  They declared 'twas too bad all that pudding to waste,
+  And they begged him to give them at least just a taste,
+  But he firmly refused and at last they departed,
+  While the greedy old crow for the dining-room started,
+  And the pie so delicious he piled on his plate,
+  And he ate, and he ate, and he ate, and he ate!
+
+[Illustration: THE GREEDY OLD RAVEN, BUT GREEDY NO MORE]
+
+  Well, next morn when the 'possum and 'coon passed along
+  They could see at the raven's that something was wrong,
+  For no blue curling smoke from the chimney-top came;
+  So they opened his door and they called out his name,
+  And they entered inside, and behold! on the floor
+  Was the greedy old raven, but greedy no more:
+  For his heart it was still--not a flutter was there--
+  And his toes were turned up and the table was bare;
+  Now his epitaph tells to the whole country-side
+  How he ate, and he ate, and he ate till he died.
+
+When Mr. Crow finished, Mr. Rabbit said it was certainly an interesting
+poem, and if he just had a chance now to eat till he died he'd take it,
+and Mr. 'Coon said he'd give anything to know how that pie had tasted,
+and he didn't see how any _one_ pie could be big enough to kill anybody
+that felt as hungry as _he_ did now. And Mr. 'Possum didn't say much of
+anything, but only seemed drowsy and peaceful-like, which was curious
+for _him_ as things were.
+
+Well, all that day, and the next day, and the next, there wasn't
+anything to eat, and they sat as close as they could around the little
+fire and wished they'd saved some of the big logs and some of the food,
+too, that they had used up so fast when they thought the big snow would
+go away. And the bark of Old Hungry-Wolf got louder and louder, and he
+began to gnaw, too, and they all heard it, day and night--all except Mr.
+'Possum, who said he didn't know why, but that for some reason he
+couldn't hear a sound like that at all, which was _very_ strange,
+indeed.
+
+But there was something else about Mr. 'Possum that was strange. He
+didn't get any thinner. All the others began to show the change right
+away, but Mr. 'Possum still looked the same, and still kept cheerful,
+and stepped around as lively as ever, and that was _very strange_.
+
+By-and-by, when Mr. 'Possum had gone down-stairs for some barrel staves
+to burn, for the wood was all gone, Mr. Rabbit spoke of it, and said he
+couldn't understand it; and then Mr. 'Coon, who had been thinking about
+it too, said he wondered why it sometimes took Mr. 'Possum so long to
+get a little bit of wood. Then they all remembered how Mr. Possum had
+stayed so long down-stairs whenever he went, even before Old Hungry-Wolf
+came to the Hollow Tree, and they couldn't understand it _at all_.
+
+And just then Mr. 'Possum came up with two little barrel staves which he
+had been a long time getting, and they all turned and looked at him very
+closely, which was a thing they had never done until that time. And
+before Mr. 'Possum noticed it, they saw him chew--a kind of last,
+finishing chew--and then give a little swallow--a sort of last,
+finishing swallow--and just then he noticed them watching him, and he
+stopped right in his tracks and dropped the two little barrel staves and
+looked very scared and guilty, which was strange, when he had always
+been so willing about the wood.
+
+[Illustration: LOOKED STRAIGHT AT MR. 'POSSUM AND SAID, "WHAT WAS THAT
+YOU WERE CHEWING JUST NOW?"]
+
+Then they all got up out of their chairs and looked straight at Mr.
+'Possum, and said:
+
+"What was that you were chewing just now?"
+
+And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
+
+Then they all said:
+
+"What was that you were swallowing just now?"
+
+And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
+
+Then they all said:
+
+"Why do you always stay so long when you go for wood?"
+
+And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
+
+Then they all said:
+
+"Why is it that you don't get thin, like the rest of us?"
+
+And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
+
+Then they all said:
+
+"Why is it you never hear the bark of Old Hungry-Wolf?"
+
+And Mr. 'Possum said, very weakly:
+
+"I did think I heard it a little while ago."
+
+Then they all said:
+
+"And was that why you went down after wood?"
+
+And once more Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
+
+Then they all said:
+
+"What have you got _down there_ to eat? And _where_ do you keep it?"
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum seemed to think of something, and picked up the two
+little barrel staves and brought them over to the fire and put them on,
+and looked very friendly, and sat down and lit his pipe and smoked a
+minute, and said that climbing the stairs had overcome him a little, and
+that he wasn't feeling very well, but if they'd let him breathe a
+minute he'd tell them all about it, and how he had been preparing a nice
+surprise for them, for just such a time as this; but when he saw they
+had found out something, it all came on him so sudden that, what with
+climbing the stairs and all, he couldn't quite gather himself, but that
+he was all right now, and the surprise was ready.
+
+"Of course you know," Mr. 'Possum said, "that I have travelled a good
+deal, and have seen a good many kinds of things happen, and know about
+what to expect. And when I saw how fast we were using up the food, and
+how deep the snow was, I knew we might expect a famine that even Mr.
+Crow's johnny-cake and gravy wouldn't last through; and Mr. Crow
+mentioned something of the kind once himself, though he seemed to forget
+it right away again, for he went on giving us just as much as ever. But
+I didn't forget about it, and right away I began laying aside in a quiet
+place some of the things that would keep pretty well, and that we would
+be glad to have when Old Hungry-Wolf should really come along and we had
+learned to live on lighter meals and could make things last."
+
+Mr. 'Possum was going right on, but Mr. 'Coon interrupted him, and said
+that Mr. 'Possum could call it living on lighter meals if he wanted to
+but that he hadn't eaten any meal at all for three days, and that if Mr.
+'Possum had put away anything for a hungry time he wished he'd get it
+out right now, without any more explaining, for it was food that he
+wanted and not explanations, and all the others said so too.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum said he was just coming to that, but he only wished to
+say a few words about it because they had seemed to think that he was
+doing something that he shouldn't, when he was really trying to save
+them from Old Hungry-Wolf, and he said he had kept his surprise as long
+as he could, so it would last longer, and that he had been pretending
+not to hear Old Hungry's bark just to keep their spirits up, and he
+supposed one of the reasons why he hadn't got any thinner was because he
+hadn't been so worried, and had kept happy in the nice surprise he had
+all the time, just saving it for when they would begin to need it most.
+As to what he had been chewing and swallowing when he came up-stairs,
+Mr. 'Possum said that he had been taking just the least little taste of
+some of the things to see if they were keeping well--some nice cooked
+chickens, for instance, from a lot that Mr. Crow had on hand and didn't
+remember about, and a young turkey or two, and a few ducks, and a bushel
+or so of apples, and a half a barrel of doughnuts, and--
+
+But Mr. 'Possum didn't get any further, for all the Deep Woods People
+made a wild scramble for the stairs, with Mr. 'Possum after them, and
+when they got down in the store-room he took them behind one of the big
+roots of the Hollow Tree, and there was a passageway that none of them
+had ever suspected, and Mr. 'Possum lit a candle and led them through it
+and out into a sort of cave, and there, sure enough, were all the things
+he had told them about and some mince-pies besides. And there was even
+some wood, for Mr. 'Possum had worked hard to lay away a supply of
+things for a long snowed-in time.
+
+Then all the Hollow Tree People sat right down there and had some of the
+things, and by-and-by they carried some more up-stairs, and some wood,
+too, and built up a fine big fire, and lit their pipes and smoked, and
+forgot everything unpleasant in the world. And they all said how smart
+and good Mr. 'Possum was to save all that food for the very time when
+they would need it most, when all the rest of them had been just eating
+it up as fast as possible and would have been now without a thing in the
+world except for Mr. 'Possum.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum asked them if they could hear Old Hungry-Wolf any more,
+and they listened but they couldn't hear a sound, and then they went up
+into Mr. Crow's room, and into Mr. Coon's room, and into Mr. 'Possum's
+room, and they couldn't see a thing of him anywhere, though it was just
+the time of day to see him, for it was late in the evening--the time
+Old Hungry-Wolf is most likely to look in the window.
+
+And that night it turned warm, and the big snow began to thaw; and it
+thawed, and it thawed, and all the brooks and rivers came up, and even
+the Wide Blue Water rose so that the Deep Woods Company had to stay a
+little longer in the Hollow Tree, even when all the snow was nearly
+gone. Mr. Rabbit was pretty anxious to get home, and started out one
+afternoon with Mr. Turtle along, because Mr. Turtle is a good swimmer.
+But there was too much water to cross and they came back again just at
+sunset, and Mr. Crow let them in,[3] so they had to wait several days
+longer. But Mr. 'Possum's food lasted, and by the time it was gone they
+could get plenty more; and when they all went away and left the three
+Hollow Tree People together again, they were very happy because they had
+had such a good time; and the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow
+were as good friends as ever, though the gray feathers on the top of Mr.
+Crow's head never did turn quite black again, and some of the Deep Woods
+People call him Silver-Top to this day.
+
+The Little Lady looks anxiously at the Story Teller.
+
+"Did Old Hungry-Wolf ever get inside of the Hollow Tree?" she asks.
+
+"No, he never did get inside; they only saw him through the window, and
+heard him bark."
+
+"And why couldn't Mr. 'Possum ever hear him sometimes?"
+
+"Well, you see, Old Hungry isn't a real wolf, but only a shadow
+wolf--the shadow of famine. He only looks in when people dread famine,
+and he only barks and gnaws when they feel it. A famine, you know, is
+when one is very hungry and there is nothing to eat. I don't think Mr.
+'Possum was very hungry, and he had all those nice things laid away, so
+he would not care much about that old shadow wolf, which is only another
+name for hunger."
+
+The Little Lady clings very close to the Story Teller.
+
+"Will we ever see Old Hungry-Wolf and hear his bark?"
+
+The Story Teller sits up quite straight, and gathers the Little Lady
+tight.
+
+"Good gracious, no!" he says. "He moved out of our part of the country
+before you were born, and we'll take good care that he doesn't come back
+any more."
+
+"I'm glad," says the Little Lady. "You can sing now--you know--the
+'Hollow Tree Song.'"
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[3] See picture on cover.
+
+
+
+
+AN EARLY SPRING CALL ON MR. BEAR
+
+
+
+
+AN EARLY SPRING CALL ON ON MR. BEAR
+
+MR. 'POSSUM'S CURIOUS DREAM AND WHAT CAME OF IT
+
+
+"What did they do then?" asks the Little Lady. "What did the Deep Woods
+People all do after they got through being snowed in?"
+
+"Well, let's see. It got to be spring then pretty soon--early spring--of
+course, and Mr. Jack Rabbit went to writing poetry and making garden;
+Mr. Robin went to meet Mrs. Robin, who had been spending the winter down
+South; Mr. Squirrel, who is quite young, went to call on a very nice
+young Miss Squirrel over toward the Big West Hills; Mr. Dog had to help
+Mr. Man a good deal with the spring work; Mr. Turtle got out all his
+fishing-things and looked them over, and the Hollow Tree People had a
+general straightening up after company. They had a big house-cleaning,
+of course, with most of their things out on the line, and Mr. 'Possum
+said that he'd just about as soon be snowed-in for good as to have to
+beat carpets and carry furniture up and down stairs all the rest of his
+life."
+
+But they got through at last, and everything was nice when they were
+settled, only there wasn't a great deal to be had to eat, because it had
+been such a long, cold winter that things were pretty scarce and hard to
+get.
+
+One morning Mr. 'Possum said he had had a dream the night before, and he
+wished it would come true. He said he had dreamed that they were all
+invited by Mr. Bear to help him eat the spring breakfast which he takes
+after his long winter nap, and that Mr. Bear had about the best
+breakfast he ever sat down to. He said he had eaten it clear through,
+from turkey to mince-pie, only he didn't get the mince-pie because Mr.
+Bear had asked him if he'd have it hot or cold, and just as he made up
+his mind to have some of both he woke up and didn't get either.
+
+Then Mr. 'Coon said he wished he could have a dream like that; that he'd
+take whatever came along and try to sleep through it, and Mr. Crow
+thought a little while and said that sometimes dreams came true,
+especially if you helped them a little. He said he hadn't heard anything
+of Mr. Bear this spring, and it was quite likely he had been taking a
+longer nap than usual. It might be a good plan, he thought, to drop over
+that way and just look in in passing, because if Mr. Bear should be
+sitting down to breakfast he would be pretty apt to ask them to sit up
+and have a bite while they told him the winter news.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum said that he didn't believe anybody in the world but
+Mr. Crow would have thought of that, and that hereafter he was going to
+tell him every dream he had. They ought to start right away, he said,
+because if they should get there just as Mr. Bear was clearing off the
+table it would be a good deal worse than not getting the mince-pie in
+his dream.
+
+So they hurried up and put on their best clothes and started for Mr.
+Bear's place, which is over toward the Edge of the World, only farther
+down, in a fine big cave which is fixed up as nice as a house and nicer.
+But when they got pretty close to it they didn't go so fast and
+straight, but just sauntered along as if they were only out for a little
+walk and happened to go in that direction, for they thought Mr. Bear
+might be awake and standing in his door.
+
+They met Mr. Rabbit about that time and invited him to go along, but Mr.
+Rabbit said his friendship with Mr. Bear was a rather distant one, and
+that he mostly talked to him from across the river or from a hill that
+had a good clear running space on the other slope. He said Mr. Bear's
+taste was good, for he was fond of his family, but that the fondness had
+been all on Mr. Bear's side.
+
+[Illustration: THEY WENT ALONG, SAYING WHAT A NICE MAN THEY THOUGHT MR.
+BEAR WAS]
+
+So the Hollow Tree People went along, saying what a nice man they
+thought Mr. Bear was, and saying it quite loud, and looking every which
+way, because Mr. Bear might be out for a walk too.
+
+But they didn't see him anywhere, and by-and-by they got right to the
+door of his cave and knocked a little, and nobody came. Then they
+listened, but couldn't hear anything at first, until Mr. 'Coon, who has
+very sharp ears, said that he was sure he heard Mr. Bear breathing and
+that he must be still asleep. Then the others thought they heard it,
+too, and pretty soon they were sure they heard it, and Mr. 'Possum said
+it was too bad to let Mr. Bear oversleep himself this fine weather, and
+that they ought to go in and let him know how late it was.
+
+[Illustration: SLEEP RIGHT WHERE HE WAS]
+
+So then they pushed open the door and went tiptoeing in to where Mr.
+Bear was. They thought, of course, he would be in bed, but he wasn't. He
+was sitting up in a big arm-chair in his dressing-gown, with his feet up
+on a low stool, before a fire that had gone out some time in December,
+with a little table by him that had a candle on it which had burned down
+about the time the fire went out. His pipe had gone out too, and they
+knew that Mr. Bear had been smoking, and must have been very tired and
+gone to sleep right where he was, and hadn't moved all winter long.
+
+It wasn't very cheerful in there, so Mr. 'Possum said maybe they'd
+better stir up a little fire to take the chill off before they woke
+Mr. Bear, and Mr. 'Coon found a fresh candle and lighted it, and Mr.
+Crow put the room to rights a little, and wound up the clock, and set
+it, and started it going. Then when the fire got nice and bright they
+stood around and looked at Mr. Bear, and each one said it was a good
+time now to wake him up, but nobody just wanted to do it, because Mr.
+Bear isn't always good-natured, and nobody could tell what might happen
+if he should wake up cross and hungry, and he'd be likely to do that if
+his nap was broken too suddenly. Mr. Possum said that Mr. Crow was the
+one to do it, as he had first thought of this trip, and Mr. Crow said
+that it was Mr. 'Possum's place, because it had been in his dream. Then
+they both said that as Mr. 'Coon hadn't done anything at all so far, he
+might do that.
+
+Mr. 'Coon said that he'd do it quick enough, only he'd been listening to
+the way Mr. Bear breathed, and he was pretty sure he wouldn't be ready
+to wake up for a week yet, and it would be too bad to wake him now when
+he might not have been resting well during the first month or so of his
+nap and was making it up now. He said they could look around a little
+and see if Mr. Bear's things were keeping well, and perhaps brush up his
+pantry so it would be nice and clean when he did wake.
+
+Then Mr. Crow said he'd always wanted to see Mr. Bear's pantry, for he'd
+heard it was such a good place to keep things, and perhaps he could get
+some ideas for the Hollow Tree; and Mr. 'Possum said that Mr. Bear had
+the name of having a bigger pantry and more things in it than all the
+rest of the Deep Woods People put together.
+
+So they left Mr. Bear all nice and comfortable, sleeping there by the
+fire, and lit another candle and went over to his pantry, which was at
+the other side of the room, and opened the door and looked in.
+
+Well, they couldn't say a word at first, but only just looked at one
+another and at all the things they saw in that pantry. First, on the top
+shelf there was a row of pies, clear around. Then on the next shelf
+there was a row of cakes--first a fruit-cake, then a jelly-cake, then
+another fruit-cake and then another jelly-cake, and the cakes went all
+the way around, too, and some of them had frosting on them, and you
+could see the raisins in the fruit-cake and pieces of citron. Then on
+the next shelf there was a row of nice cooked partridges, all the way
+around, close together. And on the shelf below was a row of meat-pies
+made of chicken and turkey and young lamb, and on the shelf below that
+there was a row of nice canned berries, and on the floor, all the way
+around, there were jars of honey--nice comb honey that Mr. Bear had
+gathered in November from bee-trees.
+
+Mr. Crow spoke first.
+
+"Well, I never," he said, "never in all my life, saw anything like it!"
+
+And Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum both said:
+
+"He can't do it--a breakfast like that is too much for _any_ bear!"
+
+Then Mr. Crow said:
+
+"He oughtn't to be _allowed_ to do it. Mr. Bear is too nice a man to
+lose."
+
+And Mr. 'Possum said:
+
+"He _mustn't_ be allowed to do it--we'll help him."
+
+"Where do you suppose he begins? said Mr. 'Coon.
+
+"At the top, very likely," said Mr. Crow. "He's got it arranged in
+courses."
+
+"I don't care where he begins," said Mr. 'Possum; "I'm going to begin
+somewhere, now, and I think I will begin on a meat-pie."
+
+And Mr. Crow said he thought he'd begin on a nice partridge, and Mr.
+'Coon said he believed he'd try a mince-pie or two first, as a kind of a
+lining, and then fill in with the solid things afterward.
+
+So then Mr. 'Possum took down his meat-pie, and said he hoped this
+wasn't a dream, and Mr. Crow took down a nice brown partridge, and Mr.
+'Coon stood up on a chair and slipped a mince-pie out of a pan on the
+top shelf, and everything would have been all right, only he lost his
+balance a little and let the pie fall. It made quite a smack when it
+struck the floor, and Mr. 'Possum jumped and let his pie fall, too, and
+that made a good deal more of a noise, because it was large and in a tin
+pan.
+
+Then Mr. Crow blew out the light quick, and they all stood perfectly
+still and listened, for it seemed to them a noise like that would wake
+the dead, much more Mr. Bear, and they thought he would be right up and
+in there after them.
+
+But Mr. Bear was too sound asleep for that. They heard him give a little
+cough and a kind of a grunt mixed with a sleepy word or two, and when
+they peeked out through the door, which was open just a little ways,
+they saw him moving about in his chair, trying first one side and then
+the other, as if he wanted to settle down and go to sleep again, which
+he didn't do, but kept right on grunting and sniffing and mumbling and
+trying new positions.
+
+Then, of course, the Hollow Tree People were scared, for they knew
+pretty well he was going to wake up. There wasn't any way to get out of
+Mr. Bear's pantry except by the door, and you had to go right by Mr.
+Bear's chair to get out of the cave. So they just stood there, holding
+their breath and trembling, and Mr. 'Possum wished now it _was_ a dream,
+and that he could wake up right away before the nightmare began.
+
+Well, Mr. Bear he turned this way and that way, and once or twice seemed
+about to settle down and sleep again; but just as they thought he really
+had done it, he sat up pretty straight and looked all around.
+
+Then the Hollow Tree People thought their time had come, and they wanted
+to make a jump, and run for the door, only they were afraid to try it.
+Mr. Bear yawned a long yawn, and stretched himself, and rubbed his eyes
+open, and looked over at the fire and down at the candle on the table
+and up at the clock on the mantel. The 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old
+Black Crow thought, of course, he'd know somebody had been there by all
+those things being set going, and they expected him to roar out
+something terrible and start for the pantry first thing.
+
+But Mr. Bear didn't seem to understand it at all, or to suppose that
+anything was wrong, and from what he mumbled to himself they saw right
+away that he thought he'd been asleep only a little while instead of all
+winter.
+
+"Humph!" they heard him growl, "I must have gone to sleep, and was
+dreaming it's time to wake up. I didn't sleep long, though, by the way
+the fire and the candle look, besides it's only a quarter of ten, and I
+remember winding the clock at half after eight. Funny I feel so hungry,
+after eating a big supper only two hours ago. Must be the reason I
+dreamed it was spring. Humph! guess I'll just eat a piece of pie and go
+to bed."
+
+So Mr. Bear got up and held on to his chair to steady himself, and
+yawned some more and rubbed his eyes, for he was only about half awake
+yet, and pretty soon he picked up his candle and started for the pantry.
+
+Then the Hollow Tree People felt as if they were going to die. They
+didn't dare to breathe or make the least bit of noise, and just huddled
+back in a corner close to the wall, and Mr. 'Possum all at once felt as
+if he must sneeze right away, and Mr. 'Coon would have given anything to
+be able to scratch his back, and Mr. Crow thought if he could only cough
+once more and clear his throat he wouldn't care whether he had anything
+to eat, ever again.
+
+And Mr. Bear he came shuffling along toward the pantry with his candle
+all tipped to one side, still rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up,
+and everything was just as still as still--all except a little scratchy
+sound his claws made dragging along the floor, though that wasn't a nice
+sound for the Hollow Tree People to hear. And when he came to the pantry
+door Mr. Bear pushed it open quite wide and was coming straight in, only
+just then he caught his toe a little on the door-sill and _stumbled_ in,
+and that was too much for Mr. 'Possum, who turned loose a sneeze that
+shook the world.
+
+Then Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon made a dive under Mr. Bear's legs, and Mr.
+'Possum did too, and down came Mr. Bear and down came his candle, and
+the candle went out, but not any quicker than the Hollow Tree People,
+who broke for the cave door and slammed it behind them, and struck out
+for the bushes as if they thought they'd never live to get there.
+
+But when they got into some thick hazel brush they stopped a minute to
+breathe, and then they all heard Mr. Bear calling "Help! Help!" as loud
+as he could, and when they listened they heard him mention something
+about an earthquake and that the world was coming to an end.
+
+[Illustration: MR. COON SCRATCHED HIS BACK AGAINST A LITTLE BUSH]
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum said that from the sound of Mr. Bear's voice he seemed
+to be unhappy about something, and that it was too bad for them to just
+pass right by without asking what was the trouble, especially if Mr.
+Bear, who had always been so friendly, should ever hear of it. So then
+they straightened their collars and ties and knocked the dust off a
+little, and Mr. 'Coon scratched his back against a little bush and Mr.
+Crow cleared his throat, and they stepped out of the hazel patch and
+went up to Mr. Bear's door and pushed it open a little and called out:
+
+"Oh, Mr. Bear, do you need any help?"
+
+"Oh yes," groaned Mr. Bear, "come quick! I've been struck by an
+earthquake and nearly killed, and everything I've got must be ruined.
+Bring a light and look at my pantry!
+
+"So then Mr. 'Coon ran with a splinter from Mr. Bear's fire and lit the
+candle, and Mr. Bear got up, rubbing himself and taking on, and began
+looking at his pantry shelves, which made him better right away.
+
+"Oh," he said, "how lucky the damage is so small! Only two pies and a
+partridge knocked down, and they are not much hurt. I thought everything
+was lost, and my nerves are all upset when I was getting ready for my
+winter sleep. How glad I am you happened to be passing. Stay with me,
+and we will eat to quiet our nerves."
+
+Then the Hollow Tree People said that the earthquake had made them
+nervous too, and that perhaps a little food would be good for all of
+them; so they flew around just as if they were at home, and brought Mr.
+Bear's table right into the pantry, and some chairs, and set out the
+very best things and told Mr. Bear to sit right up to the table and help
+himself, and then all the others sat up, too, and they ate everything
+clear through, from meat-pie in mince-pie, just as if Mr. 'Possum's
+dream had really come true.
+
+And Mr. Bear said he didn't understand how he could have such a good
+appetite when he had such a big supper only two hours ago, and he said
+that there must have been two earthquakes, because a noise of some kind
+had roused him from a little nap he had been taking in his chair, but
+that the real earthquake hadn't happened until he got to the pantry
+door, where he stumbled a little, which seemed to touch it off. He said
+he hoped he'd never live to go through with a thing like that again.
+
+Then the Hollow Tree People said they had heard both of the shocks, and
+that the last one was a good deal the worst, and that of course such a
+thing would sound a good deal louder in a cave anyway. And by-and-by,
+when they were all through eating, they went in by the fire and sat down
+and smoked, and Mr. Bear said he didn't feel as sleepy as he thought he
+should because he was still upset a good deal by the shock, but that he
+guessed he would just crawl into bed while they were there, as it seemed
+nice to have company.
+
+So he did, and by-and-by he dropped off to sleep again, and the Hollow
+Tree People borrowed a few things, and went out softly and shut the door
+behind them. They stopped at Mr. Rabbit's house on the way home, and
+told him they had enjoyed a nice breakfast with Mr. Bear, and how Mr.
+Bear had sent a partridge and a pie and a little pot of honey to Mr.
+Rabbit because of his fondness for the family. Then Mr. Rabbit felt
+quite pleased, because it was too early for spring vegetables and hard
+to get good things for the table.
+
+"And did Mr. Bear sleep all summer?" asks the Little Lady.
+
+"No, he woke up again pretty soon, for he had finished his nap, and of
+course the next time when he looked around he found his fire out and the
+candle burned down and the clock stopped, so he got up and went outside,
+and saw it was spring and that he had slept a good deal longer than
+usual. But when he went to eat his spring breakfast he couldn't
+understand why he wasn't very hungry, and thought it must be because
+he'd eaten two such big suppers.
+
+"But why didn't the Hollow Tree People tell him it was spring and not
+let him go to bed again?"
+
+Well, I s'pose they thought it wouldn't be very polite to tell Mr. Bear
+how he'd been fooled, and, besides, he needed a nice nap again after the
+earthquake--anyhow, he thought it was an earthquake, and was a good deal
+upset.
+
+[Illustration: MR. RABBIT THANKED HIM FROM ACROSS THE RIVER]
+
+And it was a long time before he found out what _had really_ happened,
+and he never would have known, if Mr. Rabbit hadn't seen him fishing one
+day and thanked him from across the river for the nice breakfast he had
+sent him by the Hollow Tree People.
+
+That set Mr. Bear to thinking, and he asked Mr. Rabbit a few questions
+about things in general and earthquakes in particular, and the more he
+found out and thought about it the more he began to guess just how it
+was, and by-and-by when he did find out all about it, he didn't care any
+more, and really thought it quite a good joke on himself for falling
+asleep in his chair and sleeping there all winter long.
+
+
+
+
+MR. CROW'S GARDEN
+
+
+
+
+MR. CROW'S GARDEN
+
+THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE LEARN HOW TO RAISE FINE VEGETABLES
+
+
+One morning, right after breakfast in the Hollow Tree, Mr. Crow said
+he'd been thinking of something ever since he woke up, and if the 'Coon
+and the 'Possum thought it was a good plan he believed he'd do it. He
+said of course they knew how good Mr. Rabbit's garden always was, and
+how he nearly lived out of it during the summer, Mr. Rabbit being a good
+deal of a vegetarian; by which he meant that he liked vegetables better
+than anything, while the Hollow Tree People, Mr. Crow said, were a
+little different in their tastes, though he didn't know just what the
+name for them was. He said he thought they might be humanitarians,
+because they liked the things that Mr. Man and other human beings liked,
+but that he wasn't sure whether that was the right name or not.
+
+Then Mr. 'Possum said for him to never mind about the word, but to go on
+and talk about his plan if it had anything to do with something to eat,
+for he was getting pretty tired of living on little picked-up things
+such as they had been having this hard spring, and Mr. 'Coon said so
+too. So then Mr. Crow said:
+
+"Well, I've been planning to have a garden this spring like Mr.
+Rabbit's."
+
+"Humph!" said Mr. 'Possum, "I thought you were going to start a chicken
+farm."
+
+But Mr. Crow said "No," that the Big Deep Woods didn't seem a healthy
+place for chickens, and that they could pick up a chicken here and there
+by-and-by, and then if they had nice green pease to go with it, or some
+green corn, or even a tender salad, it would help out, especially when
+they had company like Mr. Robin, or Mr. Squirrel, or Mr. Rabbit, who
+cared for such things.
+
+So then the 'Coon and the 'Possum both said that to have green pease and
+corn was a very good idea, especially when such things were mixed with
+young chickens with plenty of dressing and gravy, and that as this was a
+pleasant morning they might walk over and call on Jack Rabbit so that
+the Old Black Crow could find out about planting things. Mr. 'Possum
+said that his uncle Silas Lovejoy always had a garden, and he had worked
+it a good deal when he was young, but that he had forgotten just how
+things should be planted, though he knew the moon had something to do
+with it, and if you didn't get the time right the things that ought to
+grow up would grow down and the down things would all grow up, so that
+you'd have to dig your pease and pick your potatoes when the other way
+was the fashion and thought to be better in this climate.
+
+So then the Hollow Tree People put on their things and went out into the
+nice April sunshine and walked over to Jack Rabbit's house, saying how
+pleasant it was to take a little walk this way when everything was
+getting green, and they passed by where Mr. and Mrs. Robin were building
+a new nest, and they looked in on a cozy little hollow tree where Mr.
+Squirrel, who had just brought home a young wife from over by the Big
+West Hills, had set up housekeeping with everything new except the
+old-fashioned feather-bed and home-made spread which Miss Squirrel had
+been given by her folks. They looked through Mr. Squirrel's house and
+said how snug it was, and that perhaps it would be better not to try to
+furnish it too much at once, as it was nice just to get things as one
+was able, instead of doing everything at the start.
+
+When they got to Mr. Rabbit's house he was weaving a rag carpet for his
+front room, and they all stood behind him and watched him weave, and
+by-and-by Mr. 'Coon wanted to try it, but he didn't know how to run the
+treadle exactly, and got some of the strands too loose and some too
+tight, so he gave it up, and they all went out to look at Mr. Rabbit's
+garden.
+
+Well, Mr. Rabbit did have a nice garden. It was all laid out in rows,
+and was straight and trim, and there wasn't a weed anywhere. He had
+things up, too--pease and lettuce and radishes--and he had some
+tomato-plants growing in a box in the house, because it was too early to
+put them out.
+
+Mr. Rabbit said that a good many people bought their plants, but that he
+always liked to raise his own from seed, because then he knew just what
+they were and what to expect. He told them how to plant the different
+things and about the moon, and said there was an old adage in his family
+that if you remembered it you'd always plant at the right time. The
+adage, he said, was:
+
+  "Pease and beans in the light of the moon--
+  Both in the pot before it's June."
+
+And of course you only had to change "light" to "dark" and use it for
+turnips and potatoes and such things, though really it was sometimes
+later than June, but June was near enough, and rhymed with "moon" better
+than July and August. He said he would give Mr. Crow all the seeds he
+wanted, and that when he was ready to put out tomatoes he would let him
+have plenty of plants too.
+
+Then Mr. 'Coon said it would be nice to have a few flower seeds, and
+they all looked at Mr. 'Coon because they knew he had once been in love,
+and they thought by his wanting flowers that he might be going to get
+that way again.
+
+But Mr. Rabbit said he was fond of flowers, too, especially the
+old-fashioned kind, and he picked out some for Mr. 'Coon; and then he
+went to weaving again, and the Hollow Tree People watched him awhile,
+and he pointed out pieces of different clothes he had had that he was
+weaving into his carpet, and they all thought how nice it was to use up
+one's old things that way.
+
+Then by-and-by the Hollow Tree People went back home, and they began
+their garden right away. It was just the kind of a day to make garden
+and they all felt like it, so they spaded and hoed and raked, and didn't
+find it very easy because the place had never been used for a garden
+before, and there were some roots and stones; and pretty soon Mr.
+'Possum said that Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon might go on with the digging
+and he would plant the seeds, as he had been used to such work when he
+lived with his uncle Silas as a boy.
+
+[Illustration: ONE SAID IT WAS ONE WAY AND THE OTHER THE OTHER WAY]
+
+So then he took the seeds, but he couldn't remember Mr. Rabbit's adages
+which told whether beets and carrots and such things as grow below the
+ground had to be planted in the dark of the moon or the light of the
+moon, and it was the same about beans and pease and the things that
+grow above the ground; and when he spoke to Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon about
+it, one said it was one way and the other the other way, and then Mr.
+'Possum said he wasn't planting the things in the moon anyhow, and he
+thought Mr. Rabbit had made the adages to suit the day he was going to
+plant and that they would work either way.
+
+So then Mr. 'Possum planted everything there was, and showed Mr. 'Coon
+how to plant his flower seeds; and when they were all done they stood
+off and admired their nice garden, and said it was just about as nice as
+Jack Rabbit's, and maybe nicer in some ways, because it had trees around
+it and was a pleasant place to work.
+
+Well, after that they got up every morning and went out to look at their
+garden, to see if any of the things were coming up; and pretty soon they
+found a good _many_ things coming up, but they were not in hills and
+rows, and Mr. 'Possum said they were weeds, because he remembered that
+Uncle Silas's weeds had always looked like those, and how he and his
+little cousins had had to hoe them. So then they got their hoes and hoed
+every morning, and by-and-by they had to hoe some during the day too, to
+keep up with the weeds, and the sun was pretty hot, and Mr. 'Possum did
+most of his hoeing over by the trees where it wasn't so sunny, and said
+that hereafter he thought it would be a good plan to plant all their
+garden in the shade.
+
+And every day they kept looking for the seeds to come up, and by-and-by
+a few did come up, and then they were quite proud, and went over and
+told Jack Rabbit about it, and Mr. Rabbit came over to give them some
+advice, and said he thought their garden looked pretty well for being
+its first year and put in late, though it looked to him, he said, as if
+some of it had been planted the wrong time of the moon, and he didn't
+think so much shade was very good for most things.
+
+But Mr. 'Possum said he'd rather have more shade and less things, and he
+thought next year he'd let his part of the garden out on shares.
+
+Well, it got hotter and hotter, and the weeds grew more and more, and
+the Hollow Tree People had to work and hoe and pull nearly all day in
+the sun to keep up with them, and they would have given it up pretty
+soon, only they wanted to show Jack Rabbit that they could have a garden
+too, and by-and-by, when their things got big enough to eat, they were
+so proud that they invited Mr. Rabbit to come over for dinner, and they
+sent word to Mr. Turtle, too, because he likes good things and lives
+alone, not being a family man like Mr. Robin and Mr. Squirrel.
+
+Now of course the Hollow Tree People knew that they had no such fine
+things in their garden as Jack Rabbit had in his, and they said they
+couldn't expect to, but they'd try to have other things to make up; and
+Mr. Crow was cooking for two whole days getting his chicken-pies and his
+puddings and such things ready for that dinner. And then when the
+morning came for it he was out long before sun-up to pick the things in
+the garden while they were nice and fresh, with the dew on them.
+
+But when Mr. Crow looked over his garden he felt pretty bad, for, after
+all, the new potatoes were little and tough, and the pease were small
+and dry, and the beans were thin and stringy, and the salad was pretty
+puny and tasteless, and the corn was just nubbins, because it didn't
+grow in a very good place and maybe hadn't been planted or tended very
+well. So Mr. Crow walked up and down the rows and thought a good deal,
+and finally decided that he'd just take a walk over toward Jack Rabbit's
+garden to see if Mr. Rabbit's things were really so much better after
+all.
+
+It was just about sunrise, and Mr. Crow knew Jack Rabbit didn't get up
+so soon, and he made up his mind he wouldn't wake him when he got there,
+but would just take a look over his nice garden and come away again. So
+when he got to Mr. Rabbit's back fence he climbed through a crack, and
+sat down in the weeds to rest a little and to look around, and he saw
+that Mr. Rabbit's house was just as still and closed up as could be,
+and no signs of Jack Rabbit anywhere.
+
+So then Mr. Crow stepped out into the corn patch and looked along at the
+rows of fine roasting ears, which made him feel sad because of those
+little nubbins in his own garden, and then he saw the fine fat pease and
+beans and salads in Jack Rabbit's garden, and it seemed to him that Mr.
+Rabbit could never in the world use up all those things himself.
+
+[Illustration: MR. CROW DECIDED TO THIN OUT A FEW OF JACK RABBIT'S
+THINGS]
+
+Then Mr. Crow decided that he would thin out a few of Jack Rabbit's
+things, which seemed to be too thick anyway to do well. It would be too
+bad to disturb Mr. Rabbit to tell him about it, and Mr. Crow didn't have
+time to wait for him to get up if he was going to get his dinner ready
+on time.
+
+So Mr. Crow picked some large ears of corn and some of Mr. Rabbit's best
+pease and beans and salads, and filled his apron with all he could
+carry, and climbed through the back fence again, and took out for home
+without wasting any more time. And when he got there Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
+'Possum were just getting up, and he didn't bother to tell them about
+borrowing from Mr. Rabbit's garden, but set out some breakfast, and as
+soon as it was over pitched in to get ready for company. Mr. 'Coon and
+Mr. 'Possum flew around, too, to make the room look nice, and by-and-by
+everything was ready, and the table was set, and the Hollow Tree People
+were all dressed up and looking out the window.
+
+Then pretty soon they saw Mr. Turtle coming through the timber, and just
+then Jack Rabbit came in sight from the other direction. Mr. Turtle had
+brought a basket of mussels, which always are nice with a big dinner,
+like oysters, and Mr. Rabbit said he would have brought some things out
+of his garden, only he knew the Hollow Tree People had a garden, too,
+this year, and would want to show what they could do in that line
+themselves. He said he certainly must take a look at their garden
+because he had heard a good deal about it from Mr. Robin.
+
+Then Mr. Crow felt a little chilly, for he happened to think that if Mr.
+Rabbit went out into their garden and then saw the fine things which
+were going to be on the table he'd wonder where they came from. So he
+said right away that dinner was all ready, and they'd better sit down
+while things were hot and fresh.
+
+Then they all sat down, and first had the mussels which Mr. Turtle had
+brought, and there were some fine sliced tomatoes with them, and Mr.
+Rabbit said he hadn't supposed that such fine big tomatoes as those
+could come out of a new garden that had been planted late, and that he
+certainly must see the vines they came off of before he went home,
+because they were just as big as his tomatoes, if not bigger, and he
+wanted to see just how they could do so well.
+
+And Mr. Crow felt _real_ chilly, and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum both
+said they hadn't supposed their tomatoes were so big and ripe, though
+they hadn't looked at them since yesterday. But Mr. Rabbit said that a
+good many things could happen over night, and Mr. Crow changed the
+subject as quick as he could, and said that things always looked bigger
+and better on the table than they did in the garden, but that he'd
+picked all the real big, ripe tomatoes and he didn't think there'd be
+any more.
+
+Then after the mussels they had the chicken-pie, and when Mr. Rabbit saw
+the vegetables that Mr. Crow served with it he looked at them and said:
+
+"My, what fine pease and beans, and what splendid corn! I am sure your
+vegetables are as good as anything in my garden, if not better. I
+certainly _must see_ just the spot where they grew. I would never have
+believed you could have done it, never, if I hadn't seen them right here
+on your table with my own eyes."
+
+Then Mr. Turtle said they were the finest he ever tasted, and Mr.
+'Possum and Mr. 'Coon both said they wouldn't have believed it
+themselves yesterday, and it was wonderful how much everything had grown
+over night. Then the Old Black Crow choked a little and coughed, and
+said he didn't seem to relish his food, and pretty soon he said that of
+course their garden _had_ done _pretty_ well, but that it was about
+through now, as these were things he had been saving for this dinner,
+and he had gathered all the biggest and best of them this morning before
+Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon were up.
+
+When Mr. Crow said that, Jack Rabbit looked the other way and made a
+very queer face, and you might have thought he was trying to keep from
+laughing if you had seen him, but maybe he was only trying to keep from
+coughing, for pretty soon he did cough a little and said that the early
+morning was the proper time to gather vegetables; that one could always
+pick out the best things then, and do it quietly before folks were up.
+
+Then Mr. Crow felt a cold, shaky chill that went all the way up and
+down, and he was afraid to look up, though of course he didn't believe
+Mr. Rabbit knew anything about what he had done, only he was afraid that
+he would look so guilty that everybody would see it. He said that his
+head was a little dizzy with being over the hot stove so much, and he
+hoped they wouldn't think of going out until the cool of the evening, as
+the sun would be too much for him, and of course he wanted to be with
+them.
+
+[Illustration: BRING ON THE SALAD]
+
+Poor Mr. Crow was almost afraid to bring on the salad, but he was just
+as afraid not to. Only he did wish he had picked out Mr. Rabbit's
+smallest bunches instead of his biggest ones, for he knew there were no
+such other salads anywhere as those very ones he had borrowed from Mr.
+Rabbit's garden. But he put it off as long as he could, and by-and-by
+Jack Rabbit said that there was one thing he was sure the Hollow Tree
+couldn't beat him on, and that was salad. He said he had never had such
+fine heads as he had this year, and that there were a few heads
+especially that he had been saving to show his friends. Then the 'Coon
+and 'Possum said "No," their salads were not very much, unless they had
+grown a great deal over night, like the other things--and when Mr. Crow
+got up to bring them he walked wobbly, and everybody said it was too bad
+that Mr. Crow _would_ always go to so much trouble for company.
+
+Well, when he came in with that bowl of salad and set it down, Mr.
+Turtle and Jack Rabbit said, "Did you ever in your life!" But Mr.
+'Possum and Mr. 'Coon just sat and looked at it, for they thought it
+couldn't be true.
+
+Then pretty soon Mr. Rabbit said that he would take back everything he
+had told them about his salad, and that he was coming over to take some
+lessons from the Hollow Tree People, and especially from Mr. Crow, on
+how to raise vegetables. He said that there were a good many ways to
+raise vegetables--some raised them in a garden; some raised them in a
+hothouse; some raised them in the market; but that Mr. Crow's way was
+the best way there was, and he was coming over to learn it. He said they
+must finish their dinner before dark, for he certainly must _see_ just
+where _all_ Mr. Crow's wonderful things came from.
+
+Then Mr. Crow felt the gray spot on his head getting a good deal grayer,
+and he dropped his knife and fork, and swallowed two or three times, and
+tried to smile, though it was a sickly smile. He said that Mr. Rabbit
+was very kind, but that Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon had done a good deal
+of the work, too.
+
+But Jack Rabbit said "No," that nobody but an industrious person like
+Mr. Crow could have raised _those_ vegetables--a person who got up
+early, he said, and was used to taking a little trouble to get the best
+things.
+
+Then Mr. Crow went after the dessert, and was glad enough that there
+were no more vegetables to come, especially of that kind.
+
+And Mr. Rabbit seemed to forget about looking at the garden until they
+were all through, and then he said that before they went outside he
+would read a little poem he had composed that morning lying in bed and
+looking at the sunrise across his own garden. He said he called it:
+
+ME AND MY GARDEN
+
+  Oh, it's nice to have a garden
+  On which to put my labors.
+  It's nice to have a garden
+  Especially for my neighbors.
+
+  I like to see it growing
+  When skies are blue above me;
+  I like to see it gathered
+  By those who really love me.
+
+  I like to think in winter
+  Of pleasant summer labors;
+  Oh, it's nice to have a garden
+  Especially for my neighbors.
+
+Everybody said that was a nice poem and sounded just like Mr. Rabbit,
+who was always so free-hearted--all except Mr. Crow, who tried to say it
+was nice, and couldn't. Then Mr. Rabbit said they'd better go out now to
+see the Hollow Tree garden, but Mr. Crow said really he couldn't stand
+it yet, and they could see by his looks that he was feeling pretty sick,
+and Mr. Turtle said it was too bad to think of taking Mr. Crow out in
+the sun when he had worked so hard.
+
+So then they all sat around and smoked and told stories, and whenever
+they stopped Mr. Crow thought of something else to do and seemed to get
+better toward night, and got a great deal better when it got dark, and
+Mr. Jack Rabbit said all at once that now it was too late to see the
+Hollow Tree garden, and that he was so sorry, for he knew he could have
+learned something if he could just have one look at it, for nobody could
+see those vegetables and that garden without learning a great deal.
+
+[Illustration: JACK RABBIT CAPERED AND LAUGHED ALL THE WAY HOME]
+
+Then he said he must go, and Mr. Turtle said he guessed _he_ must go
+too, so they both set out for home, and when Jack Rabbit got out of
+sight of the Hollow Tree and into a little open moonlight place, he just
+laid down on the ground and rolled over and laughed and kicked his feet,
+and sat up and rocked and looked at the moon and laughed; and he capered
+and laughed all the way home at the good joke he had all to himself on
+Mr. Crow.
+
+For Mr. Rabbit had been lying awake in bed that morning when Mr. Crow
+was in his garden, and he had seen Mr. Crow _all_ the time.
+
+
+
+
+WHEN JACK RABBIT WAS A LITTLE BOY
+
+
+
+
+WHEN JACK RABBIT WAS A LITTLE BOY
+
+A STORY OF A VERY LONG TIME AGO
+
+
+The Little Lady skips first on one foot and then on the other foot,
+around and around, until pretty soon she tumbles backward into _twelve
+flower-pots_.
+
+That, of course, makes a great damage, and though the Little Lady
+herself isn't hurt to speak of, she is frightened very much and has to
+be comforted by everybody, including the Story Teller, who comes last,
+and finishes up by telling about something that happened to Jack Rabbit
+when _he_ was little.
+
+Once upon a time, it begins, when Mr. Jack Rabbit was quite small, his
+mother left him all alone one afternoon while she went across the Wide
+Grass Lands to visit an old aunt of hers and take her some of the nice
+blackberries she had been putting up that morning. Mrs. Rabbit had been
+very busy all the forenoon, and little Jack had been watching her and
+making believe he was putting up berries too.
+
+And when Mrs. Rabbit got through she had cleaned her stove and polished
+it as nice as could be; then she gave little Jack Rabbit his dinner,
+with some of the berries that were left over, and afterward she washed
+his face and hands and found his blocks for him to play with, besides a
+new stick of red sealing-wax--the kind she used to seal her cans with;
+for they did not have patent screw-top cans in those days, but always
+sealed the covers on with red sealing-wax.
+
+[Illustration: TOOK HER PARASOL AND HER RETICULE AND A CAN OF BERRIES,
+AND STARTED]
+
+Then Mrs. Rabbit told little Jack that he could play with his blocks,
+and build houses, with the red stick for a chimney, and to be a good boy
+until she came home. So little Jack Rabbit promised, and Mrs. Rabbit
+kissed him twice and took her parasol and her reticule and a can of
+berries, and started. Little Jack would have gone with her, only it was
+too far.
+
+Well, after she had left, little Jack played with his blocks and built
+houses and set the stick of sealing-wax up for a brick chimney, and
+by-and-by he played he was canning fruit, and he wished he could have a
+little stove and little cans and a little stick of sealing-wax, so he
+could really do it all just as she did.
+
+Then little Jack Rabbit looked at the nice polished stove and wondered
+how it would be to use that, and to build a little fire in it--just a
+_little_ fire--which would make everything seem a good deal more real,
+he thought, than his make-believe stove of blocks.
+
+And pretty soon little Jack opened the stove door and looked in, and
+when he stirred the ashes there were still a few live coals there, and
+when he put in some shavings they blazed up, and when he put in some
+pieces of old shingles and things they blazed up too, and when he put in
+some of Mrs. Rabbit's nice dry wood the stove got _quite hot_!
+
+Then little Jack Rabbit became somewhat frightened, for he had only
+meant to make a very small fire, and he thought this might turn into a
+big fire. Also, he remembered some things his mother had told him about
+playing with fire and about _never going near a hot stove_. He thought
+he'd better open the stove door a little to see if the fire was getting
+too big, but he was afraid to touch it with his fingers for fear of
+burning them. He had seen his mother use a stick or something to open
+the stove door when it was hot, so he picked up the first thing that
+came handy, which was the stick of sealing-wax. But when he touched it
+to the hot door the red stick sputtered a little and left a bright red
+spot on the stove door.
+
+Then little Jack forgot all about putting up blackberries, admiring that
+beautiful red spot on the shiny black stove, and thinking how nice it
+would be to make some more like it, which he thought would improve the
+looks of the stove a great deal.
+
+[Illustration: AND HE MADE SOME STRIPES, TOO--MOSTLY ON TOP OF THE
+STOVE]
+
+So then he touched it again in another place and made another spot, and
+in another place and made another spot, and in a lot of places and made
+a lot of spots, and he made some stripes, too--mostly on top of the
+stove, which was nice and smooth to mark on, though he made _some_ on
+the pipe. You would hardly have known it was the same stove when he got
+all through, and little Jack thought how beautiful it was and how
+pleased his mother would be when she got home and _saw_ it. But then
+right away he happened to think that perhaps she might not be so pleased
+after all, and the more he thought about it the more sure he was that
+she wouldn't like her nice red-striped and spotted stove as well as a
+black one; and, besides, she had told him _never_ to play with fire.
+
+[Illustration: LITTLE JACK KNEW PERFECTLY WELL THAT SHE WASN'T AT ALL
+PLEASED]
+
+And just at that moment Mrs. Rabbit herself stepped in the door! And
+when she looked at her red-spotted and striped stove and then at little
+Jack Rabbit, little Jack knew perfectly well without her saying a single
+word that she wasn't _at all pleased_. So he began to cry very loud, and
+started to run, and tripped over his blocks and fell against a little
+stand-table that had Mrs. Rabbit's work-basket on it (for Mrs. Rabbit
+always knit or sewed while she was cooking anything), and all the spools
+and buttons and knitting-work went tumbling, with little Jack Rabbit
+right among them, holloing, "Oh, I'm killed! I'm killed!"--just
+sprawling there on the floor, afraid to get up, and expecting every
+minute his mother would do something awful.
+
+But Mrs. Rabbit just stood and looked at him over her spectacles and
+then at her red-spotted and striped stove, and pretty soon she said:
+
+"Well, this is a lovely mess to come home to!"
+
+Which of course made little Jack take on a good deal worse and keep on
+bawling out that he was killed, until Mrs. Rabbit told him that he was
+making a good deal of noise for a _dead_ man, and that if he'd get up
+and pick up all the things he'd upset maybe he'd come to life again.
+
+Then little Jack Rabbit got up and ran to his mother and cried against
+her best dress and got some tears on it, and Mrs. Rabbit sat down in her
+rocker and looked at her stove and rocked him until he felt better. And
+by-and-by she changed her dress and went to cleaning her stove while
+little Jack picked up all the things--all the spools and buttons and
+needles and knitting-work--every single thing.
+
+[Illustration: PROMISED NEVER TO DISOBEY HIS MOTHER AGAIN]
+
+And after supper, when he said his prayers and went to bed, he promised
+never to disobey his mother again.
+
+
+
+
+A HOLLOW TREE PICNIC
+
+
+
+
+A HOLLOW TREE PICNIC
+
+THE LITTLE LADY AND THE STORY TELLER, AND THEIR FRIENDS
+
+
+Not far from the House of Low Ceilings, which stands on the borders of
+the Big Deep Woods, there is a still smaller house, where, in
+summertime, the Story Teller goes to make up things and write them down.
+
+And one warm day he is writing away and not noticing what time it is
+when he thinks he hears somebody step in the door. So then he looks
+around, and he sees a little straw hat and a little round red face under
+it, and then he sees a basket, and right away he knows it is the Little
+Lady. And the Little Lady says:
+
+"I've brought the picnic--did you know it?"
+
+"Why, no!" the Story Teller says, looking surprised. "Is it time?"
+
+"Yes, and I've got huckleberries and cream, and some hot biscuits."
+
+"Good gracious! Let's see!"
+
+So then the Story Teller looks, and, sure enough, there they are, and
+more things, too; and pretty soon the Little Lady and he go down to a
+very quiet place under some hemlock-trees by a big rock where there is a
+clear brook and a spring close by, and they sit down, and the Little
+Lady spreads the picnic all out--and there is ham too, and
+bread-and-butter, and doughnuts and they are so hungry that they eat
+everything, and both dip into one bowl when they get to huckleberries
+and cream.
+
+Then the Little Lady says:
+
+"Now tell me about the Hollow Tree People; they have picnics, too."
+
+"Sure enough, they do. And I think I'll have to tell you about their
+very last picnic and what happened."
+
+Well, once upon a time Mr. 'Possum said that he was getting tired of
+sitting down to a table every meal in a close room with the smell of
+cooking coming in, and if Mr. Crow would cook up a few things that would
+taste good cold he'd pack the basket (that is, Mr. 'Possum would) and
+Mr. 'Coon could carry it, and they'd go out somewhere and eat their
+dinner in a nice place under the trees.
+
+Mr. 'Coon said he knew a pleasant place to go, and Mr. Crow said he'd
+cook one of Mr. Man's chickens, which Mr. 'Possum had brought home the
+night before, though it would take time, he said, because it was pretty
+old--Mr. 'Possum having picked it out in the dark in a hurry.
+
+[Illustration: AND HE TASTED OF THAT A LITTLE, TOO]
+
+So then they all flew around and put away things, and Mr. Crow got the
+chicken on while Mr. 'Coon sliced the bread and Mr. 'Possum cut the
+cake, which they had been saving for Sunday, and he picked out a pie
+too, and a nice book to read which Mr. Crow had found lying in Mr. Man's
+yard while the folks were at dinner. Then he packed the basket all neat
+and nice, and ate a little piece of the cake when Mr. 'Coon had stepped
+out to see how the chicken was coming along, and when the chicken was
+ready he cut it all up nicely, and he tasted of that a little, too,
+while Mr. Crow was getting on his best picnic things to go.
+
+And pretty soon they all started out, and it was so bright and sunny
+that Mr. 'Possum began to sing a little, and Mr. 'Coon told him not to
+make a noise like that or they'd have company--Mr. Dog or Mr. Fox or
+somebody--when there was only just enough chicken for themselves, which
+made Mr. 'Possum stop right away. And before long they came to a very
+quiet place under some thick hemlock-trees behind a stone wall and close
+to a brook of clear water.
+
+That was the place Mr. 'Coon had thought of, and they sat down there and
+spread out all the things on some moss, and everything looked so nice
+that Mr. 'Possum said they ought to come here every day and eat dinner
+as long as the hot weather lasted. Then they were all so hungry that
+they began on the chicken right away, and Mr. 'Possum said that maybe he
+_might_ have picked out a tenderer one, but that he didn't think he
+could have found a bigger one, or one that would have lasted longer, and
+that, after all, size and lasting were what one needed for a picnic.
+
+[Illustration: MR. POSSUM LEANED HIS BACK AGAINST A TREE AND READ
+HIMSELF TO SLEEP]
+
+So they ate first one thing and then another, and Mr. 'Coon asked if
+they remembered the time Mr. Dog had come to one of their picnics before
+they were friends with him, when he'd really been invited to stay away;
+and they all laughed when they thought how Mr. Rabbit had excused
+himself, and the others, too, one after another, until Mr. Dog had the
+picnic mostly to himself. And by-and-by the Hollow Tree People lit their
+pipes and smoked, and Mr. 'Possum leaned his back against a tree and
+read himself to sleep, and dreamed, and had a kind of a nightmare about
+that other picnic, and talked in his sleep about it, which made Mr.
+'Coon think of something to do.
+
+So then Mr. 'Coon got some long grass and made a strong band of it and
+very carefully tied Mr. 'Possum to the tree, and just as Mr. 'Possum
+began to have his dream again and was saying "Oh! Oh! here comes Mr.
+Dog!" Mr. 'Coon gave three loud barks right in Mr. 'Possum's ear, and
+Mr. Crow said "Wake up! Wake up, Mr. 'Possum! Here he comes!"
+
+And Mr. 'Possum did wake up, and jumped and jerked at that band, and
+holloed out as loud as he could:
+
+"Oh, please let me go, Mr. Dog! Oh, please let me go, Mr. Dog!" for he
+thought it was Mr. Dog that had him, and he forgot all about them being
+friends.
+
+But just then he happened to see Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon rolling on the
+ground and laughing, and he looked down to see what had him and found he
+was tied to a tree, and he knew that they had played a joke on him. That
+made him pretty mad at first, and he said if he ever got loose he'd pay
+them back for their smartness.
+
+[Illustration: SO MR. 'POSSUM PROMISED, AND MR. 'COON UNTIED HIM]
+
+Then Mr. 'Coon told him he most likely never would get loose if he
+didn't promise not to do anything, so Mr. 'Possum promised, and Mr. Coon
+untied him. Mr. 'Possum said he guessed the chicken must have been
+pretty hard to digest, and he knew it was pretty salty, for he was dying
+for a good cold drink.
+
+Then Mr. 'Coon said he knew where there was a spring over beyond the
+wall that had colder water than the brook, and he'd show them the way to
+it. So they climbed over the wall and slipped through the bushes to the
+spring, and all took a nice cold drink, and just as they raised their
+heads from drinking they heard somebody say something. And they all kept
+perfectly still and listened, and they heard it again, just beyond some
+bushes.
+
+[Illustration: "AND WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY SAW?"]
+
+So then they crept softly in among the green leaves and branches and
+looked through, and what do you think they saw?
+
+The Story Teller turns to the Little Lady, who seems a good deal
+excited.
+
+"Why, why, what did they see?" she says. "Tell me, quick!"
+
+"Why," the Story Teller goes on, "they saw the Little Lady and the Story
+Teller having a picnic too, with all the nice things spread out by a
+rock, under the hemlock-trees."
+
+"Oh," gasps the Little Lady, "did they really see us? and are they there
+now?"
+
+"They might be," says the Story Teller. "The Hollow Tree People slip
+around very softly. Anyway, they were there then, and it was the first
+time they had ever seen the Little Lady and the Story Teller so close.
+And they watched them until they were all through with their picnic and
+had gathered up their things. Then the 'Coon and the 'Possum and Old
+Black Crow slipped away again, and crept over the wall and gathered up
+their own things and set out for home very happy."
+
+The Little Lady grasps the Story Teller's hand.
+
+"Let's go and see their picnic place!" she says. "They may be there
+now."
+
+So the Little Lady and the Story Teller go softly down to the spring
+and get a drink; then they creep across to the mossy stone wall and peer
+over, and there, sure enough, is a green mossy place in the shade, the
+very place to spread a picnic; and the Little Lady jumps and says "Oh!"
+for she sees something brown whisk into the bushes. Anyhow, she knows
+the Hollow Tree People have been there, for there is a little piece of
+paper on the moss which they must have used to wrap up something, and
+she thinks they most likely heard her coming and are just gone.
+
+So the Story Teller lifts her over the wall, and they sit down on the
+green moss of the Hollow Tree picnic place, and she leans up against him
+and listens to the singing of the brook, and the Story Teller sings
+softly too, until by-and-by the Little Lady is asleep.
+
+And it may be, as they sit there and drowse and dream, that the Hollow
+Tree People creep up close and watch them.
+
+Who knows?
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Hollow Tree Snowed-In, by Albert Bigelow Paine
+
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