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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 5701 ***
+
+
+
+
+                           _SLEEPY-TIME TALES_
+
+                               THE TALE OF
+                               FATTY COON
+
+                                   BY
+                           ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
+
+                             ILLUSTRATED BY
+                             HARRY L. SMITH
+
+                                NEW YORK
+                            GROSSET & DUNLAP
+                               PUBLISHERS
+
+
+                           Copyright, 1915, by
+                              A. S. BAILEY
+
+
+
+
+                                CONTENTS
+
+
+         CHAPTER                                                    PAGE
+
+               I  FATTY COON AT HOME                                   9
+
+              II  FATTY LEARNS SOMETHING ABOUT EGGS                   14
+
+             III  FATTY DISCOVERS MRS. TURTLE’S SECRET                20
+
+              IV  FATTY COON’S MISTAKE                                25
+
+               V  FATTY COON GOES FISHING                             30
+
+              VI  FATTY AND THE GREEN CORN                            34
+
+             VII  JOHNNIE GREEN IS DISAPPOINTED                       39
+
+            VIII  A TERRIBLE FRIGHT                                   44
+
+              IX  JOHNNIE GREEN LOSES HIS PET                         48
+
+               X  FATTY COON AND THE MONSTER                          52
+
+              XI  JASPER JAY TELLS SOME NEWS                          57
+
+             XII  FORTY FAT TURKEYS                                   62
+
+            XIII  FATTY MEETS JIMMY RABBIT                            68
+
+             XIV  THE BARBER-SHOP AGAIN                               75
+
+              XV  FATTY VISITS THE SMOKEHOUSE                         81
+
+             XVI  FATTY COON PLAYS ROBBER                             87
+
+            XVII  FATTY FINDS THE MOON                                93
+
+           XVIII  THE LOGGERS COME                                    98
+
+             XIX  FATTY GROWS EVEN FATTER                            102
+
+              XX  THE TRACKS IN THE SNOW                             107
+
+
+
+
+                              ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  FATTY SAW MRS. TURTLE DIGGING IN THE SAND               _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                                  Facing
+                                                                    page
+
+  FATTY COON CROUCHED CLOSE TO THE WATER’S EDGE                       32
+
+  FATTY WISHED THE DOG WOULD GO AWAY                                  42
+
+  FATTY STOPPED RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD                       54
+
+  “PLEASE, MR. BEAR, LET GO OF MY TAIL!” FATTY CRIED                  78
+
+  IT HUNG UNDER A TREE, JUST OVER FATTY’S HEAD                        94
+
+
+
+
+                                    I
+
+                           FATTY COON AT HOME
+
+
+Fatty Coon was so fat and round that he looked like a ball of fur, with
+a plumelike tail for a handle. But if you looked at him closely you
+would have seen a pair of very bright eyes watching you.
+
+Fatty loved to eat. Yes—he loved eating better than anything else in
+the world. That was what made him so fat. And that, too, was what led
+him into many adventures.
+
+Close by a swamp, which lay down in the valley, between Blue Mountain
+and Swift River, Fatty Coon lived with his mother and his brother and
+his two sisters. Among them all there was what grown people call “a
+strong family resemblance,” which is the same thing as saying that
+they all looked very much alike. The tail of each one of them—mother
+and children too—had six black rings around it. Each of them had a
+dark brown patch of fur across the face, like a mask. And—what do you
+think?—each of them, even Fatty and his brother and his sisters, had a
+stiff, white moustache!
+
+Of course, though they all looked so much alike, you would have known
+which was Mrs. Coon, for she was so much bigger than her children. And
+you would have known which was Fatty—he was so much rounder than his
+brother and his sisters.
+
+Mrs. Coon’s home was in the hollow branch of an old tree. It was a
+giant of a tree—a poplar close by a brook which ran into the swamp—and
+the branch which was Mrs. Coon’s home was as big as most tree-trunks
+are.
+
+Blackie was Fatty’s brother—for the mask on his face was just a little
+darker than the others’. Fluffy was one of Fatty’s sisters, because her
+fur was just a little fluffier than the other children’s. And Cutey was
+the other sister’s name, because she was so quaint.
+
+Now, Fatty Coon was forever looking around for something to eat. He
+was never satisfied with what his mother brought home for him. No
+matter how big a dinner Mrs. Coon set before her family, as soon as
+he had finished eating his share Fatty would wipe his white moustache
+carefully—for all the world like some old gentleman—and hurry off in
+search of something more.
+
+Sometimes he went to the edge of the brook and tried to catch fish by
+hooking them out of the water with his sharp claws. Sometimes he went
+over to the swamp and hunted for duck among the tall reeds. And though
+he did not yet know how to catch a duck, he could always capture a frog
+or two; and Fatty ate them as if he hadn’t had a mouthful of food for
+days.
+
+To tell the truth, Fatty would eat almost anything he could get—nuts,
+cherries, wild grapes, blackberries, bugs, small snakes, fish,
+chickens, honey—there was no end to the different kinds of food he
+liked. He ate everything. And he always wanted more.
+
+“Is this all there is?” Fatty Coon asked his mother one day. He had
+gobbled up every bit of the nice fish that Mrs. Coon had brought home
+for him. It was gone in no time at all.
+
+Mrs. Coon sighed. She had heard that question so many times; and she
+wished that for once Fatty might have all the dinner he wanted.
+
+“Yes—that’s all,” she said, “and I should think that it was enough for
+a young coon like you.”
+
+Fatty said nothing more. He wiped his moustache on the back of his hand
+(I hope you’ll never do that!) and without another word he started off
+to see what he could find to eat.
+
+
+
+
+                                   II
+
+                    FATTY LEARNS SOMETHING ABOUT EGGS
+
+
+When Fatty Coon started off alone to find something more to eat, after
+finishing the fish that his mother had brought home for him, he did not
+know that he was going to have an adventure. He nosed about among the
+bushes and the tall grasses and caught a few bugs and a frog or two.
+But he didn’t think that _that_ was much. He didn’t seem to have much
+luck, down on the ground. So he climbed a tall hemlock, to see if he
+could find a squirrel’s nest, or some bird’s eggs.
+
+Fatty loved to climb trees. Up in the big hemlock he forgot, for a
+time, that he was still hungry. It was delightful to feel the branches
+swaying under him, and the bright sunshine was warm upon his back. He
+climbed almost to the very tip-top of the tree and wound himself around
+the straight stem. The thick, springy branches held him safely, and
+soon Fatty was fast asleep. Next to eating, Fatty loved sleeping. And
+now he had a good nap.
+
+Fatty Coon woke up at last, yawned, and slowly unwound himself from
+the stem of the tree. He was terribly hungry now. And he felt that he
+simply _must_ find something to eat at once.
+
+Without going down to the ground, Fatty climbed over into the top of
+another big tree and his little beady, bright eyes began searching all
+the branches carefully. Pretty soon Fatty smiled. He smiled because he
+was pleased. And he was pleased because he saw exactly what he had
+been looking for. Not far below him was a big nest, built of sticks and
+lined with bark and moss. It was a crow’s nest, Fatty decided, and he
+lost no time in slipping down to the crotch of the tree where the nest
+was perched.
+
+There were four white eggs in the nest—the biggest crow’s eggs Fatty
+had ever seen. And he began to eat them hungrily. His nose became
+smeared with egg, but he didn’t mind that at all. He kept thinking how
+good the eggs tasted—and how he wished there were more of them.
+
+There was a sudden rush through the branches of the tall tree. And
+Fatty Coon caught a hard blow on his head. He felt something sharp sink
+into his back, too. And he clutched at the edge of the nest to keep
+from falling.
+
+Fatty was surprised, to say the least, for he had never known crows
+to fight like that. And he was frightened, because his back hurt. He
+couldn’t fight, because he was afraid he would fall if he let go of the
+nest.
+
+There was nothing to do but run home as fast as he could. Fatty tried
+to hurry; but there was that bird, beating and clawing his back, and
+pulling him first one way and then another. He began to think he would
+never reach home. But at last he came to the old poplar where his
+mother lived. And soon, to his great joy, he reached the hole in the
+big branch; and you may well believe that Fatty was glad to slip down
+into the darkness where his mother, and his brother Blackie, and Fluffy
+and Cutey his sisters, were all fast asleep. He was glad, because he
+knew that no crow could follow him down there.
+
+Mrs. Coon waked up. She saw that Fatty’s back was sadly torn (for
+coons, you know, can see in the dark just as well as you can see in the
+daylight).
+
+“What on earth is the matter?” she exclaimed.
+
+Poor Fatty told her. He cried a little, because his back hurt him, and
+because he was so glad to be safe at home once more.
+
+“What color were those eggs?” Mrs. Coon inquired.
+
+“White!” said Fatty.
+
+“Ah, ha!” Mrs. Coon said. “Don’t you remember that crows’ eggs are a
+blueish green? That must have been a goshawk’s nest. And a goshawk is
+the fiercest of all the hawks there are. It’s no wonder your back is
+clawed. Come here and let me look at it.”
+
+Fatty Coon felt quite proud, as his mother examined the marks of the
+goshawk’s cruel claws. And he didn’t feel half as sorry for himself
+as you might think, for he remembered how good the eggs had tasted. He
+only wished there had been a dozen of them.
+
+
+
+
+                                   III
+
+                  FATTY DISCOVERS MRS. TURTLE’S SECRET
+
+
+After his adventure with the goshawk Fatty Coon did not go near the
+tree-tops for a long time. Whenever he left home he would crawl down
+the old poplar tree in which he lived; and he wouldn’t climb a single
+tree until he came home again. Somehow, he felt safer on the ground.
+You see, he hadn’t forgotten the fright he had had, nor how the
+goshawk’s claws had hurt his back.
+
+It was just three days after his scare, to be exact, when Fatty Coon
+found himself on the bank of the creek which flowed slowly into Swift
+River. Fatty had been looking for frogs, but he had had no luck at
+all. To tell the truth, Fatty was a little too young to catch frogs
+easily, even when he found one; and he was a good deal too fat, for he
+was so plump that he was not very spry.
+
+Now, Fatty was hiding behind some tall rushes, and his sharp little
+eyes were looking all about him, and his nose was twitching as he
+sniffed the air. He wished he might find a frog. But not one frog
+appeared. Fatty began to think that some other coon must have visited
+the creek just before him and caught them all. And then he forgot all
+about frogs.
+
+Yes! Frogs passed completely out of Fatty Coon’s mind. For whom should
+he spy but Mrs. Turtle! He saw her little black head first, bobbing
+along through the water of the creek. She was swimming toward the bank
+where Fatty was hidden. And pretty soon she pulled herself out of the
+water and waddled a short distance along the sand at the edge of the
+creek.
+
+Mrs. Turtle stopped then; and for a few minutes she was very busy about
+something. First she dug a hole in the sand. And Fatty wondered what
+she was looking for. But he kept very quiet. And after a time Mrs.
+Turtle splashed into the creek again and paddled away. But before she
+left she scooped sand into the hole she had dug. Before she left the
+place she looked all around, as if to make sure that no one had seen
+her. And as she waddled slowly to the water Fatty could see that she
+was smiling as if she was very well pleased about something. She seemed
+to have a secret.
+
+Fatty Coon had grown very curious, as he watched Mrs. Turtle. And just
+as soon as she was out of sight he came out from his hiding place
+in the tall reeds and trotted down to the edge of the creek. He went
+straight to the spot where Mrs. Turtle had dug the hole and filled it
+up again. And Fatty was so eager to know what she had been doing that
+he began to dig in the very spot where Mrs. Turtle had dug before him.
+
+It took Fatty Coon only about six seconds to discover Mrs. Turtle’s
+secret. For he did not have to paw away much of the sand before he came
+upon—what do you suppose? Eggs! Turtles’ eggs! Twenty-seven round,
+white eggs, which Mrs. Turtle had left there in the warm sand to hatch.
+_That_ was why she looked all around to make sure that no one saw her.
+_That_ was why she seemed so pleased. For Mrs. Turtle fully expected
+that after a time twenty-seven little turtles would hatch from those
+eggs—just as chickens do—and dig their way out of the sand.
+
+But it never happened that way at all. For as soon as he got over
+his surprise at seeing them, Fatty Coon began at once to eat those
+twenty-seven eggs. They were delicious. And as he finished the last one
+he couldn’t help thinking how lucky he had been.
+
+
+
+
+                                   IV
+
+                          FATTY COON’S MISTAKE
+
+
+Fatty Coon was very fond of squirrels. And you may think it strange
+when I tell you that not one of the squirrels anywhere around Blue
+Mountain was the least bit fond of Fatty Coon. But when I say that
+Fatty Coon was fond of squirrels, I mean that he liked to eat them. So
+of course you will understand now why the squirrels did not care for
+Fatty at all. In fact, they usually kept just as far away from him as
+they could.
+
+It was easy, in the daytime, for the squirrels to keep out of Fatty’s
+way, when he wandered through the tree-tops, for the squirrels were
+much sprier than Fatty. But at night—ah! that was a very different
+matter. For Fatty Coon’s eyes were even sharper in the dark than they
+were in the daylight; but the poor squirrels were just as blind as you
+are when you are safely tucked in bed and the light is put out.
+
+Yes—when the squirrels were in bed at night, up in their nests in the
+trees, they could see very little. And you couldn’t say they were
+_safe_ in bed, because they never knew when Fatty Coon, or his mother,
+or his brother, or one of his sisters, or some cousin of his, might
+come along and catch them before they knew it.
+
+Fatty thought it great sport to hunt squirrels at night. Whenever he
+tried it he usually managed to get a good meal. And after he had almost
+forgotten about the fright the goshawk had given him in the tall
+hemlock he began to roam through the tree-tops every night in search of
+squirrels and sleeping birds.
+
+But a night came at last when Fatty was well punished for hunting
+squirrels. He had climbed half-way to the top of a big chestnut
+tree, when he spied a hole in the trunk. He rather thought that some
+squirrels lived inside that hole. And as he listened for a few seconds
+he could hear something moving about inside. Yes! Fatty was sure that
+there was a squirrel in there—probably several squirrels.
+
+Fatty Coon’s eyes turned green. It was a way they had, whenever he was
+about to eat anything, or whenever he played with his brother Blackie,
+or Fluffy and Cutey, his sisters; or whenever he was frightened. And
+now Fatty was so sure that he was going to have a fine lunch that his
+eyes turned as green as a cat’s. He reached a paw inside the hole and
+felt all around.
+
+_Wow!_ Fatty gave a cry; and he pulled his paw out much faster than
+he had put it in. Something had given him a cruel dig. And in a jiffy
+Fatty saw what that “something” was. It was a grumpy old tramp coon,
+whom Fatty had never seen before.
+
+“What do you mean, you young rascal, by disturbing me like this?” the
+ragged stranger cried.
+
+“Please, sir, I never knew it was you,” Fatty stammered.
+
+“Never knew it was me! Who did you think it was?”
+
+“A—a squirrel!” Fatty said faintly. And he whimpered a little, because
+his paw hurt him.
+
+“Ho, ho! That’s a good one! That’s a good joke!” The tramp coon laughed
+heartily. And then he scowled so fiercely that poor Fatty nearly
+tumbled out of the tree. “You go home,” he said to Fatty. “And don’t
+you let me catch you around here again. You hear?”
+
+“Yes, sir!” Fatty said. And home he went. And you may be sure that he
+let _that_ tree alone after that. He never went near it again.
+
+
+
+
+                                    V
+
+                         FATTY COON GOES FISHING
+
+
+One day Fatty Coon was strolling along the brook which flowed not far
+from his home. He stopped now and then, to crouch close to the water’s
+edge, in the hope of catching a fish. And one time, when he lay quite
+still among the rocks, at the side of a deep pool, with his eyes
+searching the clear water, Fatty Coon suddenly saw something bright,
+all yellow and red, that lighted on the water right before him. It was
+a bug, or a huge fly. And Fatty was very fond of bugs—to eat, you know.
+So he lost no time. The bright thing had scarcely settled on the water
+when Fatty reached out and seized it. He put it into his mouth, when
+the strangest thing happened. Fatty felt himself pulled right over into
+the water.
+
+He was surprised, for he never knew a bug or a fly to be so strong as
+that. Something pricked his cheek and Fatty thought that the bright
+thing had stung him. He tried to take it out of his mouth, and he was
+surprised again. Whatever the thing was, it seemed to be stuck fast in
+his mouth. And all the time Fatty was being dragged along through the
+water. He began to be frightened. And for the first time he noticed
+that there was a slender line which stretched from his mouth straight
+across the pool. As he looked along the line Fatty saw a man at the
+other end of it—a man, standing on the other side of the brook! And he
+was pulling Fatty toward him as fast as he could.
+
+Do you wonder that Fatty Coon was frightened? He jumped back—as well
+as he could, in the water—and tried to swim away. His mouth hurt; but
+he plunged and pulled just the same, and jerked his head and squirmed
+and wriggled and twisted. And just as Fatty had almost given up hope of
+getting free, the gay-colored bug, or fly, or whatever it was, flew out
+of his mouth and took the line with it. At least, that was what Fatty
+Coon thought. And he swam quickly to the bank and scampered into the
+bushes.
+
+Now, this was what really happened. Farmer Green had come up the brook
+to catch trout. On the end of his fish-line he had tied a make-believe
+fly, with a hook hidden under its red and yellow wings. He had stolen
+along the brook very quietly, so that he wouldn’t frighten the fish.
+And he had made so little noise that Fatty Coon never heard him at
+all. Farmer Green had not seen Fatty, crouched as he was among the
+stones. And when Fatty reached out and grabbed the make-believe fly
+Farmer Green was even more surprised at what happened than Fatty
+himself. If the fish-hook hadn’t worked loose from Fatty’s mouth Farmer
+Green would have caught the queerest fish anybody ever caught, almost.
+
+Something seemed to amuse Farmer Green, as he watched Fatty dive into
+the bushes; and he laughed loud and long. But Fatty Coon didn’t laugh
+at all. His mouth was too sore; and he was too frightened. But he was
+very, very glad that the strange bug had flown away.
+
+
+
+
+                                   VI
+
+                        FATTY AND THE GREEN CORN
+
+
+It was mid-summer when Fatty Coon had what he then believed to be
+the finest time in all his life. And later, when he was older, he
+still thought that nothing had ever happened to him that was quite so
+enjoyable as that surprise his mother gave him when he was a young coon.
+
+Of course it was something to eat—the surprise. You must have guessed
+that, knowing Fatty Coon as you do.
+
+“Come, children!” Mrs. Coon said. “Come with me! I’m going to give you
+a treat—something specially nice.”
+
+“Is it something to eat?” Fatty asked, as they started off in the
+direction of Farmer Green’s fields.
+
+“Yes—and the best thing you ever tasted,” Mrs. Coon said.
+
+Fatty was greatly excited. His little bright eyes turned green in the
+moonlight. He wondered what the surprise would be. And, as usual, he
+was very hungry. He walked close beside his mother, for he wanted to
+be the first to taste the surprise. You would think that he would have
+wanted his two sisters to taste it first, and his brother Blackie, too.
+But you must not forget that Fatty was greedy. And greedy people are
+not thoughtful of others.
+
+When Mrs. Coon turned out of the lane and crawled through the fence,
+Fatty squeezed between the rails very nimbly, for him.
+
+“Here we are!” said his mother.
+
+Fatty looked about him. They stood in a field grown high with tall
+stalks of some sort, which turned to green, ribbon-like leaves half way
+up from the ground. Fatty grunted. He was very impolite, you see.
+
+“Well—what is there to eat that’s so fine?” he asked. “This stuff isn’t
+good. It’s like eating reeds.” He had already bitten into one of the
+stalks.
+
+“What do you call that?” Mrs. Coon asked. She showed Fatty a long roll
+of green that grew out of one of the stalks.
+
+“That’s something like a cattail,” said Fatty. “It isn’t good to eat.”
+
+“Have you ever tried one?” asked his mother.
+
+“N—no,” Patty said. “But Freddie Bluejay told me they weren’t good.”
+
+“He did, did he?” Mrs. Coon said nothing more. She stood up on her hind
+legs and pulled one of the tall stalks down until she could reach that
+long, green thing that grew there. In a jiffy she had torn it from its
+stalk. And then she stripped the green covering off it. “Try that!”
+said Mrs. Coon with a smile.
+
+Of course it was Fatty who tasted it first. He took a good mouthful
+of the white kernels, and he was overjoyed. Such sweetness! Such
+delicious, milky juice! It was a moment that Fatty never forgot.
+
+Fatty began tearing down the stalks for himself and he never said
+another word until at last he simply had to stop eating just to catch
+his breath.
+
+“What’s its name, Mother?” he inquired.
+
+“Corn, my child.”
+
+“Well, why doesn’t Freddie Bluejay like it?” Fatty asked.
+
+“He’s probably very fond of corn,” said Mrs. Coon. “And I’ve no doubt
+he was afraid that you would eat up this whole field, once you started.”
+
+“I’d like to,” said Fatty, with a sigh. “I’d like to eat all the corn
+in the world.”
+
+
+
+
+                                   VII
+
+                      JOHNNIE GREEN IS DISAPPOINTED
+
+
+It made Fatty Coon feel sad, just to think that there was that field
+full of corn, and that he could never eat all of it. But Fatty made
+up his mind that he would do the best he could. He would visit the
+cornfield every night and feast on those sweet, tender kernels.
+
+The very next night Fatty set out toward Farmer Green’s. It was hardly
+dark. But Fatty could not wait any longer. He could not even wait for
+his mother and his sisters and his brother. He hurried away alone. And
+when he came in sight of the cornfield he felt better. He had been the
+least bit afraid that the corn might be gone. He thought that maybe
+Farmer Green had picked it, or that some of the forest people had eaten
+it all. But there it was—a forest of corn, waving and rustling in the
+moonlight as the breeze touched it. Fatty felt very happy as he slipped
+through the rail-fence.
+
+I wouldn’t dare say how many ears of corn Fatty ate that night. And he
+would have eaten more, too, if it hadn’t been for just one thing. A dog
+barked. And that spoiled Fatty’s fun. For the dog was altogether too
+near for Fatty to feel safe. He even dropped the ear of corn he was
+gnawing and hurried toward the woods.
+
+It was lucky for Fatty that he started when he did. For that dog was
+close behind him in no time. There was only one thing to do: Fatty knew
+that he must climb a tree at once. So he made for the nearest tree
+in sight—a big, spreading oak, which stood all alone just beyond the
+fence. And as Fatty crouched on a limb he felt safe enough, though the
+dog barked and whined, and leaped against the tree, and made a great
+fuss.
+
+Fatty looked down at the dog and scolded a little. He was not afraid.
+But it made him cross to be driven out of the cornfield. And he wished
+the dog would go away. But the dog—it was Farmer Green’s Spot—the dog
+had no idea of leaving. He stayed right there and barked so loudly that
+it was not long before Farmer Green and his hired man came in sight.
+And with them was Johnnie Green and a little, young dog that had just
+been given to him.
+
+When Farmer Green saw Fatty he seemed disappointed. “He’s too young to
+bother with,” he said. “His skin’s not worth much. We’ll go ’long and
+see what we can find.”
+
+But Johnnie Green stayed behind. He wanted that young coon. And he
+intended to have him, too. Leaving the young dog to watch Fatty Coon,
+Johnnie went back to the farmhouse. After a while he appeared again
+with an axe over his shoulder. And when he began to chop away at the
+big oak, Fatty Coon felt very uneasy. Whenever Johnnie drove his axe
+into the tree, both the tree and Fatty shivered together. And Fatty
+began to wish he had stayed away from the cornfield. But not for long,
+because Johnnie Green soon gave up the idea of chopping down the big
+oak. The wood was so hard to cut, and the tree was so big, that Johnnie
+had not chopped long before he saw that it would take him all night
+to cut through it. He looked up longingly at Fatty Coon. And Johnnie
+started to climb the tree himself. But the higher he climbed, the
+higher Fatty climbed. And Johnnie knew that he could never catch that
+plump young coon in that way.
+
+At last Johnnie Green started off, calling his dog after him. And then
+Fatty Coon came down. But he did not go back to the cornfield. He
+decided that he had had adventures enough for one night. But Fatty had
+learned something—at least he thought he had. For he made up his mind
+that once he climbed a tree, no man could reach him. _Trees could not
+be chopped down!trees could not be chopped down!_ That was what Fatty
+believed. Perhaps you will know, later, whether Fatty ever found out
+that he was mistaken.
+
+
+
+
+                                  VIII
+
+                            A TERRIBLE FRIGHT
+
+
+It was the very next night after old dog Spot had treed Fatty Coon in
+the big oak near the cornfield. They had finished their evening meal at
+Farmer Green’s house. The cows were milked, the horses had been fed,
+the chickens had all gone to roost. And Farmer Green looked up at the
+moon, rising from behind Blue Mountain.
+
+“We’ll go coon-hunting again to-night,” he said to Johnnie and the
+hired man. “The corn has brought the coons up from the swamp. We’ll
+start as soon as it grows a little darker.”
+
+Well—after a while they set out for the cornfield. And sure enough! old
+Spot soon began to bark.
+
+“He’s treed!” said Farmer Green, pretty soon. And they all hurried over
+to the edge of the woods, where Spot had chased a coon up into a tall
+chestnut tree. In the moonlight they could see the coon quite plainly.
+“Another little feller!” cried Farmer Green. “I declare, all the coons
+that come to the cornfield seem to be young ones. This one’s no bigger
+than the one we saw last night.”
+
+Now, although Farmer Green never guessed it, it was Fatty Coon who was
+up there in the tall chestnut. He had run almost to the woods this
+time, before he had to take to a tree. In fact, if Spot hadn’t been
+quite so close to him Fatty could have reached the woods, and then he
+would have just jumped from one tree to another. But there were no
+trees near enough the big chestnut for that. Fatty had to stay right
+there and wait for those men to pass on. He wasn’t afraid. He felt
+perfectly safe in his big tree. And he only smiled when Johnnie Green
+said to his father—
+
+“I wish I had that young coon. He’d make a fine pet.”
+
+“A pet!” exclaimed Farmer Green. “You remember that pet fox you had,
+that stole my chickens?”
+
+“Oh, I’d be careful,” Johnnie promised. “Besides, don’t you think we
+ought to catch him, so he won’t eat any more corn?”
+
+Farmer Green smiled. He had been a boy himself, once upon a time, and
+he had not forgotten the pet coon that he had owned when he was just
+about Johnnie’s age.
+
+“All right!” he said at last. “I’ll give you one more chance, Johnnie.
+But you’ll have to see that this young coon doesn’t kill any of my
+poultry.”
+
+Johnnie promised that nothing of the sort should happen. And then his
+father and the hired man picked up their axes; and standing on opposite
+sides of the tall chestnut tree, they began to chop.
+
+How the chips did fly! At the very first blow Fatty knew that this was
+an entirely different sort of chopping from that which Johnnie had
+attempted the night before. The great tree shook as if it knew that it
+would soon come crashing down upon the ground.
+
+And as for Fatty Coon, he could not see but that he must fall when the
+tree did. He, too, shivered and shook. And he wrapped himself all the
+way around a limb and hung on as tight as ever he could.
+
+
+
+
+                                   IX
+
+                       JOHNNIE GREEN LOSES HIS PET
+
+
+Now, Farmer Green and his hired man had not chopped long before they
+stopped to breathe. They had not chopped long—but oh! what great,
+yawning holes they had made in the big chestnut! From the limb where he
+clung Fatty Coon looked down. The tree no longer shook. And Fatty felt
+better at once. You see, he thought that the men would go away, just as
+Johnnie had gone away the night before. But they had no such idea at
+all.
+
+“Which way are you going to fell her?” the hired man asked. He said
+_her_, meaning the _tree_, of course.
+
+“That way!” said Farmer Green, pointing toward the woods. “We’ll have
+to drop her that way, or she’ll fall right across the road, and of
+course _that_ would never do.”
+
+“But will she clear the trees on the edge of the woods?” The hired man
+appeared somewhat doubtful.
+
+“Oh, to be sure—to be sure!” answered Farmer Green.
+
+And with that they set to work again. But this time they both chopped
+on the same side of the tree—the side toward the woods.
+
+Now, if Fatty Coon was frightened before, you will believe that he was
+still more frightened when the big chestnut tree began to sag. Yes! it
+began to lean toward the woods. Slowly, slowly it tipped. And Fatty was
+scared half out of his mind. He climbed to the very top of the tree,
+because he wanted to get just as far away from those men as he could.
+And there he waited. There was nothing else he could do. Yes! he waited
+until that awful moment should come when the tree would go crashing
+down upon the ground. What was going to happen to him then? Fatty
+wondered. And while he was wondering there sounded all at once a great
+snapping and splitting. And Fatty felt the tree falling, falling. He
+could hear Johnnie Green shouting. And he shut his eyes and held fast
+to his branch. Then came the crash.
+
+When Fatty Coon opened his eyes he expected to see Johnnie Green all
+ready to seize him. But to his great surprise he was still far above
+the ground. You see, Farmer Green had been mistaken. Either the big
+chestnut tree was taller than he had guessed, or the woods were nearer
+than he had thought. For instead of dropping upon the ground, Fatty’s
+tree had fallen right against another tree on the edge of the woods.
+And there it lay, half-tipped over, with its branches caught fast in
+the branches of that other tree.
+
+It was no wonder that Johnnie Green shouted. And he shouted still more
+loudly when he saw Fatty scramble out of the big chestnut and into the
+other tree, and out of that tree and into another, and then out of
+_that_ tree. Fatty was going straight into the woods.
+
+It was no wonder that Johnnie Green shouted. For he had lost his
+pet coon. He had lost him before he ever had him. And he was sadly
+disappointed.
+
+But Fatty Coon was not disappointed, for he had not wanted to be a pet
+at all. And he was very glad—you may be sure—to get safely home once
+more.
+
+
+
+
+                                    X
+
+                       FATTY COON AND THE MONSTER
+
+
+One night Fatty Coon was strolling along the road that wound through
+the valley. He was in no hurry, for he had just left Farmer Green’s
+apple orchard, where he had bolted all the apples he could possibly
+eat. The night was dark and though it was not very late, all the
+country people seemed to be in bed. There were no farmers driving
+along the road. Fatty had it all to himself. And so he walked slowly
+homewards. It was then that the terrible monster almost caught him.
+
+This is how it all happened. There was a _br-br-br-r-r-r_ in the air.
+Fatty really should have heard it long before he did. But he had eaten
+so many apples that he had begun to feel sleepy; and his ears were not
+so sharp as they should have been. And when at last Fatty heard that
+_br-r-r-r_ it was quite loud. He was startled. And he stopped right in
+the middle of the road to listen. Fatty had never heard such a sound
+before.
+
+The strange animal was on him before he knew it. Its glaring eyes
+blinded him. And if it had not screamed at him Fatty would never have
+escaped. It was the terrible screech of the monster which finally
+made Fatty jump. It was a frightful cry—like six wildcats all wailing
+together. And Fatty leaped to one side of the road just before the
+monster reached him.
+
+The great creature went past Fatty like the wind and tore on up the
+hill. He seemed to be running so fast that he could not stop. Fatty
+could hear him panting as he climbed the sharp rise of the road.
+
+Fatty Coon hurried away. He wanted to get home before the monster could
+stop and come back to look for him.
+
+When Fatty told his mother about his narrow escape Mrs. Coon became
+much excited. She felt sure that Fatty was not mistaken, for had she
+not heard that strange cry herself?
+
+There it was again! _Woo-ooo-ooo-oo-o!_ It began low, rose to a shriek,
+and then died away again.
+
+Mrs. Coon and Fatty climbed to the very top of their old poplar and
+gazed down the valley.
+
+“Look, Mother!” Fatty cried. “He’s stopped at Farmer Green’s! You can
+see his eyes from here!”
+
+Mrs. Coon looked. Sure enough! It was just as Fatty said. And that
+horrid call echoed across the valley once more.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+Farmer Green stuck his head out of his chamber-window, to see what the
+man in the automobile wanted.
+
+“Where’s the nearest village, please?” the stranger asked. And after
+Farmer Green had told him the man drove his car on again.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+From their tree-top Fatty and his mother watched the monster dash down
+the valley. They knew he had gone, because they could see the gleam of
+those awful eyes.
+
+“Do you suppose he ate up Farmer Green and his family?” Fatty asked in
+a frightened voice.
+
+“I hope so,” she said. “Then perhaps there’ll be no more traps in the
+woods.”
+
+“But who would plant the corn?” Fatty asked.
+
+Mrs. Coon did not appear to hear his question.
+
+
+
+
+                                   XI
+
+                       JASPER JAY TELLS SOME NEWS
+
+
+It was quite late in the fall, and the weather had grown very cold.
+Mrs. Coon and her family had not left their home for several days; but
+on this day she thought it would be pleasant to go out in the sunshine
+and get a breath of fresh air and a bite to eat.
+
+Fatty was the only one of her children that was not asleep; and he
+complained of being very hungry. So Mrs. Coon decided to take him with
+her.
+
+The hunting was not very good. There were no birds’ eggs at all to be
+found in the trees. The river and the brook and the creek were all
+frozen over, so Fatty and his mother could not catch any fish. And as
+for corn—Farmer Green had long ago gathered the last ear of it. Fatty
+wished that it was summertime. But it only made him hungrier than ever,
+to think of all the good things to eat that summer brings. He was
+feeling very unhappy when his mother said to him sharply—
+
+“Run up this tree! Hurry, now! Don’t ask any questions.”
+
+Now, Fatty did not always mind his mother as quickly as he might have.
+But this time he saw that she had stopped and was sniffing the air as
+if there was something about it she did not like.
+
+That was enough for Fatty. He scrambled up the nearest tree. For he
+knew that his mother had discovered danger of some sort.
+
+Mrs. Coon followed close behind Fatty. And they had no sooner hidden
+in the branches than Fatty saw what it was that his mother had smelled.
+
+It was Johnnie Green! He passed right underneath the tree where they
+were perched. And as Mrs. Coon peeped down at him she shuddered and
+shivered and shook so hard that Fatty couldn’t help noticing it.
+
+“What’s the matter?” he asked, as soon as Johnnie Green was out of
+sight.
+
+“His cap!” Mrs. Coon exclaimed. “He is wearing a coon-skin cap!” Now
+do you wonder that she was upset? “Don’t ever go near Farmer Green’s
+house,” she warned Fatty. “You don’t want to be made into a cap, or a
+pair of gloves, or a coat, or anything like that, do you?”
+
+“No, indeed, Mother!” Fatty was quite sure that such an adventure
+wouldn’t please him at all. And he told himself right then and there
+that he would never go anywhere near Farmer Green’s house. We shall see
+how well Fatty remembered.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+That very afternoon Fatty Coon heard some very pleasant news. It was
+Jasper Jay who told him.
+
+Jasper Jay was a very noisy blue jay who lived in the neighborhood. He
+did not go south with most of the other birds when the cold weather
+came. He liked the winter and he was forever tearing about the woods,
+squalling and scolding at everybody. He was a very noisy fellow.
+
+Well! when Fatty and his mother had reached home after their hunt,
+Fatty stayed out of doors. He climbed to the top of a tall pine tree
+nearby and stretched himself along a limb, to enjoy the sunshine,
+which felt very good upon his broad back. It was there that Jasper Jay
+found him and told him the pleasant news. And Fatty was very glad to
+hear the news, because he was still hungry.
+
+This is what Jasper Jay told Fatty: he told him that Farmer Green had
+as many as forty fat turkeys, which roosted every night in a spreading
+oak in Farmer Green’s front yard.
+
+“If I liked turkeys I would certainly go down there some night and get
+one,” said Jasper Jay.
+
+
+
+
+                                   XII
+
+                            FORTY FAT TURKEYS
+
+
+When Jasper Jay told Fatty Coon about Farmer Green’s forty fat turkeys
+Fatty felt hungrier than ever.
+
+“Oh! I mustn’t go near Farmer Green’s house!” he said. “My mother told
+me to keep away from there.... What time did you say the turkeys go to
+roost?”
+
+“Oh! they go to roost every night at sundown,” Jasper Jay explained.
+“And there they sit, up in the tree, all night long. They’re fast
+asleep. And you would have no trouble at all in catching as many as you
+wanted.... But of course, if you’re afraid—why there’s no use of _my_
+talking about it. There’s a plenty of other coons in these woods who’d
+be glad to know about those turkeys. And maybe they’d have the manners
+to say ‘Thank you!’ too.” And with a hoarse, sneering laugh Jasper Jay
+flew away.
+
+That was enough for Fatty. He made up his mind that he would show
+Jasper Jay that _he_ was not afraid. And he wanted a turkey to eat,
+too. He said nothing to his mother about Jasper’s news. But that very
+night, when the moon came up, and the lights in Farmer Green’s house
+were all out, Fatty Coon went stealing across the fields.
+
+He was not afraid, for he knew that Farmer Green and all his family
+were in their beds. And it was so cold that Fatty felt sure that Farmer
+Green’s dogs would be inside their kennels.
+
+Fatty did not intend to make any noise. The turkeys were asleep—so
+Jasper Jay had told him—and he expected to grab one of them so swiftly
+and silently that the other turkeys would never know it.
+
+When Fatty Coon came to Farmer Green’s yard he had no trouble at all
+in finding the spreading oak. He could see the turkeys plainly where
+they dozed on the bare branches. And in less time than it takes to
+tell it Fatty had climbed the tree. On the very lowest limb there
+was a row of four plump turkeys, all sound asleep. And Fatty reached
+out and seized the nearest one. He seized the turkey by the neck, so
+that the big bird could not call out. But Fatty was not quite quick
+enough. Before he could pull her off her perch the turkey began to
+flap her wings, and she struck the turkey next her, so that _that_
+turkey woke up and began to gobble and flap _her_ wings. Then the
+next turkey on the limb woke up. And the first thing that Fatty Coon
+knew, every one of the thirty-nine turkeys that were left was going
+_gobble-gob-gob-gob-gobble_! And some of them went sailing off across
+the yard. One of them lighted on top of the porch just outside Farmer
+Green’s window and it seemed to Fatty that _that_ one made the greatest
+racket of all.
+
+Farmer Green’s window flew up; and Farmer Green’s voice called “Spot!
+Spot!”
+
+Fatty Coon did not wait to hear anything more. He dropped the turkey he
+had seized and slipped down to the ground. And then he ran toward the
+woods as fast as he could go.
+
+Farmer Green’s dog Spot was barking now. And Fatty wanted to climb one
+of the trees by the roadside. But he remembered, the narrow escape he
+had had when the dog had treed him near the cornfield. So he never
+stopped until he reached the woods. Then he went nimbly up into the
+trees. And while Spot was barking at the foot of the first tree he
+climbed, Fatty was travelling through the tree-tops toward home.
+
+He never said anything to his mother about Farmer Green’s turkeys. But
+the next time he saw Jasper Jay Fatty told him exactly what he thought
+of him.
+
+“Ha! ha!” Jasper Jay only laughed. And he did not seem at all surprised
+that Fatty had fallen into trouble. To tell the truth, he was only
+sorry because Fatty had escaped. Jasper Jay did not like Fatty Coon.
+And he had told him about the forty fat turkeys because he hoped that
+Fatty would get caught if he tried to steal one of them.
+
+“Wait till I catch you!” Fatty said.
+
+But Jasper Jay only laughed harder than ever when Fatty said that. He
+seemed to think it was a great joke. He was most annoying.
+
+
+
+
+                                  XIII
+
+                        FATTY MEETS JIMMY RABBIT
+
+
+For once Fatty Coon was not hungry. He had eaten so much of Farmer
+Green’s corn that he felt as if he could not swallow another mouthful.
+He was strolling homewards through the woods when someone called to
+him. It was Jimmy Rabbit.
+
+“Where are you going, Fatty?” Jimmy Rabbit asked.
+
+“Home!” said Fatty.
+
+“Are you hungry?” Jimmy Rabbit asked anxiously.
+
+“I should say not!” Fatty answered. “I’ve just had the finest meal I
+ever ate in my life.”
+
+Jimmy Rabbit seemed to be relieved to hear that.
+
+“Come on over and play,” he said. “My brother and I are playing
+barber-shop over in the old sycamore tree; and we need you.”
+
+“All right!” said Fatty. It was not often that any of the smaller
+forest-people were willing to play with him, because generally Fatty
+couldn’t help getting hungry and then he usually tried to eat his
+playmates. “What do you need me for?” Fatty asked, as he trudged along
+beside Jimmy Rabbit.
+
+“We need you for the barber’s pole,” Jimmy explained. “You can come
+inside the hollow tree and stick your tail out through a hole. It will
+make a fine barber’s pole—though the stripes DO run the wrong way, to
+be sure.”
+
+Fatty Coon was greatly pleased. He looked around at his tail and felt
+very proud.
+
+“I’ve got a beautiful tail—haven’t I?” he asked.
+
+“Um—yes!” Jimmy Rabbit replied, “though I must say it isn’t one that I
+would care for myself.... But come along! There may be people waiting
+to get their hair cut.”
+
+Sure enough! When they reached the make-believe barber-shop there was
+a gray squirrel inside, and Jimmy Rabbit’s brother was busily snipping
+the fur off Mr. Squirrel’s head.
+
+“How much do you charge for a hair-cut?” Fatty asked.
+
+“Oh, that depends!” Jimmy Rabbit said. “Mr. Squirrel will pay us six
+cabbage leaves. But if we were to cut your hair we’d have to ask more.
+We’d want a dozen cabbage leaves, at least.”
+
+“Well, don’t I get anything for the use of my tail?” Fatty asked. He
+had already stuck it out through the hole; and he had half a mind to
+pull it in again.
+
+Jimmy Rabbit and his brother whispered together for a few moments.
+
+“I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” Jimmy said. “If you’ll let us use your
+tail for the barber’s pole, we’ll cut your hair free. Isn’t that fair
+enough?”
+
+Fatty Coon was satisfied. But he insisted that Jimmy begin to cut his
+hair at once.
+
+“I’m doing my part of the work now,” he pointed out. “So there’s no
+reason why you shouldn’t do yours.”
+
+With that Jimmy Rabbit began. He clipped and snipped at Fatty’s head,
+pausing now and then to see the effect. He smiled once in a while,
+behind Fatty’s back, because Fatty certainly did look funny with his
+fur all ragged and uneven.
+
+“Moustache trimmed?” Jimmy Rabbit asked, when he had finished with
+Fatty’s head.
+
+“Certainly—of course!” Fatty Coon answered. And pretty soon Fatty’s
+long white moustache lay on the floor of the barber-shop. Fatty felt a
+bit uneasy as he looked down and saw his beautiful moustache lying at
+his feet. “You haven’t cut it too short, I hope,” he said.
+
+“No, indeed!” Jimmy Rabbit assured him. “It’s the very latest style.”
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+“What on earth has happened to you?” Mrs. Coon cried,—when Fatty
+reached home that night. “Have you been in a fire?”
+
+“It’s the latest style, Mother,” Fatty told her. “At least, that’s what
+Jimmy Rabbit says.” He felt the least bit uneasy again.
+
+“Did you let that Jimmy Rabbit do that to you?” Mrs. Coon asked.
+
+Fatty hung his head. He said nothing at all. But his mother knew.
+
+“Well! you _are_ a sight!” she exclaimed. “It will be months before you
+look like my child again. I shall be ashamed to go anywhere with you.”
+
+Fatty Coon felt very foolish. And there was just one thing that kept
+him from crying. And _that_ was _this_: he made up his mind that when
+he played barber-shop with Jimmy Rabbit again he would get even with
+him.
+
+But when the next day came, Fatty couldn’t find Jimmy Rabbit and his
+brother anywhere. They kept out of sight. But they had told all the
+other forest-people about the trick they had played on Fatty Coon. And
+everywhere Fatty went he heard nothing but hoots and jeers and laughs.
+He felt very silly. And he wished that he might meet Jimmy Rabbit and
+his brother.
+
+
+
+
+                                   XIV
+
+                          THE BARBER-SHOP AGAIN
+
+
+Although Fatty Coon never could get Jimmy Rabbit and his brother to
+play barber-shop with him again, Fatty saw no reason why he should not
+play the game without them. So one day he led his brother Blackie over
+to the old hollow sycamore. His sisters, Fluffy and Cutey, wanted to go
+too. But Fatty would not let them. “Girls can’t be barbers,” he said.
+And of course they could find no answer to that.
+
+As soon as Fatty and Blackie reached the old sycamore I am sorry to say
+that a dispute arose. Each of them wanted to use his own tail for the
+barber’s pole. They couldn’t both stick their tails through the hole in
+the tree at the same time. So they finally agreed to take turns.
+
+Playing barber-shop wasn’t so much fun as they had expected, because
+nobody would come near to get his hair cut. You see, the smaller
+forest-people were all afraid to go inside that old sycamore where
+Fatty and Blackie were. There was no telling when the two brothers
+might get so hungry they would seize and eat a rabbit or a squirrel or
+a chipmunk. And you know it isn’t wise to run any such risk as that.
+
+Fatty offered to cut Blackie’s hair. But Blackie remembered what his
+mother had said when Fatty came home with his moustache gone and his
+head all rough and uneven. So Blackie wouldn’t let Fatty touch him.
+But _he_ offered to cut Fatty’s hair—what there was left of it.
+
+“No, thank you!” said Fatty. “I only get my hair cut once a month.” Of
+course, he had never had his hair cut except that once, in his whole
+life.
+
+Now, since there was so little to do inside the hollow tree, Fatty and
+Blackie kept quarreling. Blackie would no sooner stick his tail through
+the hole in the side of the tree than Fatty would want _his_ turn.
+And when Fatty had succeeded in squeezing _his_ tail out through the
+opening Blackie would insist that Fatty’s time was up.
+
+It was Fatty’s turn, and Blackie was shouting to him to stand aside and
+give him a chance.
+
+“I won’t!” said Fatty. “I’m going to stay here just as long as I
+please.”
+
+The words were hardly out of his mouth when he gave a sharp squeal, as
+if something hurt him. And he tried to pull his tail out of the hole.
+He wanted to get it out now. But alas! it would not come! It was caught
+fast! And the harder Fatty pulled the more it hurt him.
+
+“Go out and see what’s the matter!” he cried to Blackie.
+
+But Blackie wouldn’t stir. He was afraid to leave the shelter of the
+hollow tree.
+
+“It may be a bear that has hold of your tail,” he told Fatty. And
+somehow, that idea made Fatty tremble all over.
+
+“Oh, dear! oh, dear!” he wailed. “What shall I do? Oh! whatever shall I
+do?” He began to cry. And Blackie cried too. How Fatty wished that his
+mother was there to tell him what to do!
+
+But he knew of no way to fetch her. Even if she were at home she could
+never hear him calling from inside the tree. So Fatty gave up all hope
+of her helping.
+
+“Please, Mr. Bear, let go of my tail!” he cried, when he could stand
+the pain no longer.
+
+The only answer that came was a low growl, which frightened Fatty and
+Blackie more than ever. And then, just as they both began to howl
+at the top of their voices Fatty’s tail was suddenly freed. He was
+pulling on it so hard that he fell all in a heap on the floor of the
+barber-shop. And that surprised him.
+
+But he was still more surprised when he heard his mother say—
+
+“Stop crying and come out—both of you!” Fatty and Blackie scrambled out
+of the hollow sycamore. Fatty looked all around. But there was no bear
+to be seen anywhere—no one but his mother.
+
+“Did you frighten the bear away, Mother?” he asked.
+
+“There was no bear,” Mrs. Coon told him. “And it’s lucky for you that
+there wasn’t. I saw your tail sticking out of this tree and I thought
+I would teach you a lesson. Now, don’t ever do such a foolish thing
+again. Just think what a fix you would have been in if Johnnie Green
+had come along. He could have caught you just as easily as anything.”
+
+Fatty Coon was so glad to be free once more that he promised to be good
+forever after. And he was just as good as any little coon could be—all
+the rest of that day.
+
+
+
+
+                                   XV
+
+                      FATTY VISITS THE SMOKE-HOUSE
+
+
+The winter was fast going. And one fine day in February Fatty Coon
+crept out of his mother’s house to enjoy the warm sunshine—and see what
+he could find to eat.
+
+Fatty was much thinner than he had been in the fall. He had spent so
+much of the time sleeping that he had really eaten very little. And now
+he hardly knew himself as he looked at his sides. They no longer stuck
+out as they had once.
+
+After nosing about the swamp and the woods all the afternoon Fatty
+decided that there was no use in trying to get a meal there. The
+ground was covered with snow. And except for rabbit tracks—and a few
+squirrels’—he could find nothing that even suggested food. And looking
+at those tracks only made him hungrier than ever.
+
+For a few minutes Fatty thought deeply. And then he turned about and
+went straight toward Farmer Green’s place. He waited behind the fence
+just beyond Farmer Green’s house; and when it began to grow dark he
+crept across the barnyard.
+
+As Fatty passed a small, low building he noticed a delicious smell. And
+he stopped right there. He had gone far enough. The door was open a
+little way. And after one quick look all around—to make sure there was
+nobody to see him—Fatty slipped inside.
+
+It was almost dark inside Farmer Green’s smokehouse—for that was what
+the small, low building was called. It was almost dark; but Fatty could
+see just as well as you and I can see in the daytime. There was a long
+row of hams hung up in a line. Underneath them were white ashes, where
+Farmer Green had built wood fires, to smoke the hams. But the fires
+were out, now; and Fatty was in no danger of being burned.
+
+The hams were what Fatty Coon had smelled. And the hams were what Fatty
+intended to eat. He decided that he would eat them all—though of course
+he could never have done that—at least, not in one night; nor in a
+week, either. But when it came to eating, Fatty’s courage never failed
+him. He would have tried to eat an elephant, if he had had the chance.
+
+Fatty did not stop to look long at that row of hams. He climbed a post
+that ran up the side of the house and he crept out along the pole from
+which the hams were hung.
+
+He stopped at the very first ham he came to. There was no sense in
+going any further. And Fatty dropped on top of the ham and in a
+twinkling he had torn off a big, delicious mouthful.
+
+Fatty could not eat fast enough. He wished he had two mouths—he was so
+hungry. But he did very well, with only _one_. In no time at all he
+had made a great hole in the ham. And he had no idea of stopping. But
+he did stop. He stopped very suddenly. For the first thing he knew,
+something threw him right down upon the floor. And the ham fell on top
+of him and nearly knocked him senseless.
+
+He choked and spluttered; for the ashes filled his mouth and his eyes,
+and his ears, too. For a moment he lay there on his back; but soon he
+managed to kick the heavy ham off his stomach and then he felt a little
+better. But he was terribly frightened. And though his eyes smarted so
+he could hardly see, he sprang up and found the doorway.
+
+Fatty swallowed a whole mouthful of ashes as he dashed across the
+barnyard. And he never stopped running until he was almost home. He was
+puzzled. Try as he would, he couldn’t decide what it was that had flung
+him upon the floor. And when he told his mother about his adventure—as
+he did a whole month later—she didn’t know exactly what had happened,
+either.
+
+“It was some sort of trap, probably,” Mrs. Coon said.
+
+But for once Mrs. Coon was mistaken.
+
+It was very simple. In his greedy haste Fatty had merely bitten through
+the cord that fastened the ham to the pole. And of course it had at
+once fallen, carrying Fatty with it!
+
+But what do you suppose? Afterward, when Fatty had grown up, and had
+children of his own, he often told them about the time he had escaped
+from the trap in Farmer Green’s smokehouse.
+
+Fatty’s children thought it very exciting. It was their favorite story.
+And they made their father tell it over and over again.
+
+
+
+
+                                   XVI
+
+                         FATTY COON PLAYS ROBBER
+
+
+After Fatty Coon played barber-shop with Jimmy Rabbit and his brother
+it was a long time before he met them again. But one day Fatty was
+wandering through the woods when he caught sight of Jimmy. Jimmy dodged
+behind a tree. And Fatty saw Jimmy’s brother peep from behind another.
+You see, his ears were so long that they stuck far beyond the tree, and
+Fatty couldn’t help seeing them.
+
+“Hello!” Fatty called. “I’m glad to see you.” And he told the truth,
+too. He had been trying to find those two brothers for weeks, because
+he wanted to get even with them for cutting off his moustache.
+
+Jimmy and his brother hopped out from behind their trees.
+
+“Hello!” said Jimmy. “We were just looking for you.” Probably he meant
+to say, “We were just looking _at_ you.” He was somewhat upset by
+meeting Fatty; for he knew that Fatty was angry with him.
+
+“Oh, ho! You were, were you?” Fatty answered. He began to slide down
+the tree he had been climbing.
+
+Jimmy Rabbit and his brother edged a little further away.
+
+“Better not come too near us!” he said. “We’ve both got the pink-eye,
+and you don’t want to catch it.”
+
+Fatty paused and looked at the brothers. Sure enough! their eyes were
+as pink as anything.
+
+“Does it hurt much?” Fatty asked.
+
+“Well—it does and it doesn’t,” Jimmy replied. “I just stuck a brier
+into one of my eyes a few minutes ago and it hurt awful, then. But
+you’ll be perfectly safe, so long as you don’t touch us.”
+
+“How long does it last?” Fatty inquired.
+
+“Probably we’ll never get over it,” Jimmy Rabbit said cheerfully. And
+his brother nodded his head, as much as to say, “That’s so!”
+
+Fatty Coon was just the least bit alarmed. He really thought that there
+was something the matter with their eyes. You see, though the Rabbit
+brothers’ eyes were always pink (for they were born that way), he had
+never noticed it before. So Fatty thought it would be safer not to go
+too near them.
+
+“Well, it’s too bad,” he told Jimmy. “I’m sorry. I wanted to play with
+you.”
+
+“Oh, that’s all right!” Jimmy said. “We can play, just the same. I’ll
+tell you what we’ll play. We’ll play—”
+
+“Not barber-shop!” Fatty interrupted. “I won’t play barber-shop, I
+never liked that game.”
+
+Jimmy Rabbit started to smile. But he turned his smile into a sneeze.
+And he said—
+
+“We’ll play robber. You’ll like that, I know. And you can be the
+robber. You look like one, anyhow.”
+
+That remark made Fatty Coon angry. And he wished that Jimmy hadn’t the
+pink-eye. He would have liked to make an end of him right then and
+there.
+
+“What do you mean?” he shouted. “Robber nothing! I’m just as good as
+you are!”
+
+“Of course, of course!” Jimmy said hastily. “It’s your face, you know,
+That black patch covers your eyes just like a robber’s mask. That’s
+why we want you to be the robber.”
+
+Fatty had slipped down his tree to the ground; and now he looked down
+into the creek. It was just as Jimmy said. Fatty had never thought of
+it before, but the black patch of short fur across the upper part of
+his face made him look exactly like a robber.
+
+“Come on!” said Jimmy. “We can’t play the game without you.”
+
+“Well—all right!” said Fatty. He began to feel proud of his mask. “What
+shall I do?”
+
+“You wait right here,” Jimmy ordered. “Hide behind that tree. We’ll go
+into the woods. And when we come back past this spot you jump out and
+say ‘Hands up!’ ... You understand?”
+
+“Of course!” said Fatty. “But hurry up! Don’t be gone long.”
+
+“Leave that to us,” said Jimmy Rabbit. He winked at his brother; and
+they started off together.
+
+Fatty Coon did not see that wink. If he had, he wouldn’t have waited
+there all the afternoon for those Rabbit brothers to return. They never
+came back at all. And they told everybody about the trick they had
+played on Fatty Coon. For a long time after that wherever Fatty went
+the forest-people called “Robber!” after him. And Jasper Jay was the
+most annoying of all, because whenever he shouted “Robber!” he always
+laughed so loudly and so long. His hoarse screech echoed through the
+woods. And the worst of it was, everybody knew what he was laughing at.
+
+
+
+
+                                  XVII
+
+                          FATTY FINDS THE MOON
+
+
+Wandering through the woods one day, Fatty Coon’s bright eyes caught a
+strange gleam from something—something that shone and glittered out of
+the green. Fatty wanted to see what it was, though he hardly thought it
+was anything to eat. But whenever he came upon something new he always
+wanted to examine it. So now Fatty hurried to see what the strange
+thing was.
+
+It was the oddest thing he had ever found—flat, round, and silvery; and
+it hung in the air, under a tree, just over Fatty’s head. Fatty Coon
+looked carefully at the bright thing. He walked all around it, so he
+could see it from all sides. And at last he thought he knew what it
+was. He made up his mind that it was the moon!
+
+He had often seen the moon up in the sky; and here it was, just the
+same size exactly, hanging so low that he could have reached it with
+his paw. He saw nothing strange in that; for he knew that the moon
+often touched the earth. Had he not seen it many a time, resting on the
+side of Blue Mountain? One night he had asked his mother if he might
+go up on the mountain to play with the moon; but she had only laughed.
+And here, at last, was the moon come to him! Fatty was so excited that
+he ran home as fast as he could go, to tell his mother, and his brother
+Blackie, and Fluffy and Cutey, his sisters.
+
+“Oh! the moon! the moon!” Fatty shouted. He had run so fast that,
+being so plump, he was quite out of breath. And that was all he could
+say.
+
+“Well, well! What about the moon!” Mrs. Coon asked. “Anybody would
+think you had found it, almost.” And she smiled.
+
+Fatty puffed and gasped. And at last he caught his breath again.
+
+“Yes—I’ve found it! It’s over in the woods—just a little way from
+here!” he said. “Big, and round, and shiny! Let’s all go and bring it
+home!”
+
+“Well, well, well!” Mrs. Coon was puzzled. She had never heard of the
+moon being found in those woods; and she hardly knew what to think.
+“Are you sure?” she asked.
+
+“Oh, yes, Mother!” Fatty could hardly wait, he was so eager to lead the
+way. And with many a shake of the head, Mrs. Coon, with her family,
+started off to see the moon.
+
+“There!” Fatty cried, as they came in sight of the bright, round thing.
+“There it is—just as I told you!” And they all set up a great shouting.
+
+All but Mrs. Coon. She wasn’t quite sure, even yet, that Fatty had
+really found the moon. And she walked close to the shining thing and
+peered at it. But not too close! Mrs. Coon didn’t go too near it. And
+she told her children quite sternly to stand back. It was well that she
+did; for when Mrs. Coon took her eyes off Fatty’s moon and looked at
+the ground beneath it—well! she jumped back so quickly that she knocked
+two of her children flat on the ground.
+
+A trap! _That_ was what Mrs. Coon saw right in front of her. And Farmer
+Green, or his boy, or whoever it was that set the trap, had hung that
+bright piece of _tin_ over the trap hoping that one of her family would
+see it and play with it—and fall into the trap. Yes—it was a mercy
+that Fatty hadn’t begun knocking it about. For if he had he would have
+stepped right into the trap and it would have shut—_snap_! Just like
+that. And there he would have been, caught fast.
+
+It was no wonder that Mrs. Coon hurried her family away from that spot.
+And Fatty led them all home again. He couldn’t get away from his moon
+fast enough.
+
+
+
+
+                                  XVIII
+
+                            THE LOGGERS COME
+
+
+Fatty Coon was frightened; he had just waked up and he heard a sound
+that was exactly like the noise Farmer Green and his hired man had made
+when they cut down the tall chestnut tree where he was perched.
+
+“Oh, Mother! What is it?” he cried.
+
+“The loggers have come,” Mrs. Coon said. “They are cutting down all the
+big trees in the swamp.”
+
+“Then we’ll have to move, won’t we?” Fatty asked.
+
+“No! They won’t touch this tree,” his mother told him. “It’s an old
+tree, and hollow—so they won’t chop it down. It’s only the good sound
+trees that they’ll take.”
+
+“But I thought this was a good tree.” Fatty was puzzled.
+
+“So it is, my son! It’s a good tree for us. But not for the loggers.
+They would have little use for it.”
+
+Fatty Coon felt better when he heard that. And he had a good deal of
+fun, peeping down at the loggers and watching them work. But he took
+care that they should not see _him_. He knew what their bright axes
+could do.
+
+When night came Fatty had still more fun. When the loggers were asleep
+Fatty went to their camp in the woods beside the brook and he found
+many good things to eat. He did not know the names of all the goodies;
+but he ate them just the same. He ’specially liked some potatoes which
+the careless cook had left in a pan near the open camp-fire. The fire
+was out. And the pan rested on a stump close beside it. Fatty Coon
+climbed up and crawled right inside the pan. And after he had had one
+taste of those potatoes he grew so excited—they were so good—that he
+tipped the pan off the stump and the potatoes rolled right into the
+ashes.
+
+Fatty had jumped to one side, when the tin pan fell. It made a great
+clatter; and he kept very still for a few moments, while he listened.
+But no one stirred. And then Fatty jumped plump into the ashes.
+
+_Whew!_ He jumped out again as fast as he could; for beneath the ashes
+there were plenty of hot coals. Fatty stood in them for not more than
+three seconds, but that was quite long enough. The bottoms of his feet
+burned as if a hundred hornets had stung them.
+
+He stood first on one foot and then on another. If you could have
+seen him you would have thought Fatty was dancing. And you might have
+laughed, because he looked funny.
+
+But Fatty Coon did not laugh. In fact, he came very near crying. And he
+did not wait to eat another mouthful. He limped along toward home. And
+it was several days before he stirred out of his mother’s house again.
+He just lay in his bed and waited until his burns were well again.
+
+It was very hard. For Fatty did not like to think of all those good
+things to eat that he was missing. And he hoped the loggers would not
+go away before his feet were well again.
+
+
+
+
+                                   XIX
+
+                         FATTY GROWS EVEN FATTER
+
+
+When Fatty Coon’s burned feet were well once more, the very first night
+he left his mother’s house he went straight to the loggers’ camp. He
+did not wait long after dark, because he was afraid that some of his
+neighbors might have found that there were good things to eat about the
+camp. And Fatty wanted them all.
+
+To his delight, there were goodies almost without end. He nosed about,
+picking up potato peelings, and bits of bacon. And perhaps the best of
+all was a piece of cornbread, which Fatty fairly gobbled. And then he
+found a box half-full of something—scraps that tasted like apples,
+only they were not round like apples, and they were quite dry, instead
+of being juicy. But Fatty liked them; and he ate them all, down to the
+smallest bit.
+
+He was thirsty, then. So he went down to the brook, which ran close by
+the camp. The loggers had cut a hole through the ice, so they could
+get water. And Fatty crept close to the edge of the hole and drank. He
+drank a great deal of water, because he was very thirsty. And when he
+had finished he sat down on the ice for a time. He did not care to stir
+about just then. And he did not think he would ever want anything to
+eat again.
+
+At last Fatty Coon rose to his feet. He felt very queer. There was a
+strange, tight feeling about his stomach. And his sides were no longer
+thin. They stuck out just as they had before winter came—only more so.
+And what alarmed Fatty was this: his sides seemed to be sticking out
+more and more all the time.
+
+He wondered what he had been eating. Those dry things that tasted like
+apples—he wondered what they were.
+
+Now, there was some printing on the outside of the box which held those
+queer, spongy, flat things. Of course, Fatty Coon could not read, so
+the printing did him no good at all. But if you had seen the box, and
+if you are old enough to read, you would have known that the printing
+said:
+
+                            EVAPORATED APPLES
+
+Now, evaporated apples are nothing more or less than dried apples. The
+cook of the loggers’ camp used them to make apple pies. And first,
+before making his pies, he always soaked them in water so they would
+swell.
+
+Now you see what made Fatty Coon feel so queer and uncomfortable. He
+had first eaten his dried apples. And then he had soaked them, by
+drinking out of the brook. It was no wonder that his sides stuck out,
+for the apples that he had bolted were swelling and puffing him out
+until he felt that he should burst. In fact, the wonder of it was that
+he was able to get through his mother’s doorway, when he reached home.
+
+But he did it, though it cost him a few groans. And he frightened his
+mother, too.
+
+“I only hope you’re not poisoned,” she said, when Fatty told her what
+he had been doing.
+
+And that remark frightened Fatty more than ever. He was sure he was
+never going to feel any better.
+
+Poor Mrs. Coon was much worried all the rest of the night. But when
+morning came she knew that Fatty was out of danger. She knew it because
+of something he said. It was this:
+
+“Oh, dear! I wish I had something to eat!”
+
+
+
+
+                                   XX
+
+                         THE TRACKS IN THE SNOW
+
+
+One fine winter’s day Fatty Coon came upon the queerest tracks in the
+snow. They were huge—a great deal bigger, even, than bear-tracks, which
+Fatty had sometimes seen, for once in a while, before the weather grew
+too cold, and he fell into his winter’s sleep, a bear would come down
+into the valley from his home on Blue Mountain.
+
+But these were six times as big as bear tracks. And Fatty felt a shiver
+of fear run up and down his back.
+
+He followed the trail a little way. But he was very careful. He was
+always ready to scramble up a tree, in case he should suddenly see the
+strange animal—or rather, in case the strange animal should see _him_.
+
+The great tracks led straight toward Farmer Green’s house. And Fatty
+did not want to go there. So he hurried home to ask his mother what he
+had found. Mrs. Coon listened to Fatty’s story.
+
+“I think it must be the monster that almost caught me in the road last
+summer,” said Fatty, meaning the automobile that had given him a great
+fright. “Maybe he’s come back again to catch Farmer Green and his
+family ... Do you suppose he’s eaten them up?”
+
+Mrs. Coon was puzzled. And she was somewhat alarmed, too. She wanted to
+see those strange tracks herself. So she told her other children not to
+step a foot out of the house until she came back. And then she asked
+Fatty to run along and show her where he had come upon the monster’s
+trail.
+
+Fatty Coon felt very important, as he led the way across the swamp
+and into the woods. It was not often that he could show his mother
+anything. And he was so proud that he almost forgot his fright.
+
+“I guess you’re glad I have sharp eyes,” he said, as they hurried along.
+
+“If the tracks are as big as you say they are, your eyes wouldn’t have
+to be very sharp to see them,” his mother told him. Mrs. Coon never
+liked to hear her children boast. She knew that boasting is one of the
+most unpleasant things anyone can do.
+
+“Well—maybe you don’t think I saw the monster’s tracks at all,” said
+Fatty. “Maybe you don’t think I heard him screech—”
+
+“When did you hear him screech?” Mrs. Coon asked. “This is the first
+you’ve said about _screeching_. When was it?”
+
+“Last summer,” Fatty answered.
+
+Mrs. Coon didn’t smile. Perhaps she was too worried for that.
+
+“It may not be the same monster,” she said. “It may not be a monster at
+all.”
+
+But by this time Fatty was sure he was right. He was sure he knew more
+than his mother.
+
+“Why can’t we go right over to Farmer Green’s and take some of his
+chickens?” he asked. “The monster has probably eaten him by this time,
+and all his family, too.”
+
+But Mrs. Coon would do no such thing.
+
+“Show me the tracks,” she said firmly. And so they went on into the
+woods.
+
+“There they are!” Fatty cried, a few minutes later. “See, Mother!
+They’re even bigger than I said.” He heard a funny noise behind him,
+then. And when Fatty Coon looked around he saw that his mother was
+actually holding her sides, she was laughing so hard.
+
+“Those are Farmer Green’s tracks,” she said, as soon as she could stop
+laughing long enough to speak.
+
+“What—as big as that?” Fatty pointed at the huge prints in the snow.
+
+“Snowshoes!” Mrs. Coon said. “He was wearing snowshoes—great frames
+made of thongs and sticks, to keep him from sinking into the snow.”
+
+So that was all there was to Fatty’s monster. Somehow, he was
+disappointed. But he was very glad he had said nothing to Jasper Jay
+about his strange animal. For if he had, he knew he would never have
+heard the last of it.
+
+And Fatty was glad about another thing, too. He felt very happy that
+his mother had not let him go after Farmer Green’s chickens.
+
+                                 THE END
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 5701 ***
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+<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 5701 ***</div>
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+  <img class="bbox" src="images/frontis.jpg" alt="" id="frontis">
+  <figcaption>Fatty Saw Mrs. Turtle Digging in the Sand</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div class="xlarge"><u><i>SLEEPY-TIME TALES</i></u></div>
+<h1>THE TALE OF<br> FATTY COON</h1>
+<div class="center large">BY<br>
+  <span class="xlarge">ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY</span></div>
+
+<div class="mt10">ILLUSTRATED BY<br>
+  <span class="xlarge">HARRY L. SMITH</span></div>
+
+<div class="mt10">NEW YORK<br>
+<span class="xlarge">GROSSET &amp; DUNLAP</span><br>
+PUBLISHERS</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div class="mb10 mt10">Copyright, 1915, by<br>
+A. S. BAILEY</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+</div>
+
+<table>
+  <thead>
+    <tr>
+      <th>CHAPTER</th>
+      <th></th>
+      <th class="tdr">PAGE</th>
+    </tr>
+  </thead>
+  <tbody>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#I">I</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Coon at Home</td>
+      <td class="tdr">9</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#II">II</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Learns Something About Eggs</td>
+      <td class="tdr">14</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#III">III</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Discovers Mrs. Turtle’s Secret</td>
+      <td class="tdr">20</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#IV">IV</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Coon’s Mistake</td>
+      <td class="tdr">25</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#V">V</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Coon Goes Fishing</td>
+      <td class="tdr">30</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#VI">VI</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty and the Green Corn</td>
+      <td class="tdr">34</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#VII">VII</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Johnnie Green Is Disappointed</td>
+      <td class="tdr">39</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#VIII">VIII</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">A Terrible Fright</td>
+      <td class="tdr">44</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#IX">IX</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Johnnie Green Loses His Pet</td>
+      <td class="tdr">48</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#X">X</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Coon and the Monster</td>
+      <td class="tdr">52</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#XI">XI</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Jasper Jay Tells Some News</td>
+      <td class="tdr">57</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#XII">XII</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Forty Fat Turkeys</td>
+      <td class="tdr">62</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#XIII">XIII</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Meets Jimmy Rabbit</td>
+      <td class="tdr">68</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#XIV">XIV</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">The Barber-Shop Again</td>
+      <td class="tdr">75</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#XV">XV</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Visits the Smokehouse</td>
+      <td class="tdr">81</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#XVI">XVI</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Coon Plays Robber</td>
+      <td class="tdr">87</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#XVII">XVII</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Finds the Moon</td>
+      <td class="tdr">93</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#XVIII">XVIII</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">The Loggers Come</td>
+      <td class="tdr">98</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#XIX">XIX</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Grows Even Fatter</td>
+      <td class="tdr">102</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdrt"><a href="#XX">XX</a></td>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">The Tracks in the Snow</td>
+      <td class="tdr">107</td>
+    </tr>
+  </tbody>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+</div>
+
+<table>
+  <tbody>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Saw Mrs. Turtle Digging in the Sand</td>
+      <td class="tdr"><a href="#frontis"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td></td>
+      <td class="tdr xsmall"><b>FACING<br>PAGE</b></td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Coon Crouched Close to the Water’s Edge</td>
+      <td class="tdr"><a href="#i_032">32</a></td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Wished the Dog Would Go Away</td>
+      <td class="tdr"><a href="#i_042">42</a></td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">Fatty Stopped Right in the Middle of the Road</td>
+      <td class="tdr"><a href="#i_054">54</a></td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">“Please, Mr. Bear, Let Go of My Tail!” Fatty Cried</td>
+      <td class="tdr"><a href="#i_078">78</a></td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td class="tdhang smcap">It Hung Under a Tree, Just Over Fatty’s Head</td>
+      <td class="tdr"><a href="#i_094">94</a></td>
+    </tr>
+  </tbody>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span>
+<div class="xxxlarge center"><b>THE TALE OF FATTY COON</b></div>
+<h2 id="I">I<br><br>FATTY COON AT HOME</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon was so fat and round that he looked like a ball of fur, with
+a plumelike tail for a handle. But if you looked at him closely you
+would have seen a pair of very bright eyes watching you.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty loved to eat. Yes—he loved eating better than anything else
+in the world. That was what made him so fat. And that, too, was what
+led him into many adventures.</p>
+
+<p>Close by a swamp, which lay down in <span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span>the valley, between Blue Mountain
+and Swift River, Fatty Coon lived with his mother and his brother and
+his two sisters. Among them all there was what grown people call “a
+strong family resemblance,” which is the same thing as saying that
+they all looked very much alike. The tail of each one of them—mother
+and children too—had six black rings around it. Each of them had a
+dark brown patch of fur across the face, like a mask. And—what do you
+think?—each of them, even Fatty and his brother and his sisters, had a
+stiff, white moustache!</p>
+
+<p>Of course, though they all looked so much alike, you would have known
+which was Mrs. Coon, for she was so much bigger than her children. And
+you would have known which was Fatty—he was so much rounder than his
+brother and his sisters.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Coon’s home was in the hollow branch of an old tree. It was a
+giant of a tree—a poplar close by a brook which ran into the swamp—and
+the branch which was Mrs. Coon’s home was as big as most tree-trunks
+are.</p>
+
+<p>Blackie was Fatty’s brother—for the mask on his face was just a little
+darker than the others’. Fluffy was one of Fatty’s sisters, because her
+fur was just a little fluffier than the other children’s. And Cutey was
+the other sister’s name, because she was so quaint.</p>
+
+<p>Now, Fatty Coon was forever looking around for something to eat. He
+was never satisfied with what his mother brought home for him. No
+matter how big a dinner Mrs. Coon set before her family, as soon as
+he had finished eating his share Fatty would wipe his white moustache
+carefully—for all the world like <span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span>some old gentleman—and hurry off in
+search of something more.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes he went to the edge of the brook and tried to catch fish by
+hooking them out of the water with his sharp claws. Sometimes he went
+over to the swamp and hunted for duck among the tall reeds. And though
+he did not yet know how to catch a duck, he could always capture a frog
+or two; and Fatty ate them as if he hadn’t had a mouthful of food for
+days.</p>
+
+<p>To tell the truth, Fatty would eat almost anything he could get—nuts,
+cherries, wild grapes, blackberries, bugs, small snakes, fish,
+chickens, honey—there was no end to the different kinds of food he
+liked. He ate everything. And he always wanted more.</p>
+
+<p>“Is this all there is?” Fatty Coon asked his mother one day. He had
+gobbled up every bit of the nice fish that Mrs. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span>Coon had brought home
+for him. It was gone in no time at all.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Coon sighed. She had heard that question so many times; and she
+wished that for once Fatty might have all the dinner he wanted.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes—that’s all,” she said, “and I should think that it was enough for
+a young coon like you.”</p>
+
+<p>Fatty said nothing more. He wiped his moustache on the back of his hand
+(I hope you’ll never do that!) and without another word he started off
+to see what he could find to eat.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span>
+<h2 id="II">II<br><br>FATTY LEARNS SOMETHING ABOUT EGGS</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>When Fatty Coon started off alone to find something more to eat, after
+finishing the fish that his mother had brought home for him, he did not
+know that he was going to have an adventure. He nosed about among the
+bushes and the tall grasses and caught a few bugs and a frog or two.
+But he didn’t think that <i>that</i> was much. He didn’t seem to have much
+luck, down on the ground. So he climbed a tall hemlock, to see if he
+could find a squirrel’s nest, or some bird’s eggs.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty loved to climb trees. Up in the big hemlock he forgot, for a
+time, that he <span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span>was still hungry. It was delightful to feel the branches
+swaying under him, and the bright sunshine was warm upon his back. He
+climbed almost to the very tip-top of the tree and wound himself around
+the straight stem. The thick, springy branches held him safely, and
+soon Fatty was fast asleep. Next to eating, Fatty loved sleeping. And
+now he had a good nap.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon woke up at last, yawned, and slowly unwound himself from
+the stem of the tree. He was terribly hungry now. And he felt that he
+simply <i>must</i> find something to eat at once.</p>
+
+<p>Without going down to the ground, Fatty climbed over into the top of
+another big tree and his little beady, bright eyes began searching all
+the branches carefully. Pretty soon Fatty smiled. He smiled because he
+was pleased. And he was pleased <span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span>because he saw exactly what he had
+been looking for. Not far below him was a big nest, built of sticks and
+lined with bark and moss. It was a crow’s nest, Fatty decided, and he
+lost no time in slipping down to the crotch of the tree where the nest
+was perched.</p>
+
+<p>There were four white eggs in the nest—the biggest crow’s eggs Fatty
+had ever seen. And he began to eat them hungrily. His nose became
+smeared with egg, but he didn’t mind that at all. He kept thinking how
+good the eggs tasted—and how he wished there were more of them.</p>
+
+<p>There was a sudden rush through the branches of the tall tree. And
+Fatty Coon caught a hard blow on his head. He felt something sharp sink
+into his back, too. And he clutched at the edge of the nest to keep
+from falling.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty was surprised, to say the least, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span>for he had never known crows
+to fight like that. And he was frightened, because his back hurt. He
+couldn’t fight, because he was afraid he would fall if he let go of the
+nest.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing to do but run home as fast as he could. Fatty tried
+to hurry; but there was that bird, beating and clawing his back, and
+pulling him first one way and then another. He began to think he would
+never reach home. But at last he came to the old poplar where his
+mother lived. And soon, to his great joy, he reached the hole in the
+big branch; and you may well believe that Fatty was glad to slip down
+into the darkness where his mother, and his brother Blackie, and Fluffy
+and Cutey his sisters, were all fast asleep. He was glad, because he
+knew that no crow could follow him down there.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Coon waked up. She saw that <span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span>Fatty’s back was sadly torn (for
+coons, you know, can see in the dark just as well as you can see in the
+daylight).</p>
+
+<p>“What on earth is the matter?” she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Fatty told her. He cried a little, because his back hurt him, and
+because he was so glad to be safe at home once more.</p>
+
+<p>“What color were those eggs?” Mrs. Coon inquired.</p>
+
+<p>“White!” said Fatty.</p>
+
+<p>“Ah, ha!” Mrs. Coon said. “Don’t you remember that crows’ eggs are a
+blueish green? That must have been a goshawk’s nest. And a goshawk is
+the fiercest of all the hawks there are. It’s no wonder your back is
+clawed. Come here and let me look at it.”</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon felt quite proud, as his mother examined the marks of the
+goshawk’s cruel claws. And he didn’t feel <span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span>half as sorry for himself
+as you might think, for he remembered how good the eggs had tasted. He
+only wished there had been a dozen of them.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span>
+<h2 id="III">III<br><br>FATTY DISCOVERS MRS. TURTLE’S SECRET</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>After his adventure with the goshawk Fatty Coon did not go near the
+tree-tops for a long time. Whenever he left home he would crawl down
+the old poplar tree in which he lived; and he wouldn’t climb a single
+tree until he came home again. Somehow, he felt safer on the ground.
+You see, he hadn’t forgotten the fright he had had, nor how the
+goshawk’s claws had hurt his back.</p>
+
+<p>It was just three days after his scare, to be exact, when Fatty Coon
+found himself on the bank of the creek which flowed slowly into Swift
+River. Fatty had been <span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span>looking for frogs, but he had had no luck at
+all. To tell the truth, Fatty was a little too young to catch frogs
+easily, even when he found one; and he was a good deal too fat, for he
+was so plump that he was not very spry.</p>
+
+<p>Now, Fatty was hiding behind some tall rushes, and his sharp little
+eyes were looking all about him, and his nose was twitching as he
+sniffed the air. He wished he might find a frog. But not one frog
+appeared. Fatty began to think that some other coon must have visited
+the creek just before him and caught them all. And then he forgot all
+about frogs.</p>
+
+<p>Yes! Frogs passed completely out of Fatty Coon’s mind. For whom should
+he spy but Mrs. Turtle! He saw her little black head first, bobbing
+along through the water of the creek. She was swimming toward the bank
+where Fatty was <span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span>hidden. And pretty soon she pulled herself out of the
+water and waddled a short distance along the sand at the edge of the
+creek.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Turtle stopped then; and for a few minutes she was very busy about
+something. First she dug a hole in the sand. And Fatty wondered what
+she was looking for. But he kept very quiet. And after a time Mrs.
+Turtle splashed into the creek again and paddled away. But before she
+left she scooped sand into the hole she had dug. Before she left the
+place she looked all around, as if to make sure that no one had seen
+her. And as she waddled slowly to the water Fatty could see that she
+was smiling as if she was very well pleased about something. She seemed
+to have a secret.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon had grown very curious, as he watched Mrs. Turtle. And just
+as <span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span>soon as she was out of sight he came out from his hiding place
+in the tall reeds and trotted down to the edge of the creek. He went
+straight to the spot where Mrs. Turtle had dug the hole and filled it
+up again. And Fatty was so eager to know what she had been doing that
+he began to dig in the very spot where Mrs. Turtle had dug before him.</p>
+
+<p>It took Fatty Coon only about six seconds to discover Mrs. Turtle’s
+secret. For he did not have to paw away much of the sand before he came
+upon—what do you suppose? Eggs! Turtles’ eggs! Twenty-seven round,
+white eggs, which Mrs. Turtle had left there in the warm sand to hatch.
+<i>That</i> was why she looked all around to make sure that no one saw her.
+<i>That</i> was why she seemed so pleased. For Mrs. Turtle fully expected
+that after a time twenty-seven little turtles <span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span>would hatch from those
+eggs—just as chickens do—and dig their way out of the sand.</p>
+
+<p>But it never happened that way at all. For as soon as he got over
+his surprise at seeing them, Fatty Coon began at once to eat those
+twenty-seven eggs. They were delicious. And as he finished the last one
+he couldn’t help thinking how lucky he had been.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span>
+<h2 id="IV">IV<br><br>FATTY COON’S MISTAKE</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon was very fond of squirrels. And you may think it strange
+when I tell you that not one of the squirrels anywhere around Blue
+Mountain was the least bit fond of Fatty Coon. But when I say that
+Fatty Coon was fond of squirrels, I mean that he liked to eat them. So
+of course you will understand now why the squirrels did not care for
+Fatty at all. In fact, they usually kept just as far away from him as
+they could.</p>
+
+<p>It was easy, in the daytime, for the squirrels to keep out of Fatty’s
+way, when he wandered through the tree-tops, for <span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span>the squirrels were
+much sprier than Fatty. But at night—ah! that was a very different
+matter. For Fatty Coon’s eyes were even sharper in the dark than they
+were in the daylight; but the poor squirrels were just as blind as you
+are when you are safely tucked in bed and the light is put out.</p>
+
+<p>Yes—when the squirrels were in bed at night, up in their nests in the
+trees, they could see very little. And you couldn’t say they were
+<i>safe</i> in bed, because they never knew when Fatty Coon, or his mother,
+or his brother, or one of his sisters, or some cousin of his, might
+come along and catch them before they knew it.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty thought it great sport to hunt squirrels at night. Whenever he
+tried it he usually managed to get a good meal. And after he had almost
+forgotten about the fright the goshawk had given him in <span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span>the tall
+hemlock he began to roam through the tree-tops every night in search of
+squirrels and sleeping birds.</p>
+
+<p>But a night came at last when Fatty was well punished for hunting
+squirrels. He had climbed half-way to the top of a big chestnut
+tree, when he spied a hole in the trunk. He rather thought that some
+squirrels lived inside that hole. And as he listened for a few seconds
+he could hear something moving about inside. Yes! Fatty was sure that
+there was a squirrel in there—probably several squirrels.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon’s eyes turned green. It was a way they had, whenever he was
+about to eat anything, or whenever he played with his brother Blackie,
+or Fluffy and Cutey, his sisters; or whenever he was frightened. And
+now Fatty was so sure that he was going to have a fine lunch that his
+eyes turned as green as a cat’s. He <span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span>reached a paw inside the hole and
+felt all around.</p>
+
+<p><i>Wow!</i> Fatty gave a cry; and he pulled his paw out much faster than
+he had put it in. Something had given him a cruel dig. And in a jiffy
+Fatty saw what that “something” was. It was a grumpy old tramp coon,
+whom Fatty had never seen before.</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean, you young rascal, by disturbing me like this?” the
+ragged stranger cried.</p>
+
+<p>“Please, sir, I never knew it was you,” Fatty stammered.</p>
+
+<p>“Never knew it was me! Who did you think it was?”</p>
+
+<p>“A—a squirrel!” Fatty said faintly. And he whimpered a little, because
+his paw hurt him.</p>
+
+<p>“Ho, ho! That’s a good one! That’s a good joke!” The tramp coon laughed
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span>heartily. And then he scowled so fiercely that poor Fatty nearly
+tumbled out of the tree. “You go home,” he said to Fatty. “And don’t
+you let me catch you around here again. You hear?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir!” Fatty said. And home he went. And you may be sure that he
+let <i>that</i> tree alone after that. He never went near it again.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span>
+<h2 id="V">V<br><br>FATTY COON GOES FISHING</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>One day Fatty Coon was strolling along the brook which flowed not far
+from his home. He stopped now and then, to crouch close to the water’s
+edge, in the hope of catching a fish. And one time, when he lay quite
+still among the rocks, at the side of a deep pool, with his eyes
+searching the clear water, Fatty Coon suddenly saw something bright,
+all yellow and red, that lighted on the water right before him. It was
+a bug, or a huge fly. And Fatty was very fond of bugs—to eat, you know.
+So he lost no time. The bright thing had scarcely settled on the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span>water
+when Fatty reached out and seized it. He put it into his mouth, when
+the strangest thing happened. Fatty felt himself pulled right over into
+the water.</p>
+
+<p>He was surprised, for he never knew a bug or a fly to be so strong as
+that. Something pricked his cheek and Fatty thought that the bright
+thing had stung him. He tried to take it out of his mouth, and he was
+surprised again. Whatever the thing was, it seemed to be stuck fast in
+his mouth. And all the time Fatty was being dragged along through the
+water. He began to be frightened. And for the first time he noticed
+that there was a slender line which stretched from his mouth straight
+across the pool. As he looked along the line Fatty saw a man at the
+other end of it—a man, standing on the other side of the brook! And he
+was pulling Fatty toward him as fast as he could.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span></p>
+
+<p>Do you wonder that Fatty Coon was frightened? He jumped back—as well
+as he could, in the water—and tried to swim away. His mouth hurt; but
+he plunged and pulled just the same, and jerked his head and squirmed
+and wriggled and twisted. And just as Fatty had almost given up hope of
+getting free, the gay-colored bug, or fly, or whatever it was, flew out
+of his mouth and took the line with it. At least, that was what Fatty
+Coon thought. And he swam quickly to the bank and scampered into the
+bushes.</p>
+
+<p>Now, this was what really happened. Farmer Green had come up the brook
+to catch trout. On the end of his fish-line he had tied a make-believe
+fly, with a hook hidden under its red and yellow wings. He had stolen
+along the brook very quietly, so that he wouldn’t frighten the fish.
+And he had made so little noise that Fatty Coon <span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span>never heard him at
+all. Farmer Green had not seen Fatty, crouched as he was among the
+stones. And when Fatty reached out and grabbed the make-believe fly
+Farmer Green was even more surprised at what happened than Fatty
+himself. If the fish-hook hadn’t worked loose from Fatty’s mouth Farmer
+Green would have caught the queerest fish anybody ever caught, almost.</p>
+
+<figure class="illowp75">
+  <img class="bbox" src="images/i_032.jpg" alt="" id="i_032">
+  <figcaption>Fatty Coon Crouched Close to the Water’s Edge</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+<p>Something seemed to amuse Farmer Green, as he watched Fatty dive into
+the bushes; and he laughed loud and long. But Fatty Coon didn’t laugh
+at all. His mouth was too sore; and he was too frightened. But he was
+very, very glad that the strange bug had flown away.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span>
+<h2 id="VI">VI<br><br>FATTY AND THE GREEN CORN</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was mid-summer when Fatty Coon had what he then believed to be
+the finest time in all his life. And later, when he was older, he
+still thought that nothing had ever happened to him that was quite so
+enjoyable as that surprise his mother gave him when he was a young coon.</p>
+
+<p>Of course it was something to eat—the surprise. You must have guessed
+that, knowing Fatty Coon as you do.</p>
+
+<p>“Come, children!” Mrs. Coon said. “Come with me! I’m going to give you
+a treat—something specially nice.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is it something to eat?” Fatty asked, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span>as they started off in the
+direction of Farmer Green’s fields.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes—and the best thing you ever tasted,” Mrs. Coon said.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty was greatly excited. His little bright eyes turned green in the
+moonlight. He wondered what the surprise would be. And, as usual, he
+was very hungry. He walked close beside his mother, for he wanted to
+be the first to taste the surprise. You would think that he would have
+wanted his two sisters to taste it first, and his brother Blackie, too.
+But you must not forget that Fatty was greedy. And greedy people are
+not thoughtful of others.</p>
+
+<p>When Mrs. Coon turned out of the lane and crawled through the fence,
+Fatty squeezed between the rails very nimbly, for him.</p>
+
+<p>“Here we are!” said his mother.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span></p>
+
+<p>Fatty looked about him. They stood in a field grown high with tall
+stalks of some sort, which turned to green, ribbon-like leaves half way
+up from the ground. Fatty grunted. He was very impolite, you see.</p>
+
+<p>“Well—what is there to eat that’s so fine?” he asked. “This stuff isn’t
+good. It’s like eating reeds.” He had already bitten into one of the
+stalks.</p>
+
+<p>“What do you call that?” Mrs. Coon asked. She showed Fatty a long roll
+of green that grew out of one of the stalks.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s something like a cattail,” said Fatty. “It isn’t good to eat.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have you ever tried one?” asked his mother.</p>
+
+<p>“N—no,” Patty said. “But Freddie Bluejay told me they weren’t good.”</p>
+
+<p>“He did, did he?” Mrs. Coon said nothing more. She stood up on her hind
+legs <span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span>and pulled one of the tall stalks down until she could reach that
+long, green thing that grew there. In a jiffy she had torn it from its
+stalk. And then she stripped the green covering off it. “Try that!”
+said Mrs. Coon with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>Of course it was Fatty who tasted it first. He took a good mouthful
+of the white kernels, and he was overjoyed. Such sweetness! Such
+delicious, milky juice! It was a moment that Fatty never forgot.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty began tearing down the stalks for himself and he never said
+another word until at last he simply had to stop eating just to catch
+his breath.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s its name, Mother?” he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>“Corn, my child.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, why doesn’t Freddie Bluejay like it?” Fatty asked.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span></p>
+
+<p>“He’s probably very fond of corn,” said Mrs. Coon. “And I’ve no doubt
+he was afraid that you would eat up this whole field, once you started.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’d like to,” said Fatty, with a sigh. “I’d like to eat all the corn
+in the world.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span>
+<h2 id="VII">VII<br><br>JOHNNIE GREEN IS DISAPPOINTED</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>It made Fatty Coon feel sad, just to think that there was that field
+full of corn, and that he could never eat all of it. But Fatty made
+up his mind that he would do the best he could. He would visit the
+cornfield every night and feast on those sweet, tender kernels.</p>
+
+<p>The very next night Fatty set out toward Farmer Green’s. It was hardly
+dark. But Fatty could not wait any longer. He could not even wait for
+his mother and his sisters and his brother. He hurried away alone. And
+when he came in sight of the cornfield he felt better. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span>He had been the
+least bit afraid that the corn might be gone. He thought that maybe
+Farmer Green had picked it, or that some of the forest people had eaten
+it all. But there it was—a forest of corn, waving and rustling in the
+moonlight as the breeze touched it. Fatty felt very happy as he slipped
+through the rail-fence.</p>
+
+<p>I wouldn’t dare say how many ears of corn Fatty ate that night. And he
+would have eaten more, too, if it hadn’t been for just one thing. A dog
+barked. And that spoiled Fatty’s fun. For the dog was altogether too
+near for Fatty to feel safe. He even dropped the ear of corn he was
+gnawing and hurried toward the woods.</p>
+
+<p>It was lucky for Fatty that he started when he did. For that dog was
+close behind him in no time. There was only one thing to do: Fatty knew
+that he must climb a tree at once. So he made for the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span>nearest tree
+in sight—a big, spreading oak, which stood all alone just beyond the
+fence. And as Fatty crouched on a limb he felt safe enough, though the
+dog barked and whined, and leaped against the tree, and made a great
+fuss.</p>
+
+<figure class="illowp75">
+  <img class="bbox" src="images/i_042.jpg" alt="" id="i_042">
+  <figcaption>Fatty Wished the Dog Would Go Away</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+<p>Fatty looked down at the dog and scolded a little. He was not afraid.
+But it made him cross to be driven out of the cornfield. And he wished
+the dog would go away. But the dog—it was Farmer Green’s Spot—the dog
+had no idea of leaving. He stayed right there and barked so loudly that
+it was not long before Farmer Green and his hired man came in sight.
+And with them was Johnnie Green and a little, young dog that had just
+been given to him.</p>
+
+<p>When Farmer Green saw Fatty he seemed disappointed. “He’s too young to
+bother with,” he said. “His skin’s not <span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span>worth much. We’ll go ’long and
+see what we can find.”</p>
+
+<p>But Johnnie Green stayed behind. He wanted that young coon. And he
+intended to have him, too. Leaving the young dog to watch Fatty Coon,
+Johnnie went back to the farmhouse. After a while he appeared again
+with an axe over his shoulder. And when he began to chop away at the
+big oak, Fatty Coon felt very uneasy. Whenever Johnnie drove his axe
+into the tree, both the tree and Fatty shivered together. And Fatty
+began to wish he had stayed away from the cornfield. But not for long,
+because Johnnie Green soon gave up the idea of chopping down the big
+oak. The wood was so hard to cut, and the tree was so big, that Johnnie
+had not chopped long before he saw that it would take him all night
+to cut through it. He looked up longingly <span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span>at Fatty Coon. And Johnnie
+started to climb the tree himself. But the higher he climbed, the
+higher Fatty climbed. And Johnnie knew that he could never catch that
+plump young coon in that way.</p>
+
+<p>At last Johnnie Green started off, calling his dog after him. And then
+Fatty Coon came down. But he did not go back to the cornfield. He
+decided that he had had adventures enough for one night. But Fatty had
+learned something—at least he thought he had. For he made up his mind
+that once he climbed a tree, no man could reach him. _Trees could not
+be chopped down!trees could not be chopped down!_ That was what Fatty
+believed. Perhaps you will know, later, whether Fatty ever found out
+that he was mistaken.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span>
+<h2 id="VIII">VIII<br><br>A TERRIBLE FRIGHT</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was the very next night after old dog Spot had treed Fatty Coon in
+the big oak near the cornfield. They had finished their evening meal at
+Farmer Green’s house. The cows were milked, the horses had been fed,
+the chickens had all gone to roost. And Farmer Green looked up at the
+moon, rising from behind Blue Mountain.</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll go coon-hunting again to-night,” he said to Johnnie and the
+hired man. “The corn has brought the coons up from the swamp. We’ll
+start as soon as it grows a little darker.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span></p>
+
+<p>Well—after a while they set out for the cornfield. And sure enough! old
+Spot soon began to bark.</p>
+
+<p>“He’s treed!” said Farmer Green, pretty soon. And they all hurried over
+to the edge of the woods, where Spot had chased a coon up into a tall
+chestnut tree. In the moonlight they could see the coon quite plainly.
+“Another little feller!” cried Farmer Green. “I declare, all the coons
+that come to the cornfield seem to be young ones. This one’s no bigger
+than the one we saw last night.”</p>
+
+<p>Now, although Farmer Green never guessed it, it was Fatty Coon who was
+up there in the tall chestnut. He had run almost to the woods this
+time, before he had to take to a tree. In fact, if Spot hadn’t been
+quite so close to him Fatty could have reached the woods, and then he
+would have just jumped from one tree to another. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span>But there were no
+trees near enough the big chestnut for that. Fatty had to stay right
+there and wait for those men to pass on. He wasn’t afraid. He felt
+perfectly safe in his big tree. And he only smiled when Johnnie Green
+said to his father—</p>
+
+<p>“I wish I had that young coon. He’d make a fine pet.”</p>
+
+<p>“A pet!” exclaimed Farmer Green. “You remember that pet fox you had,
+that stole my chickens?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I’d be careful,” Johnnie promised. “Besides, don’t you think we
+ought to catch him, so he won’t eat any more corn?”</p>
+
+<p>Farmer Green smiled. He had been a boy himself, once upon a time, and
+he had not forgotten the pet coon that he had owned when he was just
+about Johnnie’s age.</p>
+
+<p>“All right!” he said at last. “I’ll give <span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span>you one more chance, Johnnie.
+But you’ll have to see that this young coon doesn’t kill any of my
+poultry.”</p>
+
+<p>Johnnie promised that nothing of the sort should happen. And then his
+father and the hired man picked up their axes; and standing on opposite
+sides of the tall chestnut tree, they began to chop.</p>
+
+<p>How the chips did fly! At the very first blow Fatty knew that this was
+an entirely different sort of chopping from that which Johnnie had
+attempted the night before. The great tree shook as if it knew that it
+would soon come crashing down upon the ground.</p>
+
+<p>And as for Fatty Coon, he could not see but that he must fall when the
+tree did. He, too, shivered and shook. And he wrapped himself all the
+way around a limb and hung on as tight as ever he could.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span>
+<h2 id="IX">IX<br><br>JOHNNIE GREEN LOSES HIS PET</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>Now, Farmer Green and his hired man had not chopped long before they
+stopped to breathe. They had not chopped long—but oh! what great,
+yawning holes they had made in the big chestnut! From the limb where he
+clung Fatty Coon looked down. The tree no longer shook. And Fatty felt
+better at once. You see, he thought that the men would go away, just as
+Johnnie had gone away the night before. But they had no such idea at
+all.</p>
+
+<p>“Which way are you going to fell her?” the hired man asked. He said
+<i>her</i>, meaning the <i>tree</i>, of course.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span></p>
+
+<p>“That way!” said Farmer Green, pointing toward the woods. “We’ll have
+to drop her that way, or she’ll fall right across the road, and of
+course <i>that</i> would never do.”</p>
+
+<p>“But will she clear the trees on the edge of the woods?” The hired man
+appeared somewhat doubtful.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, to be sure—to be sure!” answered Farmer Green.</p>
+
+<p>And with that they set to work again. But this time they both chopped
+on the same side of the tree—the side toward the woods.</p>
+
+<p>Now, if Fatty Coon was frightened before, you will believe that he was
+still more frightened when the big chestnut tree began to sag. Yes! it
+began to lean toward the woods. Slowly, slowly it tipped. And Fatty was
+scared half out of his mind. He climbed to the very top <span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span>of the tree,
+because he wanted to get just as far away from those men as he could.
+And there he waited. There was nothing else he could do. Yes! he waited
+until that awful moment should come when the tree would go crashing
+down upon the ground. What was going to happen to him then? Fatty
+wondered. And while he was wondering there sounded all at once a great
+snapping and splitting. And Fatty felt the tree falling, falling. He
+could hear Johnnie Green shouting. And he shut his eyes and held fast
+to his branch. Then came the crash.</p>
+
+<p>When Fatty Coon opened his eyes he expected to see Johnnie Green all
+ready to seize him. But to his great surprise he was still far above
+the ground. You see, Farmer Green had been mistaken. Either the big
+chestnut tree was taller than he had guessed, or the woods were nearer
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span>than he had thought. For instead of dropping upon the ground, Fatty’s
+tree had fallen right against another tree on the edge of the woods.
+And there it lay, half-tipped over, with its branches caught fast in
+the branches of that other tree.</p>
+
+<p>It was no wonder that Johnnie Green shouted. And he shouted still more
+loudly when he saw Fatty scramble out of the big chestnut and into the
+other tree, and out of that tree and into another, and then out of
+<i>that</i> tree. Fatty was going straight into the woods.</p>
+
+<p>It was no wonder that Johnnie Green shouted. For he had lost his
+pet coon. He had lost him before he ever had him. And he was sadly
+disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>But Fatty Coon was not disappointed, for he had not wanted to be a pet
+at all. And he was very glad—you may be sure—to get safely home once
+more.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span>
+<h2 id="X">X<br><br>FATTY COON AND THE MONSTER</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>One night Fatty Coon was strolling along the road that wound through
+the valley. He was in no hurry, for he had just left Farmer Green’s
+apple orchard, where he had bolted all the apples he could possibly
+eat. The night was dark and though it was not very late, all the
+country people seemed to be in bed. There were no farmers driving
+along the road. Fatty had it all to himself. And so he walked slowly
+homewards. It was then that the terrible monster almost caught him.</p>
+
+<p>This is how it all happened. There was a <i>br-br-br-r-r-r</i> in the air.
+Fatty really <span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span>should have heard it long before he did. But he had eaten
+so many apples that he had begun to feel sleepy; and his ears were not
+so sharp as they should have been. And when at last Fatty heard that
+<i>br-r-r-r</i> it was quite loud. He was startled. And he stopped right in
+the middle of the road to listen. Fatty had never heard such a sound
+before.</p>
+
+<p>The strange animal was on him before he knew it. Its glaring eyes
+blinded him. And if it had not screamed at him Fatty would never have
+escaped. It was the terrible screech of the monster which finally
+made Fatty jump. It was a frightful cry—like six wildcats all wailing
+together. And Fatty leaped to one side of the road just before the
+monster reached him.</p>
+
+<p>The great creature went past Fatty like the wind and tore on up the
+hill. He <span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span>seemed to be running so fast that he could not stop. Fatty
+could hear him panting as he climbed the sharp rise of the road.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon hurried away. He wanted to get home before the monster could
+stop and come back to look for him.</p>
+
+<p>When Fatty told his mother about his narrow escape Mrs. Coon became
+much excited. She felt sure that Fatty was not mistaken, for had she
+not heard that strange cry herself?</p>
+
+<p>There it was again! <i>Woo-ooo-ooo-oo-o!</i> It began low, rose to a shriek,
+and then died away again.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Coon and Fatty climbed to the very top of their old poplar and
+gazed down the valley.</p>
+
+<p>“Look, Mother!” Fatty cried. “He’s stopped at Farmer Green’s! You can
+see his eyes from here!”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Coon looked. Sure enough! It <span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span>was just as Fatty said. And that
+horrid call echoed across the valley once more.</p>
+
+<p class="p2">Farmer Green stuck his head out of his chamber-window, to see what the
+man in the automobile wanted.</p>
+
+<p>“Where’s the nearest village, please?” the stranger asked. And after
+Farmer Green had told him the man drove his car on again.</p>
+
+<p class="p2">From their tree-top Fatty and his mother watched the monster dash down
+the valley. They knew he had gone, because they could see the gleam of
+those awful eyes.</p>
+
+<p>“Do you suppose he ate up Farmer Green and his family?” Fatty asked in
+a frightened voice.</p>
+
+<p>“I hope so,” she said. “Then perhaps there’ll be no more traps in the
+woods.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span></p>
+
+<p>“But who would plant the corn?” Fatty asked.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Coon did not appear to hear his question.</p>
+
+<figure class="illowp75">
+  <img class="bbox" src="images/i_054.jpg" alt="" id="i_054">
+  <figcaption>Fatty Stopped Right in the Middle of the Road</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span>
+<h2 id="XI">XI<br><br>JASPER JAY TELLS SOME NEWS</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was quite late in the fall, and the weather had grown very cold.
+Mrs. Coon and her family had not left their home for several days; but
+on this day she thought it would be pleasant to go out in the sunshine
+and get a breath of fresh air and a bite to eat.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty was the only one of her children that was not asleep; and he
+complained of being very hungry. So Mrs. Coon decided to take him with
+her.</p>
+
+<p>The hunting was not very good. There were no birds’ eggs at all to be
+found in the trees. The river and the brook and the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span>creek were all
+frozen over, so Fatty and his mother could not catch any fish. And as
+for corn—Farmer Green had long ago gathered the last ear of it. Fatty
+wished that it was summertime. But it only made him hungrier than ever,
+to think of all the good things to eat that summer brings. He was
+feeling very unhappy when his mother said to him sharply—</p>
+
+<p>“Run up this tree! Hurry, now! Don’t ask any questions.”</p>
+
+<p>Now, Fatty did not always mind his mother as quickly as he might have.
+But this time he saw that she had stopped and was sniffing the air as
+if there was something about it she did not like.</p>
+
+<p>That was enough for Fatty. He scrambled up the nearest tree. For he
+knew that his mother had discovered danger of some sort.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Coon followed close behind Fatty. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span>And they had no sooner hidden
+in the branches than Fatty saw what it was that his mother had smelled.</p>
+
+<p>It was Johnnie Green! He passed right underneath the tree where they
+were perched. And as Mrs. Coon peeped down at him she shuddered and
+shivered and shook so hard that Fatty couldn’t help noticing it.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the matter?” he asked, as soon as Johnnie Green was out of
+sight.</p>
+
+<p>“His cap!” Mrs. Coon exclaimed. “He is wearing a coon-skin cap!” Now
+do you wonder that she was upset? “Don’t ever go near Farmer Green’s
+house,” she warned Fatty. “You don’t want to be made into a cap, or a
+pair of gloves, or a coat, or anything like that, do you?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, indeed, Mother!” Fatty was quite sure that such an adventure
+wouldn’t <span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span>please him at all. And he told himself right then and there
+that he would never go anywhere near Farmer Green’s house. We shall see
+how well Fatty remembered.</p>
+
+<p class="p2">That very afternoon Fatty Coon heard some very pleasant news. It was
+Jasper Jay who told him.</p>
+
+<p>Jasper Jay was a very noisy blue jay who lived in the neighborhood. He
+did not go south with most of the other birds when the cold weather
+came. He liked the winter and he was forever tearing about the woods,
+squalling and scolding at everybody. He was a very noisy fellow.</p>
+
+<p>Well! when Fatty and his mother had reached home after their hunt,
+Fatty stayed out of doors. He climbed to the top of a tall pine tree
+nearby and stretched himself along a limb, to enjoy <span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span>the sunshine,
+which felt very good upon his broad back. It was there that Jasper Jay
+found him and told him the pleasant news. And Fatty was very glad to
+hear the news, because he was still hungry.</p>
+
+<p>This is what Jasper Jay told Fatty: he told him that Farmer Green had
+as many as forty fat turkeys, which roosted every night in a spreading
+oak in Farmer Green’s front yard.</p>
+
+<p>“If I liked turkeys I would certainly go down there some night and get
+one,” said Jasper Jay.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span>
+<h2 id="XII">XII<br><br>FORTY FAT TURKEYS</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>When Jasper Jay told Fatty Coon about Farmer Green’s forty fat turkeys
+Fatty felt hungrier than ever.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh! I mustn’t go near Farmer Green’s house!” he said. “My mother told
+me to keep away from there.... What time did you say the turkeys go to
+roost?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh! they go to roost every night at sundown,” Jasper Jay explained.
+“And there they sit, up in the tree, all night long. They’re fast
+asleep. And you would have no trouble at all in catching as many as you
+wanted.... But of course, if you’re afraid—why there’s no use of <span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span><i>my</i>
+talking about it. There’s a plenty of other coons in these woods who’d
+be glad to know about those turkeys. And maybe they’d have the manners
+to say ‘Thank you!’ too.” And with a hoarse, sneering laugh Jasper Jay
+flew away.</p>
+
+<p>That was enough for Fatty. He made up his mind that he would show
+Jasper Jay that <i>he</i> was not afraid. And he wanted a turkey to eat,
+too. He said nothing to his mother about Jasper’s news. But that very
+night, when the moon came up, and the lights in Farmer Green’s house
+were all out, Fatty Coon went stealing across the fields.</p>
+
+<p>He was not afraid, for he knew that Farmer Green and all his family
+were in their beds. And it was so cold that Fatty felt sure that Farmer
+Green’s dogs would be inside their kennels.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty did not intend to make any noise. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span>The turkeys were asleep—so
+Jasper Jay had told him—and he expected to grab one of them so swiftly
+and silently that the other turkeys would never know it.</p>
+
+<p>When Fatty Coon came to Farmer Green’s yard he had no trouble at all
+in finding the spreading oak. He could see the turkeys plainly where
+they dozed on the bare branches. And in less time than it takes to
+tell it Fatty had climbed the tree. On the very lowest limb there
+was a row of four plump turkeys, all sound asleep. And Fatty reached
+out and seized the nearest one. He seized the turkey by the neck, so
+that the big bird could not call out. But Fatty was not quite quick
+enough. Before he could pull her off her perch the turkey began to
+flap her wings, and she struck the turkey next her, so that <i>that</i>
+turkey woke up and began to gobble and flap <i>her</i> wings. Then the
+next <span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span>turkey on the limb woke up. And the first thing that Fatty Coon
+knew, every one of the thirty-nine turkeys that were left was going
+<i>gobble-gob-gob-gob-gobble</i>! And some of them went sailing off across
+the yard. One of them lighted on top of the porch just outside Farmer
+Green’s window and it seemed to Fatty that <i>that</i> one made the greatest
+racket of all.</p>
+
+<p>Farmer Green’s window flew up; and Farmer Green’s voice called “Spot!
+Spot!”</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon did not wait to hear anything more. He dropped the turkey he
+had seized and slipped down to the ground. And then he ran toward the
+woods as fast as he could go.</p>
+
+<p>Farmer Green’s dog Spot was barking now. And Fatty wanted to climb one
+of the trees by the roadside. But he remembered, the narrow escape he
+had had when <span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span>the dog had treed him near the cornfield. So he never
+stopped until he reached the woods. Then he went nimbly up into the
+trees. And while Spot was barking at the foot of the first tree he
+climbed, Fatty was travelling through the tree-tops toward home.</p>
+
+<p>He never said anything to his mother about Farmer Green’s turkeys. But
+the next time he saw Jasper Jay Fatty told him exactly what he thought
+of him.</p>
+
+<p>“Ha! ha!” Jasper Jay only laughed. And he did not seem at all surprised
+that Fatty had fallen into trouble. To tell the truth, he was only
+sorry because Fatty had escaped. Jasper Jay did not like Fatty Coon.
+And he had told him about the forty fat turkeys because he hoped that
+Fatty would get caught if he tried to steal one of them.</p>
+
+<p>“Wait till I catch you!” Fatty said.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span></p>
+
+<p>But Jasper Jay only laughed harder than ever when Fatty said that. He
+seemed to think it was a great joke. He was most annoying.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span>
+<h2 id="XIII">XIII<br><br>FATTY MEETS JIMMY RABBIT</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>For once Fatty Coon was not hungry. He had eaten so much of Farmer
+Green’s corn that he felt as if he could not swallow another mouthful.
+He was strolling homewards through the woods when someone called to
+him. It was Jimmy Rabbit.</p>
+
+<p>“Where are you going, Fatty?” Jimmy Rabbit asked.</p>
+
+<p>“Home!” said Fatty.</p>
+
+<p>“Are you hungry?” Jimmy Rabbit asked anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>“I should say not!” Fatty answered. “I’ve just had the finest meal I
+ever ate in my life.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span></p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Rabbit seemed to be relieved to hear that.</p>
+
+<p>“Come on over and play,” he said. “My brother and I are playing
+barber-shop over in the old sycamore tree; and we need you.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right!” said Fatty. It was not often that any of the smaller
+forest-people were willing to play with him, because generally Fatty
+couldn’t help getting hungry and then he usually tried to eat his
+playmates. “What do you need me for?” Fatty asked, as he trudged along
+beside Jimmy Rabbit.</p>
+
+<p>“We need you for the barber’s pole,” Jimmy explained. “You can come
+inside the hollow tree and stick your tail out through a hole. It will
+make a fine barber’s pole—though the stripes DO run the wrong way, to
+be sure.”</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon was greatly pleased. He <span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span>looked around at his tail and felt
+very proud.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got a beautiful tail—haven’t I?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>“Um—yes!” Jimmy Rabbit replied, “though I must say it isn’t one that I
+would care for myself.... But come along! There may be people waiting
+to get their hair cut.”</p>
+
+<p>Sure enough! When they reached the make-believe barber-shop there was
+a gray squirrel inside, and Jimmy Rabbit’s brother was busily snipping
+the fur off Mr. Squirrel’s head.</p>
+
+<p>“How much do you charge for a hair-cut?” Fatty asked.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, that depends!” Jimmy Rabbit said. “Mr. Squirrel will pay us six
+cabbage leaves. But if we were to cut your hair we’d have to ask more.
+We’d want a dozen cabbage leaves, at least.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span></p>
+
+<p>“Well, don’t I get anything for the use of my tail?” Fatty asked. He
+had already stuck it out through the hole; and he had half a mind to
+pull it in again.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Rabbit and his brother whispered together for a few moments.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” Jimmy said. “If you’ll let us use your
+tail for the barber’s pole, we’ll cut your hair free. Isn’t that fair
+enough?”</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon was satisfied. But he insisted that Jimmy begin to cut his
+hair at once.</p>
+
+<p>“I’m doing my part of the work now,” he pointed out. “So there’s no
+reason why you shouldn’t do yours.”</p>
+
+<p>With that Jimmy Rabbit began. He clipped and snipped at Fatty’s head,
+pausing now and then to see the effect. He smiled once in a while,
+behind Fatty’s back, because Fatty certainly did look <span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span>funny with his
+fur all ragged and uneven.</p>
+
+<p>“Moustache trimmed?” Jimmy Rabbit asked, when he had finished with
+Fatty’s head.</p>
+
+<p>“Certainly—of course!” Fatty Coon answered. And pretty soon Fatty’s
+long white moustache lay on the floor of the barber-shop. Fatty felt a
+bit uneasy as he looked down and saw his beautiful moustache lying at
+his feet. “You haven’t cut it too short, I hope,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>“No, indeed!” Jimmy Rabbit assured him. “It’s the very latest style.”</p>
+
+<p class="p2">“What on earth has happened to you?” Mrs. Coon cried,—when Fatty
+reached home that night. “Have you been in a fire?”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s the latest style, Mother,” Fatty told her. “At least, that’s what
+Jimmy <span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span>Rabbit says.” He felt the least bit uneasy again.</p>
+
+<p>“Did you let that Jimmy Rabbit do that to you?” Mrs. Coon asked.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty hung his head. He said nothing at all. But his mother knew.</p>
+
+<p>“Well! you <i>are</i> a sight!” she exclaimed. “It will be months before you
+look like my child again. I shall be ashamed to go anywhere with you.”</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon felt very foolish. And there was just one thing that kept
+him from crying. And <i>that</i> was <i>this</i>: he made up his mind that when
+he played barber-shop with Jimmy Rabbit again he would get even with
+him.</p>
+
+<p>But when the next day came, Fatty couldn’t find Jimmy Rabbit and his
+brother anywhere. They kept out of sight. But they had told all the
+other forest-people about the trick they had <span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span>played on Fatty Coon. And
+everywhere Fatty went he heard nothing but hoots and jeers and laughs.
+He felt very silly. And he wished that he might meet Jimmy Rabbit and
+his brother.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span>
+<h2 id="XIV">XIV<br><br>THE BARBER-SHOP AGAIN</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>Although Fatty Coon never could get Jimmy Rabbit and his brother to
+play barber-shop with him again, Fatty saw no reason why he should not
+play the game without them. So one day he led his brother Blackie over
+to the old hollow sycamore. His sisters, Fluffy and Cutey, wanted to go
+too. But Fatty would not let them. “Girls can’t be barbers,” he said.
+And of course they could find no answer to that.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Fatty and Blackie reached the old sycamore I am sorry to say
+that a dispute arose. Each of them wanted to <span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span>use his own tail for the
+barber’s pole. They couldn’t both stick their tails through the hole in
+the tree at the same time. So they finally agreed to take turns.</p>
+
+<p>Playing barber-shop wasn’t so much fun as they had expected, because
+nobody would come near to get his hair cut. You see, the smaller
+forest-people were all afraid to go inside that old sycamore where
+Fatty and Blackie were. There was no telling when the two brothers
+might get so hungry they would seize and eat a rabbit or a squirrel or
+a chipmunk. And you know it isn’t wise to run any such risk as that.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty offered to cut Blackie’s hair. But Blackie remembered what his
+mother had said when Fatty came home with his moustache gone and his
+head all rough and uneven. So Blackie wouldn’t let Fatty <span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span>touch him.
+But <i>he</i> offered to cut Fatty’s hair—what there was left of it.</p>
+
+<p>“No, thank you!” said Fatty. “I only get my hair cut once a month.” Of
+course, he had never had his hair cut except that once, in his whole
+life.</p>
+
+<p>Now, since there was so little to do inside the hollow tree, Fatty and
+Blackie kept quarreling. Blackie would no sooner stick his tail through
+the hole in the side of the tree than Fatty would want <i>his</i> turn.
+And when Fatty had succeeded in squeezing <i>his</i> tail out through the
+opening Blackie would insist that Fatty’s time was up.</p>
+
+<p>It was Fatty’s turn, and Blackie was shouting to him to stand aside and
+give him a chance.</p>
+
+<p>“I won’t!” said Fatty. “I’m going to stay here just as long as I
+please.”</p>
+
+<p>The words were hardly out of his mouth <span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span>when he gave a sharp squeal, as
+if something hurt him. And he tried to pull his tail out of the hole.
+He wanted to get it out now. But alas! it would not come! It was caught
+fast! And the harder Fatty pulled the more it hurt him.</p>
+
+<p>“Go out and see what’s the matter!” he cried to Blackie.</p>
+
+<p>But Blackie wouldn’t stir. He was afraid to leave the shelter of the
+hollow tree.</p>
+
+<p>“It may be a bear that has hold of your tail,” he told Fatty. And
+somehow, that idea made Fatty tremble all over.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, dear! oh, dear!” he wailed. “What shall I do? Oh! whatever shall I
+do?” He began to cry. And Blackie cried too. How Fatty wished that his
+mother was there to tell him what to do!</p>
+
+<p>But he knew of no way to fetch her. Even if she were at home she could
+never <span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span>hear him calling from inside the tree. So Fatty gave up all hope
+of her helping.</p>
+
+<p>“Please, Mr. Bear, let go of my tail!” he cried, when he could stand
+the pain no longer.</p>
+
+<p>The only answer that came was a low growl, which frightened Fatty and
+Blackie more than ever. And then, just as they both began to howl
+at the top of their voices Fatty’s tail was suddenly freed. He was
+pulling on it so hard that he fell all in a heap on the floor of the
+barber-shop. And that surprised him.</p>
+
+<p>But he was still more surprised when he heard his mother say—</p>
+
+<p>“Stop crying and come out—both of you!” Fatty and Blackie scrambled out
+of the hollow sycamore. Fatty looked all around. But there was no bear
+to be seen anywhere—no one but his mother.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span></p>
+
+<p>“Did you frighten the bear away, Mother?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>“There was no bear,” Mrs. Coon told him. “And it’s lucky for you that
+there wasn’t. I saw your tail sticking out of this tree and I thought
+I would teach you a lesson. Now, don’t ever do such a foolish thing
+again. Just think what a fix you would have been in if Johnnie Green
+had come along. He could have caught you just as easily as anything.”</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon was so glad to be free once more that he promised to be good
+forever after. And he was just as good as any little coon could be—all
+the rest of that day.</p>
+
+<figure class="illowp75">
+  <img class="bbox" src="images/i_078.jpg" alt="" id="i_078">
+  <figcaption>“Please, Mr. Bear, Let Go of My Tail!” Fatty Cried</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span>
+<h2 id="XV">XV<br><br>FATTY VISITS THE SMOKE-HOUSE</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>The winter was fast going. And one fine day in February Fatty Coon
+crept out of his mother’s house to enjoy the warm sunshine—and see what
+he could find to eat.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty was much thinner than he had been in the fall. He had spent so
+much of the time sleeping that he had really eaten very little. And now
+he hardly knew himself as he looked at his sides. They no longer stuck
+out as they had once.</p>
+
+<p>After nosing about the swamp and the woods all the afternoon Fatty
+decided that <span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span>there was no use in trying to get a meal there. The
+ground was covered with snow. And except for rabbit tracks—and a few
+squirrels’—he could find nothing that even suggested food. And looking
+at those tracks only made him hungrier than ever.</p>
+
+<p>For a few minutes Fatty thought deeply. And then he turned about and
+went straight toward Farmer Green’s place. He waited behind the fence
+just beyond Farmer Green’s house; and when it began to grow dark he
+crept across the barnyard.</p>
+
+<p>As Fatty passed a small, low building he noticed a delicious smell. And
+he stopped right there. He had gone far enough. The door was open a
+little way. And after one quick look all around—to make sure there was
+nobody to see him—Fatty slipped inside.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span></p>
+
+<p>It was almost dark inside Farmer Green’s smokehouse—for that was what
+the small, low building was called. It was almost dark; but Fatty could
+see just as well as you and I can see in the daytime. There was a long
+row of hams hung up in a line. Underneath them were white ashes, where
+Farmer Green had built wood fires, to smoke the hams. But the fires
+were out, now; and Fatty was in no danger of being burned.</p>
+
+<p>The hams were what Fatty Coon had smelled. And the hams were what Fatty
+intended to eat. He decided that he would eat them all—though of course
+he could never have done that—at least, not in one night; nor in a
+week, either. But when it came to eating, Fatty’s courage never failed
+him. He would have tried to eat an elephant, if he had had the chance.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty did not stop to look long at that <span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span>row of hams. He climbed a post
+that ran up the side of the house and he crept out along the pole from
+which the hams were hung.</p>
+
+<p>He stopped at the very first ham he came to. There was no sense in
+going any further. And Fatty dropped on top of the ham and in a
+twinkling he had torn off a big, delicious mouthful.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty could not eat fast enough. He wished he had two mouths—he was so
+hungry. But he did very well, with only <i>one</i>. In no time at all he
+had made a great hole in the ham. And he had no idea of stopping. But
+he did stop. He stopped very suddenly. For the first thing he knew,
+something threw him right down upon the floor. And the ham fell on top
+of him and nearly knocked him senseless.</p>
+
+<p>He choked and spluttered; for the ashes <span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span>filled his mouth and his eyes,
+and his ears, too. For a moment he lay there on his back; but soon he
+managed to kick the heavy ham off his stomach and then he felt a little
+better. But he was terribly frightened. And though his eyes smarted so
+he could hardly see, he sprang up and found the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty swallowed a whole mouthful of ashes as he dashed across the
+barnyard. And he never stopped running until he was almost home. He was
+puzzled. Try as he would, he couldn’t decide what it was that had flung
+him upon the floor. And when he told his mother about his adventure—as
+he did a whole month later—she didn’t know exactly what had happened,
+either.</p>
+
+<p>“It was some sort of trap, probably,” Mrs. Coon said.</p>
+
+<p>But for once Mrs. Coon was mistaken.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span></p>
+
+<p>It was very simple. In his greedy haste Fatty had merely bitten through
+the cord that fastened the ham to the pole. And of course it had at
+once fallen, carrying Fatty with it!</p>
+
+<p>But what do you suppose? Afterward, when Fatty had grown up, and had
+children of his own, he often told them about the time he had escaped
+from the trap in Farmer Green’s smokehouse.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty’s children thought it very exciting. It was their favorite story.
+And they made their father tell it over and over again.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span>
+<h2 id="XVI">XVI<br><br>FATTY COON PLAYS ROBBER</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>After Fatty Coon played barber-shop with Jimmy Rabbit and his brother
+it was a long time before he met them again. But one day Fatty was
+wandering through the woods when he caught sight of Jimmy. Jimmy dodged
+behind a tree. And Fatty saw Jimmy’s brother peep from behind another.
+You see, his ears were so long that they stuck far beyond the tree, and
+Fatty couldn’t help seeing them.</p>
+
+<p>“Hello!” Fatty called. “I’m glad to see you.” And he told the truth,
+too. He had been trying to find those two brothers for weeks, because
+he wanted to get even with them for cutting off his moustache.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span></p>
+
+<p>Jimmy and his brother hopped out from behind their trees.</p>
+
+<p>“Hello!” said Jimmy. “We were just looking for you.” Probably he meant
+to say, “We were just looking <i>at</i> you.” He was somewhat upset by
+meeting Fatty; for he knew that Fatty was angry with him.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, ho! You were, were you?” Fatty answered. He began to slide down
+the tree he had been climbing.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Rabbit and his brother edged a little further away.</p>
+
+<p>“Better not come too near us!” he said. “We’ve both got the pink-eye,
+and you don’t want to catch it.”</p>
+
+<p>Fatty paused and looked at the brothers. Sure enough! their eyes were
+as pink as anything.</p>
+
+<p>“Does it hurt much?” Fatty asked.</p>
+
+<p>“Well—it does and it doesn’t,” Jimmy <span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span>replied. “I just stuck a brier
+into one of my eyes a few minutes ago and it hurt awful, then. But
+you’ll be perfectly safe, so long as you don’t touch us.”</p>
+
+<p>“How long does it last?” Fatty inquired.</p>
+
+<p>“Probably we’ll never get over it,” Jimmy Rabbit said cheerfully. And
+his brother nodded his head, as much as to say, “That’s so!”</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon was just the least bit alarmed. He really thought that there
+was something the matter with their eyes. You see, though the Rabbit
+brothers’ eyes were always pink (for they were born that way), he had
+never noticed it before. So Fatty thought it would be safer not to go
+too near them.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, it’s too bad,” he told Jimmy. “I’m sorry. I wanted to play with
+you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, that’s all right!” Jimmy said. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span>“We can play, just the same. I’ll
+tell you what we’ll play. We’ll play—”</p>
+
+<p>“Not barber-shop!” Fatty interrupted. “I won’t play barber-shop, I
+never liked that game.”</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Rabbit started to smile. But he turned his smile into a sneeze.
+And he said—</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll play robber. You’ll like that, I know. And you can be the
+robber. You look like one, anyhow.”</p>
+
+<p>That remark made Fatty Coon angry. And he wished that Jimmy hadn’t the
+pink-eye. He would have liked to make an end of him right then and
+there.</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean?” he shouted. “Robber nothing! I’m just as good as
+you are!”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course, of course!” Jimmy said hastily. “It’s your face, you know,
+That black patch covers your eyes just like <span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span>a robber’s mask. That’s
+why we want you to be the robber.”</p>
+
+<p>Fatty had slipped down his tree to the ground; and now he looked down
+into the creek. It was just as Jimmy said. Fatty had never thought of
+it before, but the black patch of short fur across the upper part of
+his face made him look exactly like a robber.</p>
+
+<p>“Come on!” said Jimmy. “We can’t play the game without you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well—all right!” said Fatty. He began to feel proud of his mask. “What
+shall I do?”</p>
+
+<p>“You wait right here,” Jimmy ordered. “Hide behind that tree. We’ll go
+into the woods. And when we come back past this spot you jump out and
+say ‘Hands up!’ ... You understand?”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course!” said Fatty. “But hurry up! Don’t be gone long.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span></p>
+
+<p>“Leave that to us,” said Jimmy Rabbit. He winked at his brother; and
+they started off together.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon did not see that wink. If he had, he wouldn’t have waited
+there all the afternoon for those Rabbit brothers to return. They never
+came back at all. And they told everybody about the trick they had
+played on Fatty Coon. For a long time after that wherever Fatty went
+the forest-people called “Robber!” after him. And Jasper Jay was the
+most annoying of all, because whenever he shouted “Robber!” he always
+laughed so loudly and so long. His hoarse screech echoed through the
+woods. And the worst of it was, everybody knew what he was laughing at.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span>
+<h2 id="XVII">XVII<br><br>FATTY FINDS THE MOON</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>Wandering through the woods one day, Fatty Coon’s bright eyes caught a
+strange gleam from something—something that shone and glittered out of
+the green. Fatty wanted to see what it was, though he hardly thought it
+was anything to eat. But whenever he came upon something new he always
+wanted to examine it. So now Fatty hurried to see what the strange
+thing was.</p>
+
+<p>It was the oddest thing he had ever found—flat, round, and silvery; and
+it hung in the air, under a tree, just over Fatty’s head. Fatty Coon
+looked carefully <span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span>at the bright thing. He walked all around it, so he
+could see it from all sides. And at last he thought he knew what it
+was. He made up his mind that it was the moon!</p>
+
+<p>He had often seen the moon up in the sky; and here it was, just the
+same size exactly, hanging so low that he could have reached it with
+his paw. He saw nothing strange in that; for he knew that the moon
+often touched the earth. Had he not seen it many a time, resting on the
+side of Blue Mountain? One night he had asked his mother if he might
+go up on the mountain to play with the moon; but she had only laughed.
+And here, at last, was the moon come to him! Fatty was so excited that
+he ran home as fast as he could go, to tell his mother, and his brother
+Blackie, and Fluffy and Cutey, his sisters.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh! the moon! the moon!” Fatty <span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span>shouted. He had run so fast that,
+being so plump, he was quite out of breath. And that was all he could
+say.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, well! What about the moon!” Mrs. Coon asked. “Anybody would
+think you had found it, almost.” And she smiled.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty puffed and gasped. And at last he caught his breath again.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes—I’ve found it! It’s over in the woods—just a little way from
+here!” he said. “Big, and round, and shiny! Let’s all go and bring it
+home!”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, well, well!” Mrs. Coon was puzzled. She had never heard of the
+moon being found in those woods; and she hardly knew what to think.
+“Are you sure?” she asked.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, yes, Mother!” Fatty could hardly wait, he was so eager to lead the
+way. And with many a shake of the head, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span>Mrs. Coon, with her family,
+started off to see the moon.</p>
+
+<figure class="illowp75">
+  <img class="bbox" src="images/i_094.jpg" alt="" id="i_094">
+  <figcaption>It Hung Under a Tree, Just Over Fatty’s Head</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+<p>“There!” Fatty cried, as they came in sight of the bright, round thing.
+“There it is—just as I told you!” And they all set up a great shouting.</p>
+
+<p>All but Mrs. Coon. She wasn’t quite sure, even yet, that Fatty had
+really found the moon. And she walked close to the shining thing and
+peered at it. But not too close! Mrs. Coon didn’t go too near it. And
+she told her children quite sternly to stand back. It was well that she
+did; for when Mrs. Coon took her eyes off Fatty’s moon and looked at
+the ground beneath it—well! she jumped back so quickly that she knocked
+two of her children flat on the ground.</p>
+
+<p>A trap! <i>That</i> was what Mrs. Coon saw right in front of her. And Farmer
+Green, or his boy, or whoever it was that set the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span>trap, had hung that
+bright piece of <i>tin</i> over the trap hoping that one of her family would
+see it and play with it—and fall into the trap. Yes—it was a mercy
+that Fatty hadn’t begun knocking it about. For if he had he would have
+stepped right into the trap and it would have shut—<i>snap</i>! Just like
+that. And there he would have been, caught fast.</p>
+
+<p>It was no wonder that Mrs. Coon hurried her family away from that spot.
+And Fatty led them all home again. He couldn’t get away from his moon
+fast enough.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span>
+<h2 id="XVIII">XVIII<br><br>THE LOGGERS COME</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon was frightened; he had just waked up and he heard a sound
+that was exactly like the noise Farmer Green and his hired man had made
+when they cut down the tall chestnut tree where he was perched.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, Mother! What is it?” he cried.</p>
+
+<p>“The loggers have come,” Mrs. Coon said. “They are cutting down all the
+big trees in the swamp.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then we’ll have to move, won’t we?” Fatty asked.</p>
+
+<p>“No! They won’t touch this tree,” his mother told him. “It’s an old
+tree, and <span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span>hollow—so they won’t chop it down. It’s only the good sound
+trees that they’ll take.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I thought this was a good tree.” Fatty was puzzled.</p>
+
+<p>“So it is, my son! It’s a good tree for us. But not for the loggers.
+They would have little use for it.”</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon felt better when he heard that. And he had a good deal of
+fun, peeping down at the loggers and watching them work. But he took
+care that they should not see <i>him</i>. He knew what their bright axes
+could do.</p>
+
+<p>When night came Fatty had still more fun. When the loggers were asleep
+Fatty went to their camp in the woods beside the brook and he found
+many good things to eat. He did not know the names of all the goodies;
+but he ate them just the same. He ’specially liked some potatoes which
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span>the careless cook had left in a pan near the open camp-fire. The fire
+was out. And the pan rested on a stump close beside it. Fatty Coon
+climbed up and crawled right inside the pan. And after he had had one
+taste of those potatoes he grew so excited—they were so good—that he
+tipped the pan off the stump and the potatoes rolled right into the
+ashes.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty had jumped to one side, when the tin pan fell. It made a great
+clatter; and he kept very still for a few moments, while he listened.
+But no one stirred. And then Fatty jumped plump into the ashes.</p>
+
+<p><i>Whew!</i> He jumped out again as fast as he could; for beneath the ashes
+there were plenty of hot coals. Fatty stood in them for not more than
+three seconds, but that was quite long enough. The bottoms of his feet
+burned as if a hundred hornets had stung them.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span></p>
+
+<p>He stood first on one foot and then on another. If you could have
+seen him you would have thought Fatty was dancing. And you might have
+laughed, because he looked funny.</p>
+
+<p>But Fatty Coon did not laugh. In fact, he came very near crying. And he
+did not wait to eat another mouthful. He limped along toward home. And
+it was several days before he stirred out of his mother’s house again.
+He just lay in his bed and waited until his burns were well again.</p>
+
+<p>It was very hard. For Fatty did not like to think of all those good
+things to eat that he was missing. And he hoped the loggers would not
+go away before his feet were well again.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span>
+<h2 id="XIX">XIX<br><br>FATTY GROWS EVEN FATTER</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>When Fatty Coon’s burned feet were well once more, the very first night
+he left his mother’s house he went straight to the loggers’ camp. He
+did not wait long after dark, because he was afraid that some of his
+neighbors might have found that there were good things to eat about the
+camp. And Fatty wanted them all.</p>
+
+<p>To his delight, there were goodies almost without end. He nosed about,
+picking up potato peelings, and bits of bacon. And perhaps the best of
+all was a piece of cornbread, which Fatty fairly gobbled. And then he
+found a box half-full of something—scraps <span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span>that tasted like apples,
+only they were not round like apples, and they were quite dry, instead
+of being juicy. But Fatty liked them; and he ate them all, down to the
+smallest bit.</p>
+
+<p>He was thirsty, then. So he went down to the brook, which ran close by
+the camp. The loggers had cut a hole through the ice, so they could
+get water. And Fatty crept close to the edge of the hole and drank. He
+drank a great deal of water, because he was very thirsty. And when he
+had finished he sat down on the ice for a time. He did not care to stir
+about just then. And he did not think he would ever want anything to
+eat again.</p>
+
+<p>At last Fatty Coon rose to his feet. He felt very queer. There was a
+strange, tight feeling about his stomach. And his sides were no longer
+thin. They stuck out just as they had before winter came—only <span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span>more so.
+And what alarmed Fatty was this: his sides seemed to be sticking out
+more and more all the time.</p>
+
+<p>He wondered what he had been eating. Those dry things that tasted like
+apples—he wondered what they were.</p>
+
+<p>Now, there was some printing on the outside of the box which held those
+queer, spongy, flat things. Of course, Fatty Coon could not read, so
+the printing did him no good at all. But if you had seen the box, and
+if you are old enough to read, you would have known that the printing
+said:</p>
+
+<p class="center mt2 mb2">
+EVAPORATED APPLES
+</p>
+
+<p>Now, evaporated apples are nothing more or less than dried apples. The
+cook of the loggers’ camp used them to make apple pies. And first,
+before making his pies, he always soaked them in water so they would
+swell.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span></p>
+
+<p>Now you see what made Fatty Coon feel so queer and uncomfortable. He
+had first eaten his dried apples. And then he had soaked them, by
+drinking out of the brook. It was no wonder that his sides stuck out,
+for the apples that he had bolted were swelling and puffing him out
+until he felt that he should burst. In fact, the wonder of it was that
+he was able to get through his mother’s doorway, when he reached home.</p>
+
+<p>But he did it, though it cost him a few groans. And he frightened his
+mother, too.</p>
+
+<p>“I only hope you’re not poisoned,” she said, when Fatty told her what
+he had been doing.</p>
+
+<p>And that remark frightened Fatty more than ever. He was sure he was
+never going to feel any better.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Mrs. Coon was much worried all <span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span>the rest of the night. But when
+morning came she knew that Fatty was out of danger. She knew it because
+of something he said. It was this:</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, dear! I wish I had something to eat!”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span>
+<h2 id="XX">XX<br><br>THE TRACKS IN THE SNOW</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p>One fine winter’s day Fatty Coon came upon the queerest tracks in the
+snow. They were huge—a great deal bigger, even, than bear-tracks, which
+Fatty had sometimes seen, for once in a while, before the weather grew
+too cold, and he fell into his winter’s sleep, a bear would come down
+into the valley from his home on Blue Mountain.</p>
+
+<p>But these were six times as big as bear tracks. And Fatty felt a shiver
+of fear run up and down his back.</p>
+
+<p>He followed the trail a little way. But he was very careful. He was
+always <span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span>ready to scramble up a tree, in case he should suddenly see the
+strange animal—or rather, in case the strange animal should see <i>him</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The great tracks led straight toward Farmer Green’s house. And Fatty
+did not want to go there. So he hurried home to ask his mother what he
+had found. Mrs. Coon listened to Fatty’s story.</p>
+
+<p>“I think it must be the monster that almost caught me in the road last
+summer,” said Fatty, meaning the automobile that had given him a great
+fright. “Maybe he’s come back again to catch Farmer Green and his
+family ... Do you suppose he’s eaten them up?”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Coon was puzzled. And she was somewhat alarmed, too. She wanted to
+see those strange tracks herself. So she told her other children not to
+step a foot out of the house until she came back. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span>And then she asked
+Fatty to run along and show her where he had come upon the monster’s
+trail.</p>
+
+<p>Fatty Coon felt very important, as he led the way across the swamp
+and into the woods. It was not often that he could show his mother
+anything. And he was so proud that he almost forgot his fright.</p>
+
+<p>“I guess you’re glad I have sharp eyes,” he said, as they hurried along.</p>
+
+<p>“If the tracks are as big as you say they are, your eyes wouldn’t have
+to be very sharp to see them,” his mother told him. Mrs. Coon never
+liked to hear her children boast. She knew that boasting is one of the
+most unpleasant things anyone can do.</p>
+
+<p>“Well—maybe you don’t think I saw the monster’s tracks at all,” said
+Fatty. “Maybe you don’t think I heard him screech—”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span></p>
+
+<p>“When did you hear him screech?” Mrs. Coon asked. “This is the first
+you’ve said about <i>screeching</i>. When was it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Last summer,” Fatty answered.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Coon didn’t smile. Perhaps she was too worried for that.</p>
+
+<p>“It may not be the same monster,” she said. “It may not be a monster at
+all.”</p>
+
+<p>But by this time Fatty was sure he was right. He was sure he knew more
+than his mother.</p>
+
+<p>“Why can’t we go right over to Farmer Green’s and take some of his
+chickens?” he asked. “The monster has probably eaten him by this time,
+and all his family, too.”</p>
+
+<p>But Mrs. Coon would do no such thing.</p>
+
+<p>“Show me the tracks,” she said firmly. And so they went on into the
+woods.</p>
+
+<p>“There they are!” Fatty cried, a few <span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span>minutes later. “See, Mother!
+They’re even bigger than I said.” He heard a funny noise behind him,
+then. And when Fatty Coon looked around he saw that his mother was
+actually holding her sides, she was laughing so hard.</p>
+
+<p>“Those are Farmer Green’s tracks,” she said, as soon as she could stop
+laughing long enough to speak.</p>
+
+<p>“What—as big as that?” Fatty pointed at the huge prints in the snow.</p>
+
+<p>“Snowshoes!” Mrs. Coon said. “He was wearing snowshoes—great frames
+made of thongs and sticks, to keep him from sinking into the snow.”</p>
+
+<p>So that was all there was to Fatty’s monster. Somehow, he was
+disappointed. But he was very glad he had said nothing to Jasper Jay
+about his strange animal. For if he had, he knew he would never have
+heard the last of it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span></p>
+
+<p>And Fatty was glad about another thing, too. He felt very happy that
+his mother had not let him go after Farmer Green’s chickens.</p>
+
+<div class="center mt5">THE END</div>
+
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 5701 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -1,2063 +0,0 @@
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sleepy-Time Tales: The Tale of Fatty Coon, by 
-Arthur Scott Bailey
-
-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: Sleepy-Time Tales: The Tale of Fatty Coon
-
-Author: Arthur Scott Bailey
-
-Posting Date: January 26, 2013 [EBook #5701]
-Release Date: May, 2004
-First Posted: August 12, 2002
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ASCII
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALE OF FATTY COON ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the
-Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-SLEEPY-TIME TALES
-
-THE TALE OF FATTY COON
-
-BY
-ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
-
-ILLUSTRATED BY
-HARRY L. SMITH
-
-
-
-NEW YORK
-
-1915
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS
-
-I     FATTY COON AT HOME
-
-II    FATTY LEARNS SOMETHING ABOUT EGGS
-
-III   FATTY DISCOVERS MRS. TURTLE'S SECRET
-
-IV    FATTY COON'S MISTAKE
-
-V     FATTY COON GOES FISHING
-
-VI    FATTY AND THE GREEN CORN
-
-VII   JOHNNIE GREEN IS DISAPPOINTED
-
-VIII  A TERRIBLE FRIGHT
-
-IX    JOHNNIE GREEN LOSES HIS PET
-
-X     FATTY COON AND THE MONSTER
-
-XI    JASPER JAY TELLS SOME NEWS
-
-XII   FORTY FAT TURKEYS
-
-XIII  FATTY MEETS JIMMY RABBIT
-
-XIV   THE BARBER-SHOP AGAIN
-
-XV    FATTY VISITS THE SMOKEHOUSE
-
-XVI   FATTY COON PLAYS ROBBER
-
-XVII  FATTY FINDS THE MOON
-
-XVIII THE LOGGERS COME
-
-XIX   FATTY GROWS EVEN FATTER
-
-XX    THE TRACKS IN THE SNOW
-
-
-
-
-ILLUSTRATIONS
-
-FATTY SAW MRS. TURTLE DIGGING IN THE SAND Frontispiece
-
-FATTY COON CROUCHED CLOSE TO THE WATER'S EDGE
-
-FATTY WISHED THE DOG WOULD GO AWAY
-
-FATTY STOPPED RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD
-
-"PLEASE, MR. BEAR, LET GO OF MY TAIL!" FATTY CRIED
-
-IT HUNG UNDER A TREE, JUST OVER FATTY'S HEAD
-
-
-
-
-I
-
-FATTY COON AT HOME
-
-
-Fatty Coon was so fat and round that he looked like a ball of fur, with
-a plumelike tail for a handle. But if you looked at him closely you
-would have seen a pair of very bright eyes watching you.
-
-Fatty loved to eat. Yes--he loved eating better than anything else in
-the world. That was what made him so fat. And that, too, was what led
-him into many adventures.
-
-Close by a swamp, which lay down in the valley, between Blue Mountain
-and Swift River, Fatty Coon lived with his mother and his brother and
-his two sisters. Among them all there was what grown people call "a
-strong family resemblance," which is the same thing as saying that they
-all looked very much alike. The tail of each one of them--mother and
-children too--had six black rings around it. Each of them had a dark
-brown patch of fur across the face, like a mask. And--what do you
-think?--each of them, even Fatty and his brother and his sisters, had a
-stiff, white moustache!
-
-Of course, though they all looked so much alike, you would have known
-which was Mrs. Coon, for she was so much bigger than her children. And
-you would have known which was Fatty--he was so much rounder than his
-brother and his sisters.
-
-Mrs. Coon's home was in the hollow branch of an old tree. It was a giant
-of a tree--a poplar close by a brook which ran into the swamp--and the
-branch which was Mrs. Coon's home was as big as most tree-trunks are.
-
-Blackie was Fatty's brother--for the mask on his face was just a little
-darker than the others'. Fluffy was one of Fatty's sisters, because her
-fur was just a little fluffier than the other children's. And Cutey was
-the other sister's name, because she was so quaint.
-
-Now, Fatty Coon was forever looking around for something to eat. He was
-never satisfied with what his mother brought home for him. No matter how
-big a dinner Mrs. Coon set before her family, as soon as he had finished
-eating his share Fatty would wipe his white moustache carefully--for all
-the world like some old gentleman--and hurry off in search of something
-more.
-
-Sometimes he went to the edge of the brook and tried to catch fish by
-hooking them out of the water with his sharp claws. Sometimes he went
-over to the swamp and hunted for duck among the tall reeds. And though
-he did not yet know how to catch a duck, he could always capture a frog
-or two; and Fatty ate them as if he hadn't had a mouthful of food for
-days.
-
-To tell the truth, Fatty would eat almost anything he could get--nuts,
-cherries, wild grapes, blackberries, bugs, small snakes, fish, chickens,
-honey--there was no end to the different kinds of food he liked. He ate
-everything. And he always wanted more.
-
-"Is this all there is?" Fatty Coon asked his mother one day. He had
-gobbled up every bit of the nice fish that Mrs. Coon had brought home
-for him. It was gone in no time at all.
-
-Mrs. Coon sighed. She had heard that question so many times; and she
-wished that for once Fatty might have all the dinner he wanted.
-
-"Yes--that's all," she said, "and I should think that it was enough for
-a young coon like you."
-
-Fatty said nothing more. He wiped his moustache on the back of his hand
-(I hope you'll never do that!) and without another word he started off
-to see what he could find to eat.
-
-
-
-
-II
-
-FATTY LEARNS SOMETHING ABOUT EGGS
-
-
-When Fatty Coon started off alone to find something more to eat, after
-finishing the fish that his mother had brought home for him, he did not
-know that he was going to have an adventure. He nosed about among the
-bushes and the tall grasses and caught a few bugs and a frog or two. But
-he didn't think that THAT was much. He didn't seem to have much luck,
-down on the ground. So he climbed a tall hemlock, to see if he could
-find a squirrel's nest, or some bird's eggs.
-
-Fatty loved to climb trees. Up in the big hemlock he forgot, for a time,
-that he was still hungry. It was delightful to feel the branches swaying
-under him, and the bright sunshine was warm upon his back. He climbed
-almost to the very tip-top of the tree and wound himself around the
-straight stem. The thick, springy branches held him safely, and soon
-Fatty was fast asleep. Next to eating, Fatty loved sleeping. And now he
-had a good nap.
-
-Fatty Coon woke up at last, yawned, and slowly unwound himself from the
-stem of the tree. He was terribly hungry now. And he felt that he simply
-MUST find something to eat at once.
-
-Without going down to the ground, Fatty climbed over into the top of
-another big tree and his little beady, bright eyes began searching all
-the branches carefully. Pretty soon Fatty smiled. He smiled because he
-was pleased. And he was pleased because he saw exactly what he had been
-looking for. Not far below him was a big nest, built of sticks and lined
-with bark and moss. It was a crow's nest, Fatty decided, and he lost no
-time in slipping down to the crotch of the tree where the nest was
-perched.
-
-There were four white eggs in the nest--the biggest crow's eggs Fatty
-had ever seen. And he began to eat them hungrily. His nose became
-smeared with egg, but he didn't mind that at all. He kept thinking how
-good the eggs tasted--and how he wished there were more of them.
-
-There was a sudden rush through the branches of the tall tree. And Fatty
-Coon caught a hard blow on his head. He felt something sharp sink into
-his back, too. And he clutched at the edge of the nest to keep from
-falling.
-
-Fatty was surprised, to say the least, for he had never known crows to
-fight like that. And he was frightened, because his back hurt. He
-couldn't fight, because he was afraid he would fall if he let go of the
-nest.
-
-There was nothing to do but run home as fast as he could. Fatty tried to
-hurry; but there was that bird, beating and clawing his back, and
-pulling him first one way and then another. He began to think he would
-never reach home. But at last he came to the old poplar where his mother
-lived. And soon, to his great joy, he reached the hole in the big
-branch; and you may well believe that Fatty was glad to slip down into
-the darkness where his mother, and his brother Blackie, and Fluffy and
-Cutey his sisters, were all fast asleep. He was glad, because he knew
-that no crow could follow him down there.
-
-Mrs. Coon waked up. She saw that Fatty's back was sadly torn (for coons,
-you know, can see in the dark just as well as you can see in the
-daylight).
-
-"What on earth is the matter?" she exclaimed.
-
-Poor Fatty told her. He cried a little, because his back hurt him, and
-because he was so glad to be safe at home once more.
-
-"What color were those eggs?" Mrs. Coon inquired.
-
-"White!" said Fatty.
-
-"Ah, ha!" Mrs. Coon said. "Don't you remember that crows' eggs are a
-blueish green? That must have been a goshawk's nest. And a goshawk is
-the fiercest of all the hawks there are. It's no wonder your back is
-clawed. Come here and let me look at it."
-
-Fatty Coon felt quite proud, as his mother examined the marks of the
-goshawk's cruel claws. And he didn't feel half as sorry for himself as
-you might think, for he remembered how good the eggs had tasted. He only
-wished there had been a dozen of them.
-
-
-
-
-III
-
-FATTY DISCOVERS MRS. TURTLE'S SECRET
-
-
-After his adventure with the goshawk Fatty Coon did not go near the
-tree-tops for a long time. Whenever he left home he would crawl down the
-old poplar tree in which he lived; and he wouldn't climb a single tree
-until he came home again. Somehow, he felt safer on the ground. You see,
-he hadn't forgotten the fright he had had, nor how the goshawk's claws
-had hurt his back.
-
-It was just three days after his scare, to be exact, when Fatty Coon
-found himself on the bank of the creek which flowed slowly into Swift
-River. Fatty had been looking for frogs, but he had had no luck at all.
-To tell the truth, Fatty was a little too young to catch frogs easily,
-even when he found one; and he was a good deal too fat, for he was so
-plump that he was not very spry.
-
-Now, Fatty was hiding behind some tall rushes, and his sharp little eyes
-were looking all about him, and his nose was twitching as he sniffed the
-air. He wished he might find a frog. But not one frog appeared. Fatty
-began to think that some other coon must have visited the creek just
-before him and caught them all. And then he forgot all about frogs.
-
-Yes! Frogs passed completely out of Fatty Coon's mind. For whom should
-he spy but Mrs. Turtle! He saw her little black head first, bobbing
-along through the water of the creek. She was swimming toward the bank
-where Fatty was hidden. And pretty soon she pulled herself out of the
-water and waddled a short distance along the sand at the edge of the
-creek.
-
-Mrs. Turtle stopped then; and for a few minutes she was very busy about
-something. First she dug a hole in the sand. And Fatty wondered what she
-was looking for. But he kept very quiet. And after a time Mrs. Turtle
-splashed into the creek again and paddled away. But before she left she
-scooped sand into the hole she had dug. Before she left the place she
-looked all around, as if to make sure that no one had seen her. And as
-she waddled slowly to the water Fatty could see that she was smiling as
-if she was very well pleased about something. She seemed to have a
-secret.
-
-Fatty Coon had grown very curious, as he watched Mrs. Turtle. And just
-as soon as she was out of sight he came out from his hiding place in the
-tall reeds and trotted down to the edge of the creek. He went straight
-to the spot where Mrs. Turtle had dug the hole and filled it up again.
-And Fatty was so eager to know what she had been doing that he began to
-dig in the very spot where Mrs. Turtle had dug before him.
-
-It took Fatty Coon only about six seconds to discover Mrs. Turtle's
-secret. For he did not have to paw away much of the sand before he came
-upon--what do you suppose? Eggs! Turtles' eggs! Twenty-seven round,
-white eggs, which Mrs. Turtle had left there in the warm sand to hatch.
-THAT was why she looked all around to make sure that no one saw her.
-THAT was why she seemed so pleased. For Mrs. Turtle fully expected that
-after a time twenty-seven little turtles would hatch from those
-eggs--just as chickens do--and dig their way out of the sand.
-
-But it never happened that way at all. For as soon as he got over his
-surprise at seeing them, Fatty Coon began at once to eat those
-twenty-seven eggs. They were delicious. And as he finished the last
-one he couldn't help thinking how lucky he had been.
-
-
-
-
-IV
-
-FATTY COON'S MISTAKE
-
-
-Fatty Coon was very fond of squirrels. And you may think it strange when
-I tell you that not one of the squirrels anywhere around Blue Mountain
-was the least bit fond of Fatty Coon. But when I say that Fatty Coon was
-fond of squirrels, I mean that he liked to eat them. So of course you
-will understand now why the squirrels did not care for Fatty at all. In
-fact, they usually kept just as far away from him as they could.
-
-It was easy, in the daytime, for the squirrels to keep out of Fatty's
-way, when he wandered through the tree-tops, for the squirrels were much
-sprier than Fatty. But at night--ah! that was a very different matter.
-For Fatty Coon's eyes were even sharper in the dark than they were in
-the daylight; but the poor squirrels were just as blind as you are when
-you are safely tucked in bed and the light is put out.
-
-Yes--when the squirrels were in bed at night, up in their nests in the
-trees, they could see very little. And you couldn't say they were SAFE
-in bed, because they never knew when Fatty Coon, or his mother, or his
-brother, or one of his sisters, or some cousin of his, might come along
-and catch them before they knew it.
-
-Fatty thought it great sport to hunt squirrels at night. Whenever he
-tried it he usually managed to get a good meal. And after he had almost
-forgotten about the fright the goshawk had given him in the tall hemlock
-he began to roam through the tree-tops every night in search of
-squirrels and sleeping birds.
-
-But a night came at last when Fatty was well punished for hunting
-squirrels. He had climbed half-way to the top of a big chestnut tree,
-when he spied a hole in the trunk. He rather thought that some squirrels
-lived inside that hole. And as he listened for a few seconds he could
-hear something moving about inside. Yes! Fatty was sure that there was a
-squirrel in there--probably several squirrels.
-
-Fatty Coon's eyes turned green. It was a way they had, whenever he was
-about to eat anything, or whenever he played with his brother Blackie,
-or Fluffy and Cutey, his sisters; or whenever he was frightened. And now
-Fatty was so sure that he was going to have a fine lunch that his eyes
-turned as green as a cat's. He reached a paw inside the hole and felt
-all around.
-
-WOW! Fatty gave a cry; and he pulled his paw out much faster than he had
-put it in. Something had given him a cruel dig. And in a jiffy Fatty saw
-what that "something" was. It was a grumpy old tramp coon, whom Fatty
-had never seen before.
-
-"What do you mean, you young rascal, by disturbing me like this?" the
-ragged stranger cried.
-
-"Please, sir, I never knew it was you," Fatty stammered.
-
-"Never knew it was me! Who did you think it was?"
-
-"A--a squirrel!" Fatty said faintly. And he whimpered a little, because
-his paw hurt him.
-
-"Ho, ho! That's a good one! That's a good joke!" The tramp coon laughed
-heartily. And then he scowled so fiercely that poor Fatty nearly tumbled
-out of the tree. "You go home," he said to Fatty. "And don't you let me
-catch you around here again. You hear?"
-
-"Yes, sir!" Fatty said. And home he went. And you may be sure that he
-let THAT tree alone after that. He never went near it again.
-
-
-
-
-V
-
-FATTY COON GOES FISHING
-
-
-One day Fatty Coon was strolling along the brook which flowed not far
-from his home. He stopped now and then, to crouch close to the water's
-edge, in the hope of catching a fish. And one time, when he lay quite
-still among the rocks, at the side of a deep pool, with his eyes
-searching the clear water, Fatty Coon suddenly saw something bright, all
-yellow and red, that lighted on the water right before him. It was a
-bug, or a huge fly. And Fatty was very fond of bugs--to eat, you know.
-So he lost no time. The bright thing had scarcely settled on the water
-when Fatty reached out and seized it. He put it into his mouth, when the
-strangest thing happened. Fatty felt himself pulled right over into the
-water.
-
-He was surprised, for he never knew a bug or a fly to be so strong as
-that. Something pricked his cheek and Fatty thought that the bright
-thing had stung him. He tried to take it out of his mouth, and he was
-surprised again. Whatever the thing was, it seemed to be stuck fast in
-his mouth. And all the time Fatty was being dragged along through the
-water. He began to be frightened. And for the first time he noticed that
-there was a slender line which stretched from his mouth straight across
-the pool. As he looked along the line Fatty saw a man at the other end
-of it--a man, standing on the other side of the brook! And he was
-pulling Fatty toward him as fast as he could.
-
-Do you wonder that Fatty Coon was frightened? He jumped back--as well as
-he could, in the water--and tried to swim away. His mouth hurt; but he
-plunged and pulled just the same, and jerked his head and squirmed and
-wriggled and twisted. And just as Fatty had almost given up hope of
-getting free, the gay-colored bug, or fly, or whatever it was, flew out
-of his mouth and took the line with it. At least, that was what Fatty
-Coon thought. And he swam quickly to the bank and scampered into the
-bushes.
-
-Now, this was what really happened. Farmer Green had come up the brook
-to catch trout. On the end of his fish-line he had tied a make-believe
-fly, with a hook hidden under its red and yellow wings. He had stolen
-along the brook very quietly, so that he wouldn't frighten the fish. And
-he had made so little noise that Fatty Coon never heard him at all.
-Farmer Green had not seen Fatty, crouched as he was among the stones.
-And when Fatty reached out and grabbed the make-believe fly Farmer Green
-was even more surprised at what happened than Fatty himself. If the
-fish-hook hadn't worked loose from Fatty's mouth Farmer Green would have
-caught the queerest fish anybody ever caught, almost.
-
-Something seemed to amuse Farmer Green, as he watched Fatty dive into
-the bushes; and he laughed loud and long. But Fatty Coon didn't laugh at
-all. His mouth was too sore; and he was too frightened. But he was very,
-very glad that the strange bug had flown away.
-
-
-
-
-VI
-
-FATTY AND THE GREEN CORN
-
-
-It was mid-summer when Fatty Coon had what he then believed to be the
-finest time in all his life. And later, when he was older, he still
-thought that nothing had ever happened to him that was quite so
-enjoyable as that surprise his mother gave him when he was a young coon.
-
-Of course it was something to eat--the surprise. You must have guessed
-that, knowing Fatty Coon as you do.
-
-"Come, children!" Mrs. Coon said. "Come with me! I'm going to give you a
-treat--something specially nice."
-
-"Is it something to eat?" Fatty asked, as they started off in the
-direction of Farmer Green's fields.
-
-"Yes--and the best thing you ever tasted," Mrs. Coon said.
-
-Fatty was greatly excited. His little bright eyes turned green in the
-moonlight. He wondered what the surprise would be. And, as usual, he was
-very hungry. He walked close beside his mother, for he wanted to be the
-first to taste the surprise. You would think that he would have wanted
-his two sisters to taste it first, and his brother Blackie, too. But you
-must not forget that Fatty was greedy. And greedy people are not
-thoughtful of others.
-
-When Mrs. Coon turned out of the lane and crawled through the fence,
-Fatty squeezed between the rails very nimbly, for him.
-
-"Here we are!" said his mother.
-
-Fatty looked about him. They stood in a field grown high with tall
-stalks of some sort, which turned to green, ribbon-like leaves half way
-up from the ground. Fatty grunted. He was very impolite, you see.
-
-"Well--what is there to eat that's so fine?" he asked. "This stuff isn't
-good. It's like eating reeds." He had already bitten into one of the
-stalks.
-
-"What do you call that?" Mrs. Coon asked. She showed Fatty a long roll
-of green that grew out of one of the stalks.
-
-"That's something like a cattail," said Fatty. "It isn't good to eat."
-
-"Have you ever tried one?" asked his mother.
-
-"N--no," Patty said. "But Freddie Bluejay told me they weren't good."
-
-"He did, did he?" Mrs. Coon said nothing more. She stood up on her hind
-legs and pulled one of the tall stalks down until she could reach that
-long, green thing that grew there. In a jiffy she had torn it from its
-stalk. And then she stripped the green covering off it. "Try that!" said
-Mrs. Coon with a smile.
-
-Of course it was Fatty who tasted it first. He took a good mouthful of
-the white kernels, and he was overjoyed. Such sweetness! Such delicious,
-milky juice! It was a moment that Fatty never forgot.
-
-Fatty began tearing down the stalks for himself and he never said
-another word until at last he simply had to stop eating just to catch
-his breath.
-
-"What's its name, Mother?" he inquired.
-
-"Corn, my child."
-
-"Well, why doesn't Freddie Bluejay like it?" Fatty asked.
-
-"He's probably very fond of corn," said Mrs. Coon. "And I've no doubt he
-was afraid that you would eat up this whole field, once you started."
-
-"I'd like to," said Fatty, with a sigh. "I'd like to eat all the corn in
-the world."
-
-
-
-
-VII
-
-JOHNNIE GREEN IS DISAPPOINTED
-
-
-It made Fatty Coon feel sad, just to think that there was that field
-full of corn, and that he could never eat all of it. But Fatty made up
-his mind that he would do the best he could. He would visit the
-cornfield every night and feast on those sweet, tender kernels.
-
-The very next night Fatty set out toward Farmer Green's. It was hardly
-dark. But Fatty could not wait any longer. He could not even wait for
-his mother and his sisters and his brother. He hurried away alone. And
-when he came in sight of the cornfield he felt better. He had been the
-least bit afraid that the corn might be gone. He thought that maybe
-Farmer Green had picked it, or that some of the forest people had eaten
-it all. But there it was--a forest of corn, waving and rustling in the
-moonlight as the breeze touched it. Fatty felt very happy as he slipped
-through the rail-fence.
-
-I wouldn't dare say how many ears of corn Fatty ate that night. And he
-would have eaten more, too, if it hadn't been for just one thing. A dog
-barked. And that spoiled Fatty's fun. For the dog was altogether too
-near for Fatty to feel safe. He even dropped the ear of corn he was
-gnawing and hurried toward the woods.
-
-It was lucky for Fatty that he started when he did. For that dog was
-close behind him in no time. There was only one thing to do: Fatty knew
-that he must climb a tree at once. So he made for the nearest tree in
-sight--a big, spreading oak, which stood all alone just beyond the
-fence. And as Fatty crouched on a limb he felt safe enough, though the
-dog barked and whined, and leaped against the tree, and made a great
-fuss.
-
-Fatty looked down at the dog and scolded a little. He was not afraid.
-But it made him cross to be driven out of the cornfield. And he wished
-the dog would go away. But the dog--it was Farmer Green's Spot--the dog
-had no idea of leaving. He stayed right there and barked so loudly that
-it was not long before Farmer Green and his hired man came in sight. And
-with them was Johnnie Green and a little, young dog that had just been
-given to him.
-
-When Farmer Green saw Fatty he seemed disappointed. "He's too young to
-bother with," he said. "His skin's not worth much. We'll go 'long and
-see what we can find."
-
-But Johnnie Green stayed behind. He wanted that young coon. And he
-intended to have him, too. Leaving the young dog to watch Fatty Coon,
-Johnnie went back to the farmhouse. After a while he appeared again with
-an axe over his shoulder. And when he began to chop away at the big oak,
-Fatty Coon felt very uneasy. Whenever Johnnie drove his axe into the
-tree, both the tree and Fatty shivered together. And Fatty began to wish
-he had stayed away from the cornfield. But not for long, because Johnnie
-Green soon gave up the idea of chopping down the big oak. The wood was
-so hard to cut, and the tree was so big, that Johnnie had not chopped
-long before he saw that it would take him all night to cut through it.
-He looked up longingly at Fatty Coon. And Johnnie started to climb the
-tree himself. But the higher he climbed, the higher Fatty climbed. And
-Johnnie knew that he could never catch that plump young coon in that
-way.
-
-At last Johnnie Green started off, calling his dog after him. And then
-Fatty Coon came down. But he did not go back to the cornfield. He
-decided that he had had adventures enough for one night. But Fatty had
-learned something--at least he thought he had. For he made up his mind
-that once he climbed a tree, no man could reach him. TREES COULD NOT BE
-CHOPPED DOWN! That was what Fatty believed. Perhaps you will know,
-later, whether Fatty ever found out that he was mistaken.
-
-
-
-
-VIII
-
-A TERRIBLE FRIGHT
-
-
-It was the very next night after old dog Spot had treed Fatty Coon in
-the big oak near the cornfield. They had finished their evening meal at
-Farmer Green's house. The cows were milked, the horses had been fed, the
-chickens had all gone to roost. And Farmer Green looked up at the moon,
-rising from behind Blue Mountain.
-
-"We'll go coon-hunting again to-night," he said to Johnnie and the hired
-man. "The corn has brought the coons up from the swamp. We'll start as
-soon as it grows a little darker."
-
-Well--after a while they set out for the cornfield. And sure enough! old
-Spot soon began to bark.
-
-"He's treed!" said Farmer Green, pretty soon. And they all hurried over
-to the edge of the woods, where Spot had chased a coon up into a tall
-chestnut tree. In the moonlight they could see the coon quite plainly.
-"Another little feller!" cried Farmer Green. "I declare, all the coons
-that come to the cornfield seem to be young ones. This one's no bigger
-than the one we saw last night."
-
-Now, although Farmer Green never guessed it, it was Fatty Coon who was
-up there in the tall chestnut. He had run almost to the woods this time,
-before he had to take to a tree. In fact, if Spot hadn't been quite so
-close to him Fatty could have reached the woods, and then he would have
-just jumped from one tree to another. But there were no trees near
-enough the big chestnut for that. Fatty had to stay right there and wait
-for those men to pass on. He wasn't afraid. He felt perfectly safe in
-his big tree. And he only smiled when Johnnie Green said to his father--
-
-"I wish I had that young coon. He'd make a fine pet."
-
-"A pet!" exclaimed Farmer Green. "You remember that pet fox you had,
-that stole my chickens?"
-
-"Oh, I'd be careful," Johnnie promised. "Besides, don't you think we
-ought to catch him, so he won't eat any more corn?"
-
-Farmer Green smiled. He had been a boy himself, once upon a time, and he
-had not forgotten the pet coon that he had owned when he was just about
-Johnnie's age.
-
-"All right!" he said at last. "I'll give you one more chance, Johnnie.
-But you'll have to see that this young coon doesn't kill any of my
-poultry."
-
-Johnnie promised that nothing of the sort should happen. And then his
-father and the hired man picked up their axes; and standing on opposite
-sides of the tall chestnut tree, they began to chop.
-
-How the chips did fly! At the very first blow Fatty knew that this was
-an entirely different sort of chopping from that which Johnnie had
-attempted the night before. The great tree shook as if it knew that it
-would soon come crashing down upon the ground.
-
-And as for Fatty Coon, he could not see but that he must fall when the
-tree did. He, too, shivered and shook. And he wrapped himself all the
-way around a limb and hung on as tight as ever he could.
-
-
-
-
-IX
-
-JOHNNIE GREEN LOSES HIS PET
-
-
-Now, Farmer Green and his hired man had not chopped long before they
-stopped to breathe. They had not chopped long--but oh! what great,
-yawning holes they had made in the big chestnut! From the limb where he
-clung Fatty Coon looked down. The tree no longer shook. And Fatty felt
-better at once. You see, he thought that the men would go away, just as
-Johnnie had gone away the night before. But they had no such idea at
-all.
-
-"Which way are you going to fell her?" the hired man asked. He said HER,
-meaning the TREE, of course.
-
-"That way!" said Farmer Green, pointing toward the woods. "We'll have to
-drop her that way, or she'll fall right across the road, and of course
-THAT would never do."
-
-"But will she clear the trees on the edge of the woods?" The hired man
-appeared somewhat doubtful.
-
-"Oh, to be sure--to be sure!" answered Farmer Green.
-
-And with that they set to work again. But this time they both chopped on
-the same side of the tree--the side toward the woods.
-
-Now, if Fatty Coon was frightened before, you will believe that he was
-still more frightened when the big chestnut tree began to sag. Yes! it
-began to lean toward the woods. Slowly, slowly it tipped. And Fatty was
-scared half out of his mind. He climbed to the very top of the tree,
-because he wanted to get just as far away from those men as he could.
-And there he waited. There was nothing else he could do. Yes! he waited
-until that awful moment should come when the tree would go crashing down
-upon the ground. What was going to happen to him then? Fatty wondered.
-And while he was wondering there sounded all at once a great snapping
-and splitting. And Fatty felt the tree falling, falling. He could hear
-Johnnie Green shouting. And he shut his eyes and held fast to his
-branch. Then came the crash.
-
-When Fatty Coon opened his eyes he expected to see Johnnie Green all
-ready to seize him. But to his great surprise he was still far above the
-ground. You see, Farmer Green had been mistaken. Either the big chestnut
-tree was taller than he had guessed, or the woods were nearer than he
-had thought. For instead of dropping upon the ground, Fatty's tree had
-fallen right against another tree on the edge of the woods. And there it
-lay, half-tipped over, with its branches caught fast in the branches of
-that other tree.
-
-It was no wonder that Johnnie Green shouted. And he shouted still more
-loudly when he saw Fatty scramble out of the big chestnut and into the
-other tree, and out of that tree and into another, and then out of THAT
-tree. Fatty was going straight into the woods.
-
-It was no wonder that Johnnie Green shouted. For he had lost his pet
-coon. He had lost him before he ever had him. And he was sadly
-disappointed.
-
-But Fatty Coon was not disappointed, for he had not wanted to be a pet
-at all. And he was very glad--you may be sure--to get safely home once
-more.
-
-
-
-
-X
-
-FATTY COON AND THE MONSTER
-
-
-One night Fatty Coon was strolling along the road that wound through the
-valley. He was in no hurry, for he had just left Farmer Green's apple
-orchard, where he had bolted all the apples he could possibly eat. The
-night was dark and though it was not very late, all the country people
-seemed to be in bed. There were no farmers driving along the road. Fatty
-had it all to himself. And so he walked slowly homewards. It was then
-that the terrible monster almost caught him.
-
-This is how it all happened. There was a br-br-br-r-r-r in the air.
-Fatty really should have heard it long before he did. But he had eaten
-so many apples that he had begun to feel sleepy; and his ears were not
-so sharp as they should have been. And when at last Fatty heard that
-br-r-r-r it was quite loud. He was startled. And he stopped right in the
-middle of the road to listen. Fatty had never heard such a sound before.
-
-The strange animal was on him before he knew it. Its glaring eyes
-blinded him. And if it had not screamed at him Fatty would never have
-escaped. It was the terrible screech of the monster which finally made
-Fatty jump. It was a frightful cry--like six wildcats all wailing
-together. And Fatty leaped to one side of the road just before the
-monster reached him.
-
-The great creature went past Fatty like the wind and tore on up the
-hill. He seemed to be running so fast that he could not stop. Fatty
-could hear him panting as he climbed the sharp rise of the road.
-
-Fatty Coon hurried away. He wanted to get home before the monster could
-stop and come back to look for him.
-
-When Fatty told his mother about his narrow escape Mrs. Coon became much
-excited. She felt sure that Fatty was not mistaken, for had she not
-heard that strange cry herself?
-
-There it was again! Woo-ooo-ooo-oo-o! It began low, rose to a shriek,
-and then died away again.
-
-Mrs. Coon and Fatty climbed to the very top of their old poplar and
-gazed down the valley.
-
-"Look, Mother!" Fatty cried. "He's stopped at Farmer Green's! You can
-see his eyes from here!"
-
-Mrs. Coon looked. Sure enough! It was just as Fatty said. And that
-horrid call echoed across the valley once more.
-
-Farmer Green stuck his head out of his chamber-window, to see what the
-man in the automobile wanted.
-
-"Where's the nearest village, please?" the stranger asked. And after
-Farmer Green had told him the man drove his car on again.
-
-From their tree-top Fatty and his mother watched the monster dash down
-the valley. They knew he had gone, because they could see the gleam of
-those awful eyes.
-
-"Do you suppose he ate up Farmer Green and his family?" Fatty asked in a
-frightened voice.
-
-"I hope so," she said. "Then perhaps there'll be no more traps in the
-woods."
-
-"But who would plant the corn?" Fatty asked.
-
-Mrs. Coon did not appear to hear his question.
-
-
-
-
-XI
-
-JASPER JAY TELLS SOME NEWS
-
-
-It was quite late in the fall, and the weather had grown very cold. Mrs.
-Coon and her family had not left their home for several days; but on
-this day she thought it would be pleasant to go out in the sunshine and
-get a breath of fresh air and a bite to eat.
-
-Fatty was the only one of her children that was not asleep; and he
-complained of being very hungry. So Mrs. Coon decided to take him with
-her.
-
-The hunting was not very good. There were no birds' eggs at all to be
-found in the trees. The river and the brook and the creek were all
-frozen over, so Fatty and his mother could not catch any fish. And as
-for corn--Farmer Green had long ago gathered the last ear of it. Fatty
-wished that it was summertime. But it only made him hungrier than ever,
-to think of all the good things to eat that summer brings. He was
-feeling very unhappy when his mother said to him sharply--
-
-"Run up this tree! Hurry, now! Don't ask any questions."
-
-Now, Fatty did not always mind his mother as quickly as he might have.
-But this time he saw that she had stopped and was sniffing the air as if
-there was something about it she did not like.
-
-That was enough for Fatty. He scrambled up the nearest tree. For he knew
-that his mother had discovered danger of some sort.
-
-Mrs. Coon followed close behind Fatty. And they had no sooner hidden in
-the branches than Fatty saw what it was that his mother had smelled.
-
-It was Johnnie Green! He passed right underneath the tree where they
-were perched. And as Mrs. Coon peeped down at him she shuddered and
-shivered and shook so hard that Fatty couldn't help noticing it.
-
-"What's the matter?" he asked, as soon as Johnnie Green was out of
-sight.
-
-"His cap!" Mrs. Coon exclaimed. "He is wearing a coon-skin cap!" Now do
-you wonder that she was upset? "Don't ever go near Farmer Green's
-house," she warned Fatty. "You don't want to be made into a cap, or a
-pair of gloves, or a coat, or anything like that, do you?"
-
-"No, indeed, Mother!" Fatty was quite sure that such an adventure
-wouldn't please him at all. And he told himself right then and there
-that he would never go anywhere near Farmer Green's house. We shall see
-how well Fatty remembered.
-
-That very afternoon Fatty Coon heard some very pleasant news. It was
-Jasper Jay who told him.
-
-Jasper Jay was a very noisy blue jay who lived in the neighborhood. He
-did not go south with most of the other birds when the cold weather
-came. He liked the winter and he was forever tearing about the woods,
-squalling and scolding at everybody. He was a very noisy fellow.
-
-Well! when Fatty and his mother had reached home after their hunt, Fatty
-stayed out of doors. He climbed to the top of a tall pine tree nearby
-and stretched himself along a limb, to enjoy the sunshine, which felt
-very good upon his broad back. It was there that Jasper Jay found him
-and told him the pleasant news. And Fatty was very glad to hear the
-news, because he was still hungry.
-
-This is what Jasper Jay told Fatty: he told him that Farmer Green had as
-many as forty fat turkeys, which roosted every night in a spreading oak
-in Farmer Green's front yard.
-
-"If I liked turkeys I would certainly go down there some night and get
-one," said Jasper Jay.
-
-
-
-
-XII
-
-FORTY FAT TURKEYS
-
-
-When Jasper Jay told Fatty Coon about Farmer Green's forty fat turkeys
-Fatty felt hungrier than ever.
-
-"Oh! I mustn't go near Farmer Green's house!" he said. "My mother told
-me to keep away from there. . . . What time did you say the turkeys go
-to roost?"
-
-"Oh! they go to roost every night at sundown," Jasper Jay explained.
-"And there they sit, up in the tree, all night long. They're fast
-asleep. And you would have no trouble at all in catching as many as you
-wanted. . . . But of course, if you're afraid--why there's no use of MY
-talking about it. There's a plenty of other coons in these woods who'd
-be glad to know about those turkeys. And maybe they'd have the manners
-to say 'Thank you!' too." And with a hoarse, sneering laugh Jasper Jay
-flew away.
-
-That was enough for Fatty. He made up his mind that he would show Jasper
-Jay that HE was not afraid. And he wanted a turkey to eat, too. He said
-nothing to his mother about Jasper's news. But that very night, when the
-moon came up, and the lights in Farmer Green's house were all out, Fatty
-Coon went stealing across the fields.
-
-He was not afraid, for he knew that Farmer Green and all his family were
-in their beds. And it was so cold that Fatty felt sure that Farmer
-Green's dogs would be inside their kennels.
-
-Fatty did not intend to make any noise. The turkeys were asleep--so
-Jasper Jay had told him--and he expected to grab one of them so swiftly
-and silently that the other turkeys would never know it.
-
-When Fatty Coon came to Farmer Green's yard he had no trouble at all in
-finding the spreading oak. He could see the turkeys plainly where they
-dozed on the bare branches. And in less time than it takes to tell it
-Fatty had climbed the tree. On the very lowest limb there was a row of
-four plump turkeys, all sound asleep. And Fatty reached out and seized
-the nearest one. He seized the turkey by the neck, so that the big bird
-could not call out. But Fatty was not quite quick enough. Before he
-could pull her off her perch the turkey began to flap her wings, and she
-struck the turkey next her, so that THAT turkey woke up and began to
-gobble and flap HER wings. Then the next turkey on the limb woke up. And
-the first thing that Fatty Coon knew, every one of the thirty-nine
-turkeys that were left was going gobble-gob-gob-gob-gobble! And some of
-them went sailing off across the yard. One of them lighted on top of the
-porch just outside Farmer Green's window and it seemed to Fatty that
-that one made the greatest racket of all.
-
-Farmer Green's window flew up; and Farmer Green's voice called "Spot!
-Spot!"
-
-Fatty Coon did not wait to hear anything more. He dropped the turkey he
-had seized and slipped down to the ground. And then he ran toward the
-woods as fast as he could go.
-
-Farmer Green's dog Spot was barking now. And Fatty wanted to climb one
-of the trees by the roadside. But he remembered, the narrow escape he
-had had when the dog had treed him near the cornfield. So he never
-stopped until he reached the woods. Then he went nimbly up into the
-trees. And while Spot was barking at the foot of the first tree he
-climbed, Fatty was travelling through the tree-tops toward home.
-
-He never said anything to his mother about Farmer Green's turkeys. But
-the next time he saw Jasper Jay Fatty told him exactly what he thought
-of him.
-
-"Ha! ha!" Jasper Jay only laughed. And he did not seem at all surprised
-that Fatty had fallen into trouble. To tell the truth, he was only sorry
-because Fatty had escaped. Jasper Jay did not like Fatty Coon. And he
-had told him about the forty fat turkeys because he hoped that Fatty
-would get caught if he tried to steal one of them.
-
-"Wait till I catch you!" Fatty said.
-
-But Jasper Jay only laughed harder than ever when Fatty said that. He
-seemed to think it was a great joke. He was most annoying.
-
-
-
-
-XIII
-
-FATTY MEETS JIMMY RABBIT
-
-
-For once Fatty Coon was not hungry. He had eaten so much of Farmer
-Green's corn that he felt as if he could not swallow another mouthful.
-He was strolling homewards through the woods when someone called to him.
-It was Jimmy Rabbit.
-
-"Where are you going, Fatty?" Jimmy Rabbit asked.
-
-"Home!" said Fatty.
-
-"Are you hungry?" Jimmy Rabbit asked anxiously.
-
-"I should say not!" Fatty answered. "I've just had the finest meal I
-ever ate in my life."
-
-Jimmy Rabbit seemed to be relieved to hear that.
-
-"Come on over and play," he said. "My brother and I are playing
-barber-shop over in the old sycamore tree; and we need you."
-
-"All right!" said Fatty. It was not often that any of the smaller
-forest-people were willing to play with him, because generally Fatty
-couldn't help getting hungry and then he usually tried to eat his
-playmates. "What do you need me for?" Fatty asked, as he trudged along
-beside Jimmy Rabbit.
-
-"We need you for the barber's pole," Jimmy explained. "You can come
-inside the hollow tree and stick your tail out through a hole. It will
-make a fine barber's pole--though the stripes DO run the wrong way, to
-be sure."
-
-Fatty Coon was greatly pleased. He looked around at his tail and felt
-very proud.
-
-"I've got a beautiful tail--haven't I?" he asked.
-
-"Um--yes!" Jimmy Rabbit replied, "though I must say it isn't one that I
-would care for myself... But come along! There may be people waiting to
-get their hair cut."
-
-Sure enough! When they reached the make-believe barber-shop there was a
-gray squirrel inside, and Jimmy Rabbit's brother was busily snipping the
-fur off Mr. Squirrel's head.
-
-"How much do you charge for a hair-cut?" Fatty asked.
-
-"Oh, that depends!" Jimmy Rabbit said. "Mr. Squirrel will pay us six
-cabbage leaves. But if we were to cut your hair we'd have to ask more.
-We'd want a dozen cabbage leaves, at least."
-
-"Well, don't I get anything for the use of my tail?" Fatty asked. He had
-already stuck it out through the hole; and he had half a mind to pull it
-in again.
-
-Jimmy Rabbit and his brother whispered together for a few moments.
-
-"I'll tell you what we'll do," Jimmy said. "If you'll let us use your
-tail for the barber's pole, we'll cut your hair free. Isn't that fair
-enough?"
-
-Fatty Coon was satisfied. But he insisted that Jimmy begin to cut his
-hair at once.
-
-"I'm doing my part of the work now," he pointed out. "So there's no
-reason why you shouldn't do yours."
-
-With that Jimmy Rabbit began. He clipped and snipped at Fatty's head,
-pausing now and then to see the effect. He smiled once in a while,
-behind Fatty's back, because Fatty certainly did look funny with his fur
-all ragged and uneven.
-
-"Moustache trimmed?" Jimmy Rabbit asked, when he had finished with
-Fatty's head.
-
-"Certainly--of course!" Fatty Coon answered. And pretty soon Fatty's
-long white moustache lay on the floor of the barber-shop. Fatty felt a
-bit uneasy as he looked down and saw his beautiful moustache lying at
-his feet. "You haven't cut it too short, I hope," he said.
-
-"No, indeed!" Jimmy Rabbit assured him. "It's the very latest style."
-
-"What on earth has happened to you?" Mrs. Coon cried,--when Fatty
-reached home that night. "Have you been in a fire?"
-
-"It's the latest style, Mother," Fatty told her. "At least, that's what
-Jimmy Rabbit says." He felt the least bit uneasy again.
-
-"Did you let that Jimmy Rabbit do that to you?" Mrs. Coon asked.
-
-Fatty hung his head. He said nothing at all. But his mother knew.
-
-"Well! you ARE a sight!" she exclaimed. "It will be months before you
-look like my child again. I shall be ashamed to go anywhere with you."
-
-Fatty Coon felt very foolish. And there was just one thing that kept him
-from crying. And THAT was THIS: he made up his mind that when he played
-barber-shop with Jimmy Rabbit again he would get even with him.
-
-But when the next day came, Fatty couldn't find Jimmy Rabbit and his
-brother anywhere. They kept out of sight. But they had told all the
-other forest-people about the trick they had played on Fatty Coon. And
-everywhere Fatty went he heard nothing but hoots and jeers and laughs.
-He felt very silly. And he wished that he might meet Jimmy Rabbit and
-his brother.
-
-
-
-
-XIV
-
-THE BARBER-SHOP AGAIN
-
-
-Although Fatty Coon never could get Jimmy Rabbit and his brother to play
-barber-shop with him again, Fatty saw no reason why he should not play
-the game without them. So one day he led his brother Blackie over to the
-old hollow sycamore. His sisters, Fluffy and Cutey, wanted to go too.
-But Fatty would not let them. "Girls can't be barbers," he said. And of
-course they could find no answer to that.
-
-As soon as Fatty and Blackie reached the old sycamore I am sorry to say
-that a dispute arose. Each of them wanted to use his own tail for the
-barber's pole. They couldn't both stick their tails through the hole in
-the tree at the same time. So they finally agreed to take turns.
-
-Playing barber-shop wasn't so much fun as they had expected, because
-nobody would come near to get his hair cut. You see, the smaller
-forest-people were all afraid to go inside that old sycamore where Fatty
-and Blackie were. There was no telling when the two brothers might get
-so hungry they would seize and eat a rabbit or a squirrel or a chipmunk.
-And you know it isn't wise to run any such risk as that.
-
-Fatty offered to cut Blackie's hair. But Blackie remembered what his
-mother had said when Fatty came home with his moustache gone and his
-head all rough and uneven. So Blackie wouldn't let Fatty touch him. But
-HE offered to cut Fatty's hair--what there was left of it.
-
-"No, thank you!" said Fatty. "I only get my hair cut once a month." Of
-course, he had never had his hair cut except that once, in his whole
-life.
-
-Now, since there was so little to do inside the hollow tree, Fatty and
-Blackie kept quarreling. Blackie would no sooner stick his tail through
-the hole in the side of the tree than Fatty would want HIS turn. And
-when Fatty had succeeded in squeezing HIS tail out through the opening
-Blackie would insist that Fatty's time was up.
-
-It was Fatty's turn, and Blackie was shouting to him to stand aside and
-give him a chance.
-
-"I won't!" said Fatty. "I'm going to stay here just as long as I
-please."
-
-The words were hardly out of his mouth when he gave a sharp squeal, as
-if something hurt him. And he tried to pull his tail out of the hole. He
-wanted to get it out now. But alas! it would not come! It was caught
-fast! And the harder Fatty pulled the more it hurt him.
-
-"Go out and see what's the matter!" he cried to Blackie.
-
-But Blackie wouldn't stir. He was afraid to leave the shelter of the
-hollow tree.
-
-"It may be a bear that has hold of your tail," he told Fatty. And
-somehow, that idea made Fatty tremble all over.
-
-"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" he wailed. "What shall I do? Oh! whatever shall I
-do?" He began to cry. And Blackie cried too. How Fatty wished that his
-mother was there to tell him what to do!
-
-But he knew of no way to fetch her. Even if she were at home she could
-never hear him calling from inside the tree. So Fatty gave up all hope
-of her helping.
-
-"Please, Mr. Bear, let go of my tail!" he cried, when he could stand the
-pain no longer.
-
-The only answer that came was a low growl, which frightened Fatty and
-Blackie more than ever. And then, just as they both began to howl at the
-top of their voices Fatty's tail was suddenly freed. He was pulling on
-it so hard that he fell all in a heap on the floor of the barber-shop.
-And that surprised him.
-
-But he was still more surprised when he heard his mother say--
-
-"Stop crying and come out--both of you!" Fatty and Blackie scrambled out
-of the hollow sycamore. Fatty looked all around. But there was no bear
-to be seen anywhere--no one but his mother.
-
-"Did you frighten the bear away, Mother?" he asked.
-
-"There was no bear," Mrs. Coon told him. "And it's lucky for you that
-there wasn't. I saw your tail sticking out of this tree and I thought I
-would teach you a lesson. Now, don't ever do such a foolish thing again.
-Just think what a fix you would have been in if Johnnie Green had come
-along. He could have caught you just as easily as anything."
-
-Fatty Coon was so glad to be free once more that he promised to be good
-forever after. And he was just as good as any little coon could be--all
-the rest of that day.
-
-
-
-
-XV
-
-FATTY VISITS THE SMOKE-HOUSE
-
-
-The winter was fast going. And one fine day in February Fatty Coon crept
-out of his mother's house to enjoy the warm sunshine--and see what he
-could find to eat.
-
-Fatty was much thinner than he had been in the fall. He had spent so
-much of the time sleeping that he had really eaten very little. And now
-he hardly knew himself as he looked at his sides. They no longer stuck
-out as they had once.
-
-After nosing about the swamp and the woods all the afternoon Fatty
-decided that there was no use in trying to get a meal there. The ground
-was covered with snow. And except for rabbit tracks--and a few
-squirrels'--he could find nothing that even suggested food. And looking
-at those tracks only made him hungrier than ever.
-
-For a few minutes Fatty thought deeply. And then he turned about and
-went straight toward Farmer Green's place. He waited behind the fence
-just beyond Farmer Green's house; and when it began to grow dark he
-crept across the barnyard.
-
-As Fatty passed a small, low building he noticed a delicious smell. And
-he stopped right there. He had gone far enough. The door was open a
-little way. And after one quick look all around--to make sure there was
-nobody to see him--Fatty slipped inside.
-
-It was almost dark inside Farmer Green's smokehouse--for that was what
-the small, low building was called. It was almost dark; but Fatty could
-see just as well as you and I can see in the daytime. There was a long
-row of hams hung up in a line. Underneath them were white ashes, where
-Farmer Green had built wood fires, to smoke the hams. But the fires were
-out, now; and Fatty was in no danger of being burned.
-
-The hams were what Fatty Coon had smelled. And the hams were what Fatty
-intended to eat. He decided that he would eat them all--though of course
-he could never have done that--at least, not in one night; nor in a
-week, either. But when it came to eating, Fatty's courage never failed
-him. He would have tried to eat an elephant, if he had had the chance.
-
-Fatty did not stop to look long at that row of hams. He climbed a post
-that ran up the side of the house and he crept out along the pole from
-which the hams were hung.
-
-He stopped at the very first ham he came to. There was no sense in going
-any further. And Fatty dropped on top of the ham and in a twinkling he
-had torn off a big, delicious mouthful.
-
-Fatty could not eat fast enough. He wished he had two mouths--he was so
-hungry. But he did very well, with only ONE. In no time at all he had
-made a great hole in the ham. And he had no idea of stopping. But he did
-stop. He stopped very suddenly. For the first thing he knew, something
-threw him right down upon the floor. And the ham fell on top of him and
-nearly knocked him senseless.
-
-He choked and spluttered; for the ashes filled his mouth and his eyes,
-and his ears, too. For a moment he lay there on his back; but soon he
-managed to kick the heavy ham off his stomach and then he felt a little
-better. But he was terribly frightened. And though his eyes smarted so
-he could hardly see, he sprang up and found the doorway.
-
-Fatty swallowed a whole mouthful of ashes as he dashed across the
-barnyard. And he never stopped running until he was almost home. He was
-puzzled. Try as he would, he couldn't decide what it was that had flung
-him upon the floor. And when he told his mother about his adventure--as
-he did a whole month later--she didn't know exactly what had happened,
-either.
-
-"It was some sort of trap, probably," Mrs. Coon said.
-
-But for once Mrs. Coon was mistaken.
-
-It was very simple. In his greedy haste Fatty had merely bitten through
-the cord that fastened the ham to the pole. And of course it had at once
-fallen, carrying Fatty with it!
-
-But what do you suppose? Afterward, when Fatty had grown up, and had
-children of his own, he often told them about the time he had escaped
-from the trap in Farmer Green's smokehouse.
-
-Fatty's children thought it very exciting. It was their favorite story.
-And they made their father tell it over and over again.
-
-
-
-
-XVI
-
-FATTY COON PLAYS ROBBER
-
-
-After Fatty Coon played barber-shop with Jimmy Rabbit and his brother it
-was a long time before he met them again. But one day Fatty was
-wandering through the woods when he caught sight of Jimmy. Jimmy dodged
-behind a tree. And Fatty saw Jimmy's brother peep from behind another.
-You see, his ears were so long that they stuck far beyond the tree, and
-Fatty couldn't help seeing them.
-
-"Hello!" Fatty called. "I'm glad to see you." And he told the truth,
-too. He had been trying to find those two brothers for weeks, because he
-wanted to get even with them for cutting off his moustache. Jimmy and
-his brother hopped out from behind their trees.
-
-"Hello!" said Jimmy. "We were just looking for you." Probably he meant
-to say, "We were just looking AT you." He was somewhat upset by meeting
-Fatty; for he knew that Fatty was angry with him.
-
-"Oh, ho! You were, were you?" Fatty answered. He began to slide down the
-tree he had been climbing.
-
-Jimmy Rabbit and his brother edged a little further away.
-
-"Better not come too near us!" he said. "We've both got the pink-eye,
-and you don't want to catch it."
-
-Fatty paused and looked at the brothers. Sure enough! their eyes were as
-pink as anything.
-
-"Does it hurt much?" Fatty asked.
-
-"Well--it does and it doesn't," Jimmy replied. "I just stuck a brier
-into one of my eyes a few minutes ago and it hurt awful, then. But
-you'll be perfectly safe, so long as you don't touch us."
-
-"How long does it last?" Fatty inquired.
-
-"Probably we'll never get over it," Jimmy Rabbit said cheerfully. And
-his brother nodded his head, as much as to say, "That's so!"
-
-Fatty Coon was just the least bit alarmed. He really thought that there
-was something the matter with their eyes. You see, though the Rabbit
-brothers' eyes were always pink (for they were born that way), he had
-never noticed it before. So Fatty thought it would be safer not to go
-too near them.
-
-"Well, it's too bad," he told Jimmy. "I'm sorry. I wanted to play with
-you."
-
-"Oh, that's all right!" Jimmy said. "We can play, just the same. I'll
-tell you what we'll play. We'll play--"
-
-"Not barber-shop!" Fatty interrupted. "I won't play barber-shop, I never
-liked that game."
-
-Jimmy Rabbit started to smile. But he turned his smile into a sneeze.
-And he said--
-
-"We'll play robber. You'll like that, I know. And you can be the robber.
-You look like one, anyhow."
-
-That remark made Fatty Coon angry. And he wished that Jimmy hadn't the
-pink-eye. He would have liked to make an end of him right then and
-there.
-
-"What do you mean?" he shouted. "Robber nothing! I'm just as good as you
-are!"
-
-"Of course, of course!" Jimmy said hastily. "It's your face, you know,
-That black patch covers your eyes just like a robber's mask. That's why
-we want you to be the robber."
-
-Fatty had slipped down his tree to the ground; and now he looked down
-into the creek. It was just as Jimmy said. Fatty had never thought of it
-before, but the black patch of short fur across the upper part of his
-face made him look exactly like a robber.
-
-"Come on!" said Jimmy. "We can't play the game without you."
-
-"Well--all right!" said Fatty. He began to feel proud of his mask. "What
-shall I do?"
-
-"You wait right here," Jimmy ordered. "Hide behind that tree. We'll go
-into the woods. And when we come back past this spot you jump out and
-say 'Hands up!' ... You understand?"
-
-"Of course!" said Fatty. "But hurry up! Don't be gone long."
-
-"Leave that to us," said Jimmy Rabbit. He winked at his brother; and
-they started off together.
-
-Fatty Coon did not see that wink. If he had, he wouldn't have waited
-there all the afternoon for those Rabbit brothers to return. They never
-came back at all. And they told everybody about the trick they had
-played on Fatty Coon. For a long time after that wherever Fatty went the
-forest-people called "Robber!" after him. And Jasper Jay was the most
-annoying of all, because whenever he shouted "Robber!" he always laughed
-so loudly and so long. His hoarse screech echoed through the woods. And
-the worst of it was, everybody knew what he was laughing at.
-
-
-
-
-XVII
-
-FATTY FINDS THE MOON
-
-
-Wandering through the woods one day, Fatty Coon's bright eyes caught a
-strange gleam from something--something that shone and glittered out of
-the green. Fatty wanted to see what it was, though he hardly thought it
-was anything to eat. But whenever he came upon something new he always
-wanted to examine it. So now Fatty hurried to see what the strange thing
-was.
-
-It was the oddest thing he had ever found--flat, round, and silvery; and
-it hung in the air, under a tree, just over Fatty's head. Fatty Coon
-looked carefully at the bright thing. He walked all around it, so he
-could see it from all sides. And at last he thought he knew what it was.
-He made up his mind that it was the moon!
-
-He had often seen the moon up in the sky; and here it was, just the same
-size exactly, hanging so low that he could have reached it with his paw.
-He saw nothing strange in that; for he knew that the moon often touched
-the earth. Had he not seen it many a time, resting on the side of Blue
-Mountain? One night he had asked his mother if he might go up on the
-mountain to play with the moon; but she had only laughed. And here, at
-last, was the moon come to him! Fatty was so excited that he ran home as
-fast as he could go, to tell his mother, and his brother Blackie, and
-Fluffy and Cutey, his sisters.
-
-"Oh! the moon! the moon!" Fatty shouted. He had run so fast that, being
-so plump, he was quite out of breath. And that was all he could say.
-
-"Well, well! What about the moon!" Mrs. Coon asked. "Anybody would think
-you had found it, almost." And she smiled.
-
-Fatty puffed and gasped. And at last he caught his breath again.
-
-"Yes--I've found it! It's over in the woods--just a little way from
-here!" he said. "Big, and round, and shiny! Let's all go and bring it
-home!"
-
-"Well, well, well!" Mrs. Coon was puzzled. She had never heard of the
-moon being found in those woods; and she hardly knew what to think. "Are
-you sure?" she asked.
-
-"Oh, yes, Mother!" Fatty could hardly wait, he was so eager to lead the
-way. And with many a shake of the head, Mrs. Coon, with her family,
-started off to see the moon.
-
-"There!" Fatty cried, as they came in sight of the bright, round thing.
-"There it is--just as I told you!" And they all set up a great shouting.
-
-All but Mrs. Coon. She wasn't quite sure, even yet, that Fatty had
-really found the moon. And she walked close to the shining thing and
-peered at it. But not too close! Mrs. Coon didn't go too near it. And
-she told her children quite sternly to stand back. It was well that she
-did; for when Mrs. Coon took her eyes off Fatty's moon and looked at the
-ground beneath it--well! she jumped back so quickly that she knocked two
-of her children flat on the ground.
-
-A trap! THAT was what Mrs. Coon saw right in front of her. And Farmer
-Green, or his boy, or whoever it was that set the trap, had hung that
-bright piece of TIN over the trap hoping that one of her family would
-see it and play with it--and fall into the trap. Yes--it was a mercy
-that Fatty hadn't begun knocking it about. For if he had he would have
-stepped right into the trap and it would have shut--SNAP! Just like
-that. And there he would have been, caught fast.
-
-It was no wonder that Mrs. Coon hurried her family away from that spot.
-And Fatty led them all home again. He couldn't get away from his moon
-fast enough.
-
-
-
-
-XVIII
-
-THE LOGGERS COME
-
-
-Fatty Coon was frightened; he had just waked up and he heard a sound
-that was exactly like the noise Farmer Green and his hired man had made
-when they cut down the tall chestnut tree where he was perched.
-
-"Oh, Mother! What is it?" he cried.
-
-"The loggers have come," Mrs. Coon said. "They are cutting down all the
-big trees in the swamp."
-
-"Then we'll have to move, won't we?" Fatty asked.
-
-"No! They won't touch this tree," his mother told him. "It's an old
-tree, and hollow--so they won't chop it down. It's only the good sound
-trees that they'll take."
-
-"But I thought this was a good tree." Fatty was puzzled.
-
-"So it is, my son! It's a good tree for us. But not for the loggers.
-They would have little use for it."
-
-Fatty Coon felt better when he heard that. And he had a good deal of
-fun, peeping down at the loggers and watching them work. But he took
-care that they should not see HIM. He knew what their bright axes could
-do.
-
-When night came Fatty had still more fun. When the loggers were asleep
-Fatty went to their camp in the woods beside the brook and he found many
-good things to eat. He did not know the names of all the goodies; but he
-ate them just the same. He 'specially liked some potatoes which the
-careless cook had left in a pan near the open camp-fire. The fire was
-out. And the pan rested on a stump close beside it. Fatty Coon climbed
-up and crawled right inside the pan. And after he had had one taste of
-those potatoes he grew so excited--they were so good--that he tipped the
-pan off the stump and the potatoes rolled right into the ashes.
-
-Fatty had jumped to one side, when the tin pan fell. It made a great
-clatter; and he kept very still for a few moments, while he listened.
-But no one stirred. And then Fatty jumped plump into the ashes.
-
-WHEW! He jumped out again as fast as he could; for beneath the ashes
-there were plenty of hot coals. Fatty stood in them for not more than
-three seconds, but that was quite long enough. The bottoms of his feet
-burned as if a hundred hornets had stung them.
-
-He stood first on one foot and then on another. If you could have seen
-him you would have thought Fatty was dancing. And you might have
-laughed, because he looked funny.
-
-But Fatty Coon did not laugh. In fact, he came very near crying. And he
-did not wait to eat another mouthful. He limped along toward home. And
-it was several days before he stirred out of his mother's house again.
-He just lay in his bed and waited until his burns were well again.
-
-It was very hard. For Fatty did not like to think of all those good
-things to eat that he was missing. And he hoped the loggers would not go
-away before his feet were well again.
-
-
-
-
-XIX
-
-FATTY GROWS EVEN FATTER
-
-
-When Fatty Coon's burned feet were well once more, the very first night
-he left his mother's house he went straight to the loggers' camp. He did
-not wait long after dark, because he was afraid that some of his
-neighbors might have found that there were good things to eat about the
-camp. And Fatty wanted them all.
-
-To his delight, there were goodies almost without end. He nosed about,
-picking up potato peelings, and bits of bacon. And perhaps the best of
-all was a piece of cornbread, which Fatty fairly gobbled. And then he
-found a box half-full of something--scraps that tasted like apples, only
-they were not round like apples, and they were quite dry, instead of
-being juicy. But Fatty liked them; and he ate them all, down to the
-smallest bit.
-
-He was thirsty, then. So he went down to the brook, which ran close by
-the camp. The loggers had cut a hole through the ice, so they could get
-water. And Fatty crept close to the edge of the hole and drank. He drank
-a great deal of water, because he was very thirsty. And when he had
-finished he sat down on the ice for a time. He did not care to stir
-about just then. And he did not think he would ever want anything to eat
-again.
-
-At last Fatty Coon rose to his feet. He felt very queer. There was a
-strange, tight feeling about his stomach. And his sides were no longer
-thin. They stuck out just as they had before winter came--only more so.
-And what alarmed Fatty was this: his sides seemed to be sticking out
-more and more all the time.
-
-He wondered what he had been eating. Those dry things that tasted like
-apples--he wondered what they were.
-
-Now, there was some printing on the outside of the box which held those
-queer, spongy, flat things. Of course, Fatty Coon could not read, so the
-printing did him no good at all. But if you had seen the box, and if you
-are old enough to read, you would have known that the printing said:
-
-EVAPORATED APPLES
-
-Now, evaporated apples are nothing more or less than dried apples. The
-cook of the loggers' camp used them to make apple pies. And first,
-before making his pies, he always soaked them in water so they would
-swell.
-
-Now you see what made Fatty Coon feel so queer and uncomfortable. He had
-first eaten his dried apples. And then he had soaked them, by drinking
-out of the brook. It was no wonder that his sides stuck out, for the
-apples that he had bolted were swelling and puffing him out until he
-felt that he should burst. In fact, the wonder of it was that he was
-able to get through his mother's doorway, when he reached home.
-
-But he did it, though it cost him a few groans. And he frightened his
-mother, too.
-
-"I only hope you're not poisoned," she said, when Fatty told her what he
-had been doing.
-
-And that remark frightened Fatty more than ever. He was sure he was
-never going to feel any better.
-
-Poor Mrs. Coon was much worried all the rest of the night. But when
-morning came she knew that Fatty was out of danger. She knew it because
-of something he said. It was this:
-
-"Oh, dear! I wish I had something to eat!"
-
-
-
-
-XX
-
-THE TRACKS IN THE SNOW
-
-
-One fine winter's day Fatty Coon came upon the queerest tracks in the
-snow. They were huge--a great deal bigger, even, than bear-tracks, which
-Fatty had sometimes seen, for once in a while, before the weather grew
-too cold, and he fell into his winter's sleep, a bear would come down
-into the valley from his home on Blue Mountain.
-
-But these were six times as big as bear tracks. And Fatty felt a shiver
-of fear run up and down his back.
-
-He followed the trail a little way. But he was very careful. He was
-always ready to scramble up a tree, in case he should suddenly see the
-strange animal--or rather, in case the strange animal should see HIM.
-
-The great tracks led straight toward Farmer Green's house. And Fatty did
-not want to go there. So he hurried home to ask his mother what he had
-found. Mrs. Coon listened to Fatty's story.
-
-"I think it must be the monster that almost caught me in the road last
-summer," said Fatty, meaning the automobile that had given him a great
-fright. "Maybe he's come back again to catch Farmer Green and his family
-... Do you suppose he's eaten them up?"
-
-Mrs. Coon was puzzled. And she was somewhat alarmed, too. She wanted to
-see those strange tracks herself. So she told her other children not to
-step a foot out of the house until she came back. And then she asked
-Fatty to run along and show her where he had come upon the monster's
-trail.
-
-Fatty Coon felt very important, as he led the way across the swamp and
-into the woods. It was not often that he could show his mother anything.
-And he was so proud that he almost forgot his fright.
-
-"I guess you're glad I have sharp eyes," he said, as they hurried along.
-
-"If the tracks are as big as you say they are, your eyes wouldn't have
-to be very sharp to see them," his mother told him. Mrs. Coon never
-liked to hear her children boast. She knew that boasting is one of the
-most unpleasant things anyone can do.
-
-"Well--maybe you don't think I saw the monster's tracks at all," said
-Fatty. "Maybe you don't think I heard him screech--"
-
-"When did you hear him screech?" Mrs. Coon asked. "This is the first
-you've said about SCREECHING. When was it?"
-
-"Last summer," Fatty answered.
-
-Mrs. Coon didn't smile. Perhaps she was too worried for that.
-
-"It may not be the same monster," she said. "It may not be a monster at
-all."
-
-But by this time Fatty was sure he was right. He was sure he knew more
-than his mother.
-
-"Why can't we go right over to Farmer Green's and take some of his
-chickens?" he asked. "The monster has probably eaten him by this time,
-and all his family, too."
-
-But Mrs. Coon would do no such thing.
-
-"Show me the tracks," she said firmly. And so they went on into the
-woods.
-
-"There they are!" Fatty cried, a few minutes later. "See, Mother!
-They're even bigger than I said." He heard a funny noise behind him,
-then. And when Fatty Coon looked around he saw that his mother was
-actually holding her sides, she was laughing so hard.
-
-"Those are Farmer Green's tracks," she said, as soon as she could stop
-laughing long enough to speak.
-
-"What--as big as that?" Fatty pointed at the huge prints in the snow.
-
-"Snowshoes!" Mrs. Coon said. "He was wearing snowshoes--great frames
-made of thongs and sticks, to keep him from sinking into the snow."
-
-So that was all there was to Fatty's monster. Somehow, he was
-disappointed. But he was very glad he had said nothing to Jasper Jay
-about his strange animal. For if he had, he knew he would never have
-heard the last of it.
-
-And Fatty was glad about another thing, too. He felt very happy that his
-mother had not let him go after Farmer Green's chickens.
-
-THE END
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sleepy-Time Tales: The Tale of Fatty
-Coon, by Arthur Scott Bailey
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sleepy-Time Tales: The Tale of Fatty Coon
-by Arthur Scott Bailey
-
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-*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
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-
-Title: Sleepy-Time Tales: The Tale of Fatty Coon
-
-Author: Arthur Scott Bailey
-
-Release Date: May, 2004 [EBook #5701]
-[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
-[This file was first posted on August 12, 2002]
-
-Edition: 10
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ASCII
-
-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF FATTY COON ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks
-and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
-
-
-
-
-
-SLEEPY-TIME TALES
-
-THE TALE OF FATTY COON
-
-BY
-ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
-
-ILLUSTRATED BY
-HARRY L. SMITH
-
-
-
-NEW YORK
-
-1915
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS
-
-I     FATTY COON AT HOME
-
-II    FATTY LEARNS SOMETHING ABOUT EGGS
-
-III   FATTY DISCOVERS MRS. TURTLE'S SECRET
-
-IV    FATTY COON'S MISTAKE
-
-V     FATTY COON GOES FISHING
-
-VI    FATTY AND THE GREEN CORN
-
-VII   JOHNNIE GREEN IS DISAPPOINTED
-
-VIII  A TERRIBLE FRIGHT
-
-IX    JOHNNIE GREEN LOSES HIS PET
-
-X     FATTY COON AND THE MONSTER
-
-XI    JASPER JAY TELLS SOME NEWS
-
-XII   FORTY FAT TURKEYS
-
-XIII  FATTY MEETS JIMMY RABBIT
-
-XIV   THE BARBER-SHOP AGAIN
-
-XV    FATTY VISITS THE SMOKEHOUSE
-
-XVI   FATTY COON PLAYS ROBBER
-
-XVII  FATTY FINDS THE MOON
-
-XVIII THE LOGGERS COME
-
-XIX   FATTY GROWS EVEN FATTER
-
-XX    THE TRACKS IN THE SNOW
-
-
-
-
-ILLUSTRATIONS
-
-FATTY SAW MRS. TURTLE DIGGING IN THE SAND Frontispiece
-
-FATTY COON CROUCHED CLOSE TO THE WATER'S EDGE
-
-FATTY WISHED THE DOG WOULD GO AWAY
-
-FATTY STOPPED RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD
-
-"PLEASE, MR. BEAR, LET GO OF MY TAIL!" FATTY CRIED
-
-IT HUNG UNDER A TREE, JUST OVER FATTY'S HEAD
-
-
-
-
-I
-
-FATTY COON AT HOME
-
-
-Fatty Coon was so fat and round that he looked like a ball of fur, with
-a plumelike tail for a handle. But if you looked at him closely you
-would have seen a pair of very bright eyes watching you.
-
-Fatty loved to eat. Yes--he loved eating better than anything else in
-the world. That was what made him so fat. And that, too, was what led
-him into many adventures.
-
-Close by a swamp, which lay down in the valley, between Blue Mountain
-and Swift River, Fatty Coon lived with his mother and his brother and
-his two sisters. Among them all there was what grown people call "a
-strong family resemblance," which is the same thing as saying that they
-all looked very much alike. The tail of each one of them--mother and
-children too--had six black rings around it. Each of them had a dark
-brown patch of fur across the face, like a mask. And--what do you
-think?--each of them, even Fatty and his brother and his sisters, had a
-stiff, white moustache!
-
-Of course, though they all looked so much alike, you would have known
-which was Mrs. Coon, for she was so much bigger than her children. And
-you would have known which was Fatty--he was so much rounder than his
-brother and his sisters.
-
-Mrs. Coon's home was in the hollow branch of an old tree. It was a giant
-of a tree--a poplar close by a brook which ran into the swamp--and the
-branch which was Mrs. Coon's home was as big as most tree-trunks are.
-
-Blackie was Fatty's brother--for the mask on his face was just a little
-darker than the others'. Fluffy was one of Fatty's sisters, because her
-fur was just a little fluffier than the other children's. And Cutey was
-the other sister's name, because she was so quaint.
-
-Now, Fatty Coon was forever looking around for something to eat. He was
-never satisfied with what his mother brought home for him. No matter how
-big a dinner Mrs. Coon set before her family, as soon as he had finished
-eating his share Fatty would wipe his white moustache carefully--for all
-the world like some old gentleman--and hurry off in search of something
-more.
-
-Sometimes he went to the edge of the brook and tried to catch fish by
-hooking them out of the water with his sharp claws. Sometimes he went
-over to the swamp and hunted for duck among the tall reeds. And though
-he did not yet know how to catch a duck, he could always capture a frog
-or two; and Fatty ate them as if he hadn't had a mouthful of food for
-days.
-
-To tell the truth, Fatty would eat almost anything he could get--nuts,
-cherries, wild grapes, blackberries, bugs, small snakes, fish, chickens,
-honey--there was no end to the different kinds of food he liked. He ate
-everything. And he always wanted more.
-
-"Is this all there is?" Fatty Coon asked his mother one day. He had
-gobbled up every bit of the nice fish that Mrs. Coon had brought home
-for him. It was gone in no time at all.
-
-Mrs. Coon sighed. She had heard that question so many times; and she
-wished that for once Fatty might have all the dinner he wanted.
-
-"Yes--that's all," she said, "and I should think that it was enough for
-a young coon like you."
-
-Fatty said nothing more. He wiped his moustache on the back of his hand
-(I hope you'll never do that!) and without another word he started off
-to see what he could find to eat.
-
-
-
-
-II
-
-FATTY LEARNS SOMETHING ABOUT EGGS
-
-
-When Fatty Coon started off alone to find something more to eat, after
-finishing the fish that his mother had brought home for him, he did not
-know that he was going to have an adventure. He nosed about among the
-bushes and the tall grasses and caught a few bugs and a frog or two. But
-he didn't think that THAT was much. He didn't seem to have much luck,
-down on the ground. So he climbed a tall hemlock, to see if he could
-find a squirrel's nest, or some bird's eggs.
-
-Fatty loved to climb trees. Up in the big hemlock he forgot, for a time,
-that he was still hungry. It was delightful to feel the branches swaying
-under him, and the bright sunshine was warm upon his back. He climbed
-almost to the very tip-top of the tree and wound himself around the
-straight stem. The thick, springy branches held him safely, and soon
-Fatty was fast asleep. Next to eating, Fatty loved sleeping. And now he
-had a good nap.
-
-Fatty Coon woke up at last, yawned, and slowly unwound himself from the
-stem of the tree. He was terribly hungry now. And he felt that he simply
-MUST find something to eat at once.
-
-Without going down to the ground, Fatty climbed over into the top of
-another big tree and his little beady, bright eyes began searching all
-the branches carefully. Pretty soon Fatty smiled. He smiled because he
-was pleased. And he was pleased because he saw exactly what he had been
-looking for. Not far below him was a big nest, built of sticks and lined
-with bark and moss. It was a crow's nest, Fatty decided, and he lost no
-time in slipping down to the crotch of the tree where the nest was
-perched.
-
-There were four white eggs in the nest--the biggest crow's eggs Fatty
-had ever seen. And he began to eat them hungrily. His nose became
-smeared with egg, but he didn't mind that at all. He kept thinking how
-good the eggs tasted--and how he wished there were more of them.
-
-There was a sudden rush through the branches of the tall tree. And Fatty
-Coon caught a hard blow on his head. He felt something sharp sink into
-his back, too. And he clutched at the edge of the nest to keep from
-falling.
-
-Fatty was surprised, to say the least, for he had never known crows to
-fight like that. And he was frightened, because his back hurt. He
-couldn't fight, because he was afraid he would fall if he let go of the
-nest.
-
-There was nothing to do but run home as fast as he could. Fatty tried to
-hurry; but there was that bird, beating and clawing his back, and
-pulling him first one way and then another. He began to think he would
-never reach home. But at last he came to the old poplar where his mother
-lived. And soon, to his great joy, he reached the hole in the big
-branch; and you may well believe that Fatty was glad to slip down into
-the darkness where his mother, and his brother Blackie, and Fluffy and
-Cutey his sisters, were all fast asleep. He was glad, because he knew
-that no crow could follow him down there.
-
-Mrs. Coon waked up. She saw that Fatty's back was sadly torn (for coons,
-you know, can see in the dark just as well as you can see in the
-daylight).
-
-"What on earth is the matter?" she exclaimed.
-
-Poor Fatty told her. He cried a little, because his back hurt him, and
-because he was so glad to be safe at home once more.
-
-"What color were those eggs?" Mrs. Coon inquired.
-
-"White!" said Fatty.
-
-"Ah, ha!" Mrs. Coon said. "Don't you remember that crows' eggs are a
-blueish green? That must have been a goshawk's nest. And a goshawk is
-the fiercest of all the hawks there are. It's no wonder your back is
-clawed. Come here and let me look at it."
-
-Fatty Coon felt quite proud, as his mother examined the marks of the
-goshawk's cruel claws. And he didn't feel half as sorry for himself as
-you might think, for he remembered how good the eggs had tasted. He only
-wished there had been a dozen of them.
-
-
-
-
-III
-
-FATTY DISCOVERS MRS. TURTLE'S SECRET
-
-
-After his adventure with the goshawk Fatty Coon did not go near the
-tree-tops for a long time. Whenever he left home he would crawl down the
-old poplar tree in which he lived; and he wouldn't climb a single tree
-until he came home again. Somehow, he felt safer on the ground. You see,
-he hadn't forgotten the fright he had had, nor how the goshawk's claws
-had hurt his back.
-
-It was just three days after his scare, to be exact, when Fatty Coon
-found himself on the bank of the creek which flowed slowly into Swift
-River. Fatty had been looking for frogs, but he had had no luck at all.
-To tell the truth, Fatty was a little too young to catch frogs easily,
-even when he found one; and he was a good deal too fat, for he was so
-plump that he was not very spry.
-
-Now, Fatty was hiding behind some tall rushes, and his sharp little eyes
-were looking all about him, and his nose was twitching as he sniffed the
-air. He wished he might find a frog. But not one frog appeared. Fatty
-began to think that some other coon must have visited the creek just
-before him and caught them all. And then he forgot all about frogs.
-
-Yes! Frogs passed completely out of Fatty Coon's mind. For whom should
-he spy but Mrs. Turtle! He saw her little black head first, bobbing
-along through the water of the creek. She was swimming toward the bank
-where Fatty was hidden. And pretty soon she pulled herself out of the
-water and waddled a short distance along the sand at the edge of the
-creek.
-
-Mrs. Turtle stopped then; and for a few minutes she was very busy about
-something. First she dug a hole in the sand. And Fatty wondered what she
-was looking for. But he kept very quiet. And after a time Mrs. Turtle
-splashed into the creek again and paddled away. But before she left she
-scooped sand into the hole she had dug. Before she left the place she
-looked all around, as if to make sure that no one had seen her. And as
-she waddled slowly to the water Fatty could see that she was smiling as
-if she was very well pleased about something. She seemed to have a
-secret.
-
-Fatty Coon had grown very curious, as he watched Mrs. Turtle. And just
-as soon as she was out of sight he came out from his hiding place in the
-tall reeds and trotted down to the edge of the creek. He went straight
-to the spot where Mrs. Turtle had dug the hole and filled it up again.
-And Fatty was so eager to know what she had been doing that he began to
-dig in the very spot where Mrs. Turtle had dug before him.
-
-It took Fatty Coon only about six seconds to discover Mrs. Turtle's
-secret. For he did not have to paw away much of the sand before he came
-upon--what do you suppose? Eggs! Turtles' eggs! Twenty-seven round,
-white eggs, which Mrs. Turtle had left there in the warm sand to hatch.
-THAT was why she looked all around to make sure that no one saw her.
-THAT was why she seemed so pleased. For Mrs. Turtle fully expected that
-after a time twenty-seven little turtles would hatch from those eggs--
-just as chickens do--and dig their way out of the sand.
-
-But it never happened that way at all. For as soon as he got over his
-surprise at seeing them, Fatty Coon began at once to eat those twenty-
-seven eggs. They were delicious. And as he finished the last one he
-couldn't help thinking how lucky he had been.
-
-
-
-
-IV
-
-FATTY COON'S MISTAKE
-
-
-Fatty Coon was very fond of squirrels. And you may think it strange when
-I tell you that not one of the squirrels anywhere around Blue Mountain
-was the least bit fond of Fatty Coon. But when I say that Fatty Coon was
-fond of squirrels, I mean that he liked to eat them. So of course you
-will understand now why the squirrels did not care for Fatty at all. In
-fact, they usually kept just as far away from him as they could.
-
-It was easy, in the daytime, for the squirrels to keep out of Fatty's
-way, when he wandered through the tree-tops, for the squirrels were much
-sprier than Fatty. But at night--ah! that was a very different matter.
-For Fatty Coon's eyes were even sharper in the dark than they were in
-the daylight; but the poor squirrels were just as blind as you are when
-you are safely tucked in bed and the light is put out.
-
-Yes--when the squirrels were in bed at night, up in their nests in the
-trees, they could see very little. And you couldn't say they were SAFE
-in bed, because they never knew when Fatty Coon, or his mother, or his
-brother, or one of his sisters, or some cousin of his, might come along
-and catch them before they knew it.
-
-Fatty thought it great sport to hunt squirrels at night. Whenever he
-tried it he usually managed to get a good meal. And after he had almost
-forgotten about the fright the goshawk had given him in the tall hemlock
-he began to roam through the tree-tops every night in search of
-squirrels and sleeping birds.
-
-But a night came at last when Fatty was well punished for hunting
-squirrels. He had climbed half-way to the top of a big chestnut tree,
-when he spied a hole in the trunk. He rather thought that some squirrels
-lived inside that hole. And as he listened for a few seconds he could
-hear something moving about inside. Yes! Fatty was sure that there was a
-squirrel in there--probably several squirrels.
-
-Fatty Coon's eyes turned green. It was a way they had, whenever he was
-about to eat anything, or whenever he played with his brother Blackie,
-or Fluffy and Cutey, his sisters; or whenever he was frightened. And now
-Fatty was so sure that he was going to have a fine lunch that his eyes
-turned as green as a cat's. He reached a paw inside the hole and felt
-all around.
-
-WOW! Fatty gave a cry; and he pulled his paw out much faster than he had
-put it in. Something had given him a cruel dig. And in a jiffy Fatty saw
-what that "something" was. It was a grumpy old tramp coon, whom Fatty
-had never seen before.
-
-"What do you mean, you young rascal, by disturbing me like this?" the
-ragged stranger cried.
-
-"Please, sir, I never knew it was you," Fatty stammered.
-
-"Never knew it was me! Who did you think it was?"
-
-"A--a squirrel!" Fatty said faintly. And he whimpered a little, because
-his paw hurt him.
-
-"Ho, ho! That's a good one! That's a good joke!" The tramp coon laughed
-heartily. And then he scowled so fiercely that poor Fatty nearly tumbled
-out of the tree. "You go home," he said to Fatty. "And don't you let me
-catch you around here again. You hear?"
-
-"Yes, sir!" Fatty said. And home he went. And you may be sure that he
-let THAT tree alone after that. He never went near it again.
-
-
-
-
-V
-
-FATTY COON GOES FISHING
-
-
-One day Fatty Coon was strolling along the brook which flowed not far
-from his home. He stopped now and then, to crouch close to the water's
-edge, in the hope of catching a fish. And one time, when he lay quite
-still among the rocks, at the side of a deep pool, with his eyes
-searching the clear water, Fatty Coon suddenly saw something bright, all
-yellow and red, that lighted on the water right before him. It was a
-bug, or a huge fly. And Fatty was very fond of bugs--to eat, you know.
-So he lost no time. The bright thing had scarcely settled on the water
-when Fatty reached out and seized it. He put it into his mouth, when the
-strangest thing happened. Fatty felt himself pulled right over into the
-water.
-
-He was surprised, for he never knew a bug or a fly to be so strong as
-that. Something pricked his cheek and Fatty thought that the bright
-thing had stung him. He tried to take it out of his mouth, and he was
-surprised again. Whatever the thing was, it seemed to be stuck fast in
-his mouth. And all the time Fatty was being dragged along through the
-water. He began to be frightened. And for the first time he noticed that
-there was a slender line which stretched from his mouth straight across
-the pool. As he looked along the line Fatty saw a man at the other end
-of it--a man, standing on the other side of the brook! And he was
-pulling Fatty toward him as fast as he could.
-
-Do you wonder that Fatty Coon was frightened? He jumped back--as well as
-he could, in the water--and tried to swim away. His mouth hurt; but he
-plunged and pulled just the same, and jerked his head and squirmed and
-wriggled and twisted. And just as Fatty had almost given up hope of
-getting free, the gay-colored bug, or fly, or whatever it was, flew out
-of his mouth and took the line with it. At least, that was what Fatty
-Coon thought. And he swam quickly to the bank and scampered into the
-bushes.
-
-Now, this was what really happened. Farmer Green had come up the brook
-to catch trout. On the end of his fish-line he had tied a make-believe
-fly, with a hook hidden under its red and yellow wings. He had stolen
-along the brook very quietly, so that he wouldn't frighten the fish. And
-he had made so little noise that Fatty Coon never heard him at all.
-Farmer Green had not seen Fatty, crouched as he was among the stones.
-And when Fatty reached out and grabbed the make-believe fly Farmer Green
-was even more surprised at what happened than Fatty himself. If the
-fish-hook hadn't worked loose from Fatty's mouth Farmer Green would have
-caught the queerest fish anybody ever caught, almost.
-
-Something seemed to amuse Farmer Green, as he watched Fatty dive into
-the bushes; and he laughed loud and long. But Fatty Coon didn't laugh at
-all. His mouth was too sore; and he was too frightened. But he was very,
-very glad that the strange bug had flown away.
-
-
-
-
-VI
-
-FATTY AND THE GREEN CORN
-
-
-It was mid-summer when Fatty Coon had what he then believed to be the
-finest time in all his life. And later, when he was older, he still
-thought that nothing had ever happened to him that was quite so
-enjoyable as that surprise his mother gave him when he was a young coon.
-
-Of course it was something to eat--the surprise. You must have guessed
-that, knowing Fatty Coon as you do.
-
-"Come, children!" Mrs. Coon said. "Come with me! I'm going to give you a
-treat--something specially nice."
-
-"Is it something to eat?" Fatty asked, as they started off in the
-direction of Farmer Green's fields.
-
-"Yes--and the best thing you ever tasted," Mrs. Coon said.
-
-Fatty was greatly excited. His little bright eyes turned green in the
-moonlight. He wondered what the surprise would be. And, as usual, he was
-very hungry. He walked close beside his mother, for he wanted to be the
-first to taste the surprise. You would think that he would have wanted
-his two sisters to taste it first, and his brother Blackie, too. But you
-must not forget that Fatty was greedy. And greedy people are not
-thoughtful of others.
-
-When Mrs. Coon turned out of the lane and crawled through the fence,
-Fatty squeezed between the rails very nimbly, for him.
-
-"Here we are!" said his mother.
-
-Fatty looked about him. They stood in a field grown high with tall
-stalks of some sort, which turned to green, ribbon-like leaves half way
-up from the ground. Fatty grunted. He was very impolite, you see.
-
-"Well--what is there to eat that's so fine?" he asked. "This stuff isn't
-good. It's like eating reeds." He had already bitten into one of the
-stalks.
-
-"What do you call that?" Mrs. Coon asked. She showed Fatty a long roll
-of green that grew out of one of the stalks.
-
-"That's something like a cattail," said Fatty. "It isn't good to eat."
-
-"Have you ever tried one?" asked his mother.
-
-"N--no," Patty said. "But Freddie Bluejay told me they weren't good."
-
-"He did, did he?" Mrs. Coon said nothing more. She stood up on her hind
-legs and pulled one of the tall stalks down until she could reach that
-long, green thing that grew there. In a jiffy she had torn it from its
-stalk. And then she stripped the green covering off it. "Try that!" said
-Mrs. Coon with a smile.
-
-Of course it was Fatty who tasted it first. He took a good mouthful of
-the white kernels, and he was overjoyed. Such sweetness! Such delicious,
-milky juice! It was a moment that Fatty never forgot.
-
-Fatty began tearing down the stalks for himself and he never said
-another word until at last he simply had to stop eating just to catch
-his breath.
-
-"What's its name, Mother?" he inquired.
-
-"Corn, my child."
-
-"Well, why doesn't Freddie Bluejay like it?" Fatty asked.
-
-"He's probably very fond of corn," said Mrs. Coon. "And I've no doubt he
-was afraid that you would eat up this whole field, once you started."
-
-"I'd like to," said Fatty, with a sigh. "I'd like to eat all the corn in
-the world."
-
-
-
-
-VII
-
-JOHNNIE GREEN IS DISAPPOINTED
-
-
-It made Fatty Coon feel sad, just to think that there was that field
-full of corn, and that he could never eat all of it. But Fatty made up
-his mind that he would do the best he could. He would visit the
-cornfield every night and feast on those sweet, tender kernels.
-
-The very next night Fatty set out toward Farmer Green's. It was hardly
-dark. But Fatty could not wait any longer. He could not even wait for
-his mother and his sisters and his brother. He hurried away alone. And
-when he came in sight of the cornfield he felt better. He had been the
-least bit afraid that the corn might be gone. He thought that maybe
-Farmer Green had picked it, or that some of the forest people had eaten
-it all. But there it was--a forest of corn, waving and rustling in the
-moonlight as the breeze touched it. Fatty felt very happy as he slipped
-through the rail-fence.
-
-I wouldn't dare say how many ears of corn Fatty ate that night. And he
-would have eaten more, too, if it hadn't been for just one thing. A dog
-barked. And that spoiled Fatty's fun. For the dog was altogether too
-near for Fatty to feel safe. He even dropped the ear of corn he was
-gnawing and hurried toward the woods.
-
-It was lucky for Fatty that he started when he did. For that dog was
-close behind him in no time. There was only one thing to do: Fatty knew
-that he must climb a tree at once. So he made for the nearest tree in
-sight--a big, spreading oak, which stood all alone just beyond the
-fence. And as Fatty crouched on a limb he felt safe enough, though the
-dog barked and whined, and leaped against the tree, and made a great
-fuss.
-
-Fatty looked down at the dog and scolded a little. He was not afraid.
-But it made him cross to be driven out of the cornfield. And he wished
-the dog would go away. But the dog--it was Farmer Green's Spot--the dog
-had no idea of leaving. He stayed right there and barked so loudly that
-it was not long before Farmer Green and his hired man came in sight. And
-with them was Johnnie Green and a little, young dog that had just been
-given to him.
-
-When Farmer Green saw Fatty he seemed disappointed. "He's too young to
-bother with," he said. "His skin's not worth much. We'll go 'long and
-see what we can find."
-
-But Johnnie Green stayed behind. He wanted that young coon. And he
-intended to have him, too. Leaving the young dog to watch Fatty Coon,
-Johnnie went back to the farmhouse. After a while he appeared again with
-an axe over his shoulder. And when he began to chop away at the big oak,
-Fatty Coon felt very uneasy. Whenever Johnnie drove his axe into the
-tree, both the tree and Fatty shivered together. And Fatty began to wish
-he had stayed away from the cornfield. But not for long, because Johnnie
-Green soon gave up the idea of chopping down the big oak. The wood was
-so hard to cut, and the tree was so big, that Johnnie had not chopped
-long before he saw that it would take him all night to cut through it.
-He looked up longingly at Fatty Coon. And Johnnie started to climb the
-tree himself. But the higher he climbed, the higher Fatty climbed. And
-Johnnie knew that he could never catch that plump young coon in that
-way.
-
-At last Johnnie Green started off, calling his dog after him. And then
-Fatty Coon came down. But he did not go back to the cornfield. He
-decided that he had had adventures enough for one night. But Fatty had
-learned something--at least he thought he had. For he made up his mind
-that once he climbed a tree, no man could reach him. TREES COULD NOT BE
-CHOPPED DOWN! That was what Fatty believed. Perhaps you will know,
-later, whether Fatty ever found out that he was mistaken.
-
-
-
-
-VIII
-
-A TERRIBLE FRIGHT
-
-
-It was the very next night after old dog Spot had treed Fatty Coon in
-the big oak near the cornfield. They had finished their evening meal at
-Farmer Green's house. The cows were milked, the horses had been fed, the
-chickens had all gone to roost. And Farmer Green looked up at the moon,
-rising from behind Blue Mountain.
-
-"We'll go coon-hunting again to-night," he said to Johnnie and the hired
-man. "The corn has brought the coons up from the swamp. We'll start as
-soon as it grows a little darker."
-
-Well--after a while they set out for the cornfield. And sure enough! old
-Spot soon began to bark.
-
-"He's treed!" said Farmer Green, pretty soon. And they all hurried over
-to the edge of the woods, where Spot had chased a coon up into a tall
-chestnut tree. In the moonlight they could see the coon quite plainly.
-"Another little feller!" cried Farmer Green. "I declare, all the coons
-that come to the cornfield seem to be young ones. This one's no bigger
-than the one we saw last night."
-
-Now, although Farmer Green never guessed it, it was Fatty Coon who was
-up there in the tall chestnut. He had run almost to the woods this time,
-before he had to take to a tree. In fact, if Spot hadn't been quite so
-close to him Fatty could have reached the woods, and then he would have
-just jumped from one tree to another. But there were no trees near
-enough the big chestnut for that. Fatty had to stay right there and wait
-for those men to pass on. He wasn't afraid. He felt perfectly safe in
-his big tree. And he only smiled when Johnnie Green said to his father--
-
-"I wish I had that young coon. He'd make a fine pet."
-
-"A pet!" exclaimed Farmer Green. "You remember that pet fox you had,
-that stole my chickens?"
-
-"Oh, I'd be careful," Johnnie promised. "Besides, don't you think we
-ought to catch him, so he won't eat any more corn?"
-
-Farmer Green smiled. He had been a boy himself, once upon a time, and he
-had not forgotten the pet coon that he had owned when he was just about
-Johnnie's age.
-
-"All right!" he said at last. "I'll give you one more chance, Johnnie.
-But you'll have to see that this young coon doesn't kill any of my
-poultry."
-
-Johnnie promised that nothing of the sort should happen. And then his
-father and the hired man picked up their axes; and standing on opposite
-sides of the tall chestnut tree, they began to chop.
-
-How the chips did fly! At the very first blow Fatty knew that this was
-an entirely different sort of chopping from that which Johnnie had
-attempted the night before. The great tree shook as if it knew that it
-would soon come crashing down upon the ground.
-
-And as for Fatty Coon, he could not see but that he must fall when the
-tree did. He, too, shivered and shook. And he wrapped himself all the
-way around a limb and hung on as tight as ever he could.
-
-
-
-
-IX
-
-JOHNNIE GREEN LOSES HIS PET
-
-
-Now, Farmer Green and his hired man had not chopped long before they
-stopped to breathe. They had not chopped long--but oh! what great,
-yawning holes they had made in the big chestnut! From the limb where he
-clung Fatty Coon looked down. The tree no longer shook. And Fatty felt
-better at once. You see, he thought that the men would go away, just as
-Johnnie had gone away the night before. But they had no such idea at
-all.
-
-"Which way are you going to fell her?" the hired man asked. He said HER,
-meaning the TREE, of course.
-
-"That way!" said Farmer Green, pointing toward the woods. "We'll have to
-drop her that way, or she'll fall right across the road, and of course
-THAT would never do."
-
-"But will she clear the trees on the edge of the woods?" The hired man
-appeared somewhat doubtful.
-
-"Oh, to be sure--to be sure!" answered Farmer Green.
-
-And with that they set to work again. But this time they both chopped on
-the same side of the tree--the side toward the woods.
-
-Now, if Fatty Coon was frightened before, you will believe that he was
-still more frightened when the big chestnut tree began to sag. Yes! it
-began to lean toward the woods. Slowly, slowly it tipped. And Fatty was
-scared half out of his mind. He climbed to the very top of the tree,
-because he wanted to get just as far away from those men as he could.
-And there he waited. There was nothing else he could do. Yes! he waited
-until that awful moment should come when the tree would go crashing down
-upon the ground. What was going to happen to him then? Fatty wondered.
-And while he was wondering there sounded all at once a great snapping
-and splitting. And Fatty felt the tree falling, falling. He could hear
-Johnnie Green shouting. And he shut his eyes and held fast to his
-branch. Then came the crash.
-
-When Fatty Coon opened his eyes he expected to see Johnnie Green all
-ready to seize him. But to his great surprise he was still far above the
-ground. You see, Farmer Green had been mistaken. Either the big chestnut
-tree was taller than he had guessed, or the woods were nearer than he
-had thought. For instead of dropping upon the ground, Fatty's tree had
-fallen right against another tree on the edge of the woods. And there it
-lay, half-tipped over, with its branches caught fast in the branches of
-that other tree.
-
-It was no wonder that Johnnie Green shouted. And he shouted still more
-loudly when he saw Fatty scramble out of the big chestnut and into the
-other tree, and out of that tree and into another, and then out of THAT
-tree. Fatty was going straight into the woods.
-
-It was no wonder that Johnnie Green shouted. For he had lost his pet
-coon. He had lost him before he ever had him. And he was sadly
-disappointed.
-
-But Fatty Coon was not disappointed, for he had not wanted to be a pet
-at all. And he was very glad--you may be sure--to get safely home once
-more.
-
-
-
-
-X
-
-FATTY COON AND THE MONSTER
-
-
-One night Fatty Coon was strolling along the road that wound through the
-valley. He was in no hurry, for he had just left Farmer Green's apple
-orchard, where he had bolted all the apples he could possibly eat. The
-night was dark and though it was not very late, all the country people
-seemed to be in bed. There were no farmers driving along the road. Fatty
-had it all to himself. And so he walked slowly homewards. It was then
-that the terrible monster almost caught him.
-
-This is how it all happened. There was a br-br-br-r-r-r in the air.
-Fatty really should have heard it long before he did. But he had eaten
-so many apples that he had begun to feel sleepy; and his ears were not
-so sharp as they should have been. And when at last Fatty heard that br-
-r-r-r it was quite loud. He was startled. And he stopped right in the
-middle of the road to listen. Fatty had never heard such a sound before.
-
-The strange animal was on him before he knew it. Its glaring eyes
-blinded him. And if it had not screamed at him Fatty would never have
-escaped. It was the terrible screech of the monster which finally made
-Fatty jump. It was a frightful cry--like six wildcats all wailing
-together. And Fatty leaped to one side of the road just before the
-monster reached him.
-
-The great creature went past Fatty like the wind and tore on up the
-hill. He seemed to be running so fast that he could not stop. Fatty
-could hear him panting as he climbed the sharp rise of the road.
-
-Fatty Coon hurried away. He wanted to get home before the monster could
-stop and come back to look for him.
-
-When Fatty told his mother about his narrow escape Mrs. Coon became much
-excited. She felt sure that Fatty was not mistaken, for had she not
-heard that strange cry herself?
-
-There it was again! Woo-ooo-ooo-oo-o! It began low, rose to a shriek,
-and then died away again.
-
-Mrs. Coon and Fatty climbed to the very top of their old poplar and
-gazed down the valley.
-
-"Look, Mother!" Fatty cried. "He's stopped at Farmer Green's! You can
-see his eyes from here!"
-
-Mrs. Coon looked. Sure enough! It was just as Fatty said. And that
-horrid call echoed across the valley once more.
-
-Farmer Green stuck his head out of his chamber-window, to see what the
-man in the automobile wanted.
-
-"Where's the nearest village, please?" the stranger asked. And after
-Farmer Green had told him the man drove his car on again.
-
-From their tree-top Fatty and his mother watched the monster dash down
-the valley. They knew he had gone, because they could see the gleam of
-those awful eyes.
-
-"Do you suppose he ate up Farmer Green and his family?" Fatty asked in a
-frightened voice.
-
-"I hope so," she said. "Then perhaps there'll be no more traps in the
-woods."
-
-"But who would plant the corn?" Fatty asked.
-
-Mrs. Coon did not appear to hear his question.
-
-
-
-
-XI
-
-JASPER JAY TELLS SOME NEWS
-
-
-It was quite late in the fall, and the weather had grown very cold. Mrs.
-Coon and her family had not left their home for several days; but on
-this day she thought it would be pleasant to go out in the sunshine and
-get a breath of fresh air and a bite to eat.
-
-Fatty was the only one of her children that was not asleep; and he
-complained of being very hungry. So Mrs. Coon decided to take him with
-her.
-
-The hunting was not very good. There were no birds' eggs at all to be
-found in the trees. The river and the brook and the creek were all
-frozen over, so Fatty and his mother could not catch any fish. And as
-for corn--Farmer Green had long ago gathered the last ear of it. Fatty
-wished that it was summertime. But it only made him hungrier than ever,
-to think of all the good things to eat that summer brings. He was
-feeling very unhappy when his mother said to him sharply--
-
-"Run up this tree! Hurry, now! Don't ask any questions."
-
-Now, Fatty did not always mind his mother as quickly as he might have.
-But this time he saw that she had stopped and was sniffing the air as if
-there was something about it she did not like.
-
-That was enough for Fatty. He scrambled up the nearest tree. For he knew
-that his mother had discovered danger of some sort.
-
-Mrs. Coon followed close behind Fatty. And they had. no sooner hidden in
-the branches than Fatty saw what it was that his mother had smelled.
-
-It was Johnnie Green! He passed right underneath the tree where they
-were perched. And as Mrs. Coon peeped down at him she shuddered and
-shivered and shook so hard that Fatty couldn't help noticing it.
-
-"What's the matter?" he asked, as soon as Johnnie Green was out of
-sight.
-
-"His cap!" Mrs. Coon exclaimed. "He is wearing a coon-skin cap!" Now do
-you wonder that she was upset? "Don't ever go near Farmer Green's
-house," she warned Fatty. "You don't want to be made into a cap, or a
-pair of gloves, or a coat, or anything like that, do you?"
-
-"No, indeed, Mother!" Fatty was quite sure that such an adventure
-wouldn't please him at all. And he told himself right then and there
-that he would never go anywhere near Farmer Green's house. We shall see
-how well Fatty remembered.
-
-That very afternoon Fatty Coon heard some very pleasant news. It was
-Jasper Jay who told him.
-
-Jasper Jay was a very noisy blue jay who lived in the neighborhood. He
-did not go south with most of the other birds when the cold weather
-came. He liked the winter and he was forever tearing about the woods,
-squalling and scolding at everybody. He was a very noisy fellow.
-
-Well! when Fatty and his mother had reached home after their hunt, Fatty
-stayed out of doors. He climbed to the top of a tall pine tree nearby
-and stretched himself along a limb, to enjoy the sunshine, which felt
-very good upon his broad back. It was there that Jasper Jay found him
-and told him the pleasant news. And Fatty was very glad to hear the
-news, because he was still hungry.
-
-This is what Jasper Jay told Fatty: he told him that Farmer Green had as
-many as forty fat turkeys, which roosted every night in a spreading oak
-in Farmer Green's front yard.
-
-"If I liked turkeys I would certainly go down there some night and get
-one," said Jasper Jay.
-
-
-
-
-XII
-
-FORTY FAT TURKEYS
-
-
-When Jasper Jay told Fatty Coon about Farmer Green's forty fat turkeys
-Fatty felt hungrier than ever.
-
-"Oh! I mustn't go near Farmer Green's house!" he said. "My mother told
-me to keep away from there. . . . What time did you say the turkeys go
-to roost?"
-
-"Oh! they go to roost every night at sundown," Jasper Jay explained.
-"And there they sit, up in the tree, all night long. They're fast
-asleep. And you would have no trouble at all in catching as many as you
-wanted. . . . But of course, if you're afraid--why there's no use of MY
-talking about it. There's a plenty of other coons in these woods who'd
-be glad to know about those turkeys. And maybe they'd have the manners
-to say 'Thank you!' too." And with a hoarse, sneering laugh Jasper Jay
-flew away.
-
-That was enough for Fatty. He made up his mind that he would show Jasper
-Jay that HE was not afraid. And he wanted a turkey to eat, too. He said
-nothing to his mother about Jasper's news. But that very night, when the
-moon came up, and the lights in Farmer Green's house were all out, Fatty
-Coon went stealing across the fields.
-
-He was not afraid, for he knew that Farmer Green and all his family were
-in their beds. And it was so cold that Fatty felt sure that Farmer
-Green's dogs would be inside their kennels.
-
-Fatty did not intend to make any noise. The turkeys were asleep--so
-Jasper Jay had told him--and he expected to grab one of them so swiftly
-and silently that the other turkeys would never know it.
-
-When Fatty Coon came to Farmer Green's yard he had no trouble at all in
-finding the spreading oak. He could see the turkeys plainly where they
-dozed on the bare branches. And in less time than it takes to tell it
-Fatty had climbed the tree. On the very lowest limb there was a row of
-four plump turkeys, all sound asleep. And Fatty reached out and seized
-the nearest one. He seized the turkey by the neck, so that the big bird
-could not call out. But Fatty was not quite quick enough. Before he
-could pull her off her perch the turkey began to flap her wings, and she
-struck the turkey next her, so that THAT turkey woke up and began to
-gobble and flap HER wings. Then the next turkey on the limb woke up. And
-the first thing that Fatty Coon knew, every one of the thirty-nine
-turkeys that were left was going gobble-gob-gob-gob-gobble! And some of
-them went sailing off across the yard. One of them lighted on top of the
-porch just outside Farmer Green's window and it seemed to Fatty that
-that one made the greatest racket of all.
-
-Farmer Green's window flew up; and Farmer Green's voice called "Spot!
-Spot!"
-
-Fatty Coon did not wait to hear anything more. He dropped the turkey he
-had seized and slipped down to the ground. And then he ran toward the
-woods as fast as he could go.
-
-Farmer Green's dog Spot was barking now. And Fatty wanted to climb one
-of the trees by the roadside. But he remembered, the narrow escape he
-had had when the dog had treed him near the cornfield. So he never
-stopped until he reached the woods. Then he went nimbly up into the
-trees. And while Spot was barking at the foot of the first tree he
-climbed, Fatty was travelling through the tree-tops toward home.
-
-He never said anything to his mother about Farmer Green's turkeys. But
-the next time he saw Jasper Jay Fatty told him exactly what he thought
-of him.
-
-"Ha! ha!" Jasper Jay only laughed. And he did not seem at all surprised
-that Fatty had fallen into trouble. To tell the truth, he was only sorry
-because Fatty had escaped. Jasper Jay did not like Fatty Coon. And he
-had told him about the forty fat turkeys because he hoped that Fatty
-would get caught if he tried to steal one of them.
-
-"Wait till I catch you!" Fatty said.
-
-But Jasper Jay only laughed harder than ever when Fatty said that. He
-seemed to think it was a great joke. He was most annoying.
-
-
-
-
-XIII
-
-FATTY MEETS JIMMY RABBIT
-
-
-For once Fatty Coon was not hungry. He had eaten so much of Farmer
-Green's corn that he felt as if he could not swallow another mouthful.
-He was strolling homewards through the woods when someone called to him.
-It was Jimmy Rabbit.
-
-"Where are you going, Fatty?" Jimmy Rabbit asked.
-
-"Home!" said Fatty.
-
-"Are you hungry?" Jimmy Rabbit asked anxiously.
-
-"I should say not!" Fatty answered. "I've just had the finest meal I
-ever ate in my life."
-
-Jimmy Rabbit seemed to be relieved to hear that.
-
-"Come on over and play," he said. "My brother and I are playing barber-
-shop over in the old sycamore tree; and we need you."
-
-"All right!" said Fatty. It was not often that any of the smaller
-forest-people were willing to play with him, because generally Fatty
-couldn't help getting hungry and then he usually tried to eat his
-playmates. "What do you need me for?" Fatty asked, as he trudged along
-beside Jimmy Rabbit.
-
-"We need you for the barber's pole," Jimmy explained. "You can come
-inside the hollow tree and stick your tail out through a hole. It will
-make a fine barber's pole--though the stripes DO run the wrong way, to
-be sure."
-
-Fatty Coon was greatly pleased. He looked around at his tail and felt
-very proud.
-
-"I've got a beautiful tail--haven't I?" he asked.
-
-"Um--yes!" Jimmy Rabbit replied, "though I must say it isn't one that I
-would care for myself... But come along! There may be people waiting to
-get their hair cut."
-
-Sure enough! When they reached the make-believe barber-shop there was a
-gray squirrel inside, and Jimmy Rabbit's brother was busily snipping the
-fur off Mr. Squirrel's head.
-
-"How much do you charge for a hair-cut?" Fatty asked.
-
-"Oh, that depends!" Jimmy Rabbit said. "Mr. Squirrel will pay us six
-cabbage leaves. But if we were to cut your hair we'd have to ask more.
-We'd want a dozen cabbage leaves, at least."
-
-"Well, don't I get anything for the use of my tail?" Fatty asked. He had
-already stuck it out through the hole; and he had half a mind to pull it
-in again.
-
-Jimmy Rabbit and his brother whispered together for a few moments.
-
-"I'll tell you what we'll do," Jimmy said. "If you'll let us use your
-tail for the barber's pole, we'll cut your hair free. Isn't that fair
-enough?"
-
-Fatty Coon was satisfied. But he insisted that Jimmy begin to cut his
-hair at once.
-
-"I'm doing my part of the work now," he pointed out. "So there's no
-reason why you shouldn't do yours."
-
-With that Jimmy Rabbit began. He clipped and snipped at Fatty's head,
-pausing now and then to see the effect. He smiled once in a while,
-behind Fatty's back, because Fatty certainly did look funny with his fur
-all ragged and uneven.
-
-"Moustache trimmed?" Jimmy Rabbit asked, when he had finished with
-Fatty's head.
-
-"Certainly--of course!" Fatty Coon answered. And pretty soon Fatty's
-long white moustache lay on the floor of the barber-shop. Fatty felt a
-bit uneasy as he looked down and saw his beautiful moustache lying at
-his feet. "You haven't cut it too short, I hope," he said.
-
-"No, indeed!" Jimmy Rabbit assured him. "It's the very latest style."
-
-"What on earth has happened to you?" Mrs. Coon cried,--when Fatty
-reached home that night. "Have you been in a fire?"
-
-"It's the latest style, Mother," Fatty told her. "At least, that's what
-Jimmy Rabbit says." He felt the least bit uneasy again.
-
-"Did you let that Jimmy Rabbit do that to you?" Mrs. Coon asked.
-
-Fatty hung his head. He said nothing at all. But his mother knew.
-
-"Well! you ARE a sight!" she exclaimed. "It will be months before you
-look like my child again. I shall be ashamed to go anywhere with you."
-
-Fatty Coon felt very foolish. And there was just one thing that kept him
-from crying. And THAT was THIS: he made up his mind that when he played
-barber-shop with Jimmy Rabbit again he would get even with him.
-
-But when the next day came, Fatty couldn't find Jimmy Rabbit and his
-brother anywhere. They kept out of sight. But they had told all the
-other forest-people about the trick they had played on Fatty Coon. And
-everywhere Fatty went he heard nothing but hoots and jeers and laughs.
-He felt very silly. And he wished that he might meet Jimmy Rabbit and
-his brother.
-
-
-
-
-XIV
-
-THE BARBER-SHOP AGAIN
-
-
-Although Fatty Coon never could get Jimmy Rabbit and his brother to play
-barber-shop with him again, Fatty saw no reason why he should not play
-the game without them. So one day he led his brother Blackie over to the
-old hollow sycamore. His sisters, Fluffy and Cutey, wanted to go too.
-But Fatty would not let them. "Girls can't be barbers," he said. And of
-course they could find no answer to that.
-
-As soon as Fatty and Blackie reached the old sycamore I am sorry to say
-that a dispute arose. Each of them wanted to use his own tail for the
-barber's pole. They couldn't both stick their tails through the hole in
-the tree at the same time. So they finally agreed to take turns.
-
-Playing barber-shop wasn't so much fun as they had expected, because
-nobody would come near to get his hair cut. You see, the smaller forest-
-people were all afraid to go inside that old sycamore where Fatty and
-Blackie were. There was no telling when the two brothers might get so
-hungry they would seize and eat a rabbit or a squirrel or a chipmunk.
-And you know it isn't wise to run any such risk as that.
-
-Fatty offered to cut Blackie's hair. But Blackie remembered what his
-mother had said when Fatty came home with his moustache gone and his
-head all rough and uneven. So Blackie wouldn't let Fatty touch him. But
-HE offered to cut Fatty's hair--what there was left of it.
-
-"No, thank you!" said Fatty. "I only get my hair cut once a month." Of
-course, he had never had his hair cut except that once, in his whole
-life.
-
-Now, since there was so little to do inside the hollow tree, Fatty and
-Blackie kept quarreling. Blackie would no sooner stick his tail through
-the hole in the side of the tree than Fatty would want HIS turn. And
-when Fatty had succeeded in squeezing HIS tail out through the opening
-Blackie would insist that Fatty's time was up.
-
-It was Fatty's turn, and Blackie was shouting to him to stand aside and
-give him a chance.
-
-"I won't!" said Fatty. "I'm going to stay here just as long as I
-please."
-
-The words were hardly out of his mouth when he gave a sharp squeal, as
-if something hurt him. And he tried to pull his tail out of the hole. He
-wanted to get it out now. But alas! it would not come! It was caught
-fast! And the harder Fatty pulled the more it hurt him.
-
-"Go out and see what's the matter!" he cried to Blackie.
-
-But Blackie wouldn't stir. He was afraid to leave the shelter of the
-hollow tree.
-
-"It may be a bear that has hold of your tail," he told Fatty. And
-somehow, that idea made Fatty tremble all over.
-
-"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" he wailed. "What shall I do? Oh! whatever shall I
-do?" He began to cry. And Blackie cried too. How Fatty wished that his
-mother was there to tell him what to do!
-
-But he knew of no way to fetch her. Even if she were at home she could
-never hear him calling from inside the tree. So Fatty gave up all hope
-of her helping.
-
-"Please, Mr. Bear, let go of my tail!" he cried, when he could stand the
-pain no longer.
-
-The only answer that came was a low growl, which frightened Fatty and
-Blackie more than ever. And then, just as they both began to howl at the
-top of their voices Fatty's tail was suddenly freed. He was pulling on
-it so hard that he fell all in a heap on the floor of the barber-shop.
-And that surprised him.
-
-But he was still more surprised when he heard his mother say--
-
-"Stop crying and come out--both of you!" Fatty and Blackie scrambled out
-of the hollow sycamore. Fatty looked all around. But there was no bear
-to be seen anywhere--no one but his mother.
-
-"Did you frighten the bear away, Mother?" he asked.
-
-"There was no bear," Mrs. Coon told him. "And it's lucky for you that
-there wasn't. I saw your tail sticking out of this tree and I thought I
-would teach you a lesson. Now, don't ever do such a foolish thing again.
-Just think what a fix you would have been in if Johnnie Green had come
-along. He could have caught you just as easily as anything."
-
-Fatty Coon was so glad to be free once more that he promised to be good
-forever after. And he was just as good as any little coon could be--all
-the rest of that day.
-
-
-
-
-XV
-
-FATTY VISITS THE SMOKE-HOUSE
-
-
-The winter was fast going. And one fine day in February Fatty Coon crept
-out of his mother's house to enjoy the warm sunshine--and see what he
-could find to eat.
-
-Fatty was much thinner than he had been in the fall. He had spent so
-much of the time sleeping that he had really eaten very little. And now
-he hardly knew himself as he looked at his sides. They no longer stuck
-out as they had once.
-
-After nosing about the swamp and the woods all the afternoon Fatty
-decided that there was no use in trying to get a meal there. The ground
-was covered with snow. And except for rabbit tracks--and a few
-squirrels'--he could find nothing that even suggested food. And looking
-at those tracks only made him hungrier than ever.
-
-For a few minutes Fatty thought deeply. And then he turned about and
-went straight toward Farmer Green's place. He waited behind the fence
-just beyond Farmer Green's house; and when it began to grow dark he
-crept across the barnyard.
-
-As Fatty passed a small, low building he noticed a delicious smell. And
-he stopped right there. He had gone far enough. The door was open a
-little way. And after one quick look all around--to make sure there was
-nobody to see him--Fatty slipped inside.
-
-It was almost dark inside Farmer Green's smokehouse--for that was what
-the small, low building was called. It was almost dark; but Fatty could
-see just as well as you and I can see in the daytime. There was a long
-row of hams hung up in a line. Underneath them were white ashes, where
-Farmer Green had built wood fires, to smoke the hams. But the fires were
-out, now; and Fatty was in no danger of being burned.
-
-The hams were what Fatty Coon had smelled. And the hams were what Fatty
-intended to eat. He decided that he would eat them all--though of course
-he could never have done that--at least, not in one night; nor in a
-week, either. But when it came to eating, Fatty's courage never failed
-him. He would have tried to eat an elephant, if he had had the chance.
-
-Fatty did not stop to look long at that row of hams. He climbed a post
-that ran up the side of the house and he crept out along the pole from
-which the hams were hung.
-
-He stopped at the very first ham he came to. There was no sense in going
-any further. And Fatty dropped on top of the ham and in a twinkling he
-had torn off a big, delicious mouthful.
-
-Fatty could not eat fast enough. He wished he had two mouths--he was so
-hungry. But he did very well, with only ONE. In no time at all he had
-made a great hole in the ham. And he had no idea of stopping. But he did
-stop. He stopped very suddenly. For the first thing he knew, something
-threw him right down upon the floor. And the ham fell on top of him and
-nearly knocked him senseless.
-
-He choked and spluttered; for the ashes filled his mouth and his eyes,
-and his ears, too. For a moment he lay there on his back; but soon he
-managed to kick the heavy ham off his stomach and then he felt a little
-better. But he was terribly frightened. And though his eyes smarted so
-he could hardly see, he sprang up and found the doorway.
-
-Fatty swallowed a whole mouthful of ashes as he dashed across the
-barnyard. And he never stopped running until he was almost home. He was
-puzzled. Try as he would, he couldn't decide what it was that had flung
-him upon the floor. And when he told his mother about his adventure--as
-he did a whole month later--she didn't know exactly what had happened,
-either.
-
-"It was some sort of trap, probably," Mrs. Coon said.
-
-But for once Mrs. Coon was mistaken.
-
-It was very simple. In his greedy haste Fatty had merely bitten through
-the cord that fastened the ham to the pole. And of course it had at once
-fallen, carrying Fatty with it!
-
-But what do you suppose? Afterward, when Fatty had grown up, and had
-children of his own, he often told them about the time he had escaped
-from the trap in Farmer Green's smokehouse.
-
-Fatty's children thought it very exciting. It was their favorite story.
-And they made their father tell it over and over again.
-
-
-
-
-XVI
-
-FATTY COON PLAYS ROBBER
-
-
-After Fatty Coon played barber-shop with Jimmy Rabbit and his brother it
-was a long time before he met them again. But one day Fatty was
-wandering through the woods when he caught sight of Jimmy. Jimmy dodged
-behind a tree. And Fatty saw Jimmy's brother peep from behind another.
-You see, his ears were so long that they stuck far beyond the tree, and
-Fatty couldn't help seeing them.
-
-"Hello!" Fatty called. "I'm glad to see you." And he told the truth,
-too. He had been trying to find those two brothers for weeks, because he
-wanted to get even with them for cutting off his moustache. Jimmy and
-his brother hopped out from behind their trees.
-
-"Hello!" said Jimmy. "We were just looking for you." Probably he meant
-to say, "We were just looking AT you." He was somewhat upset by meeting
-Fatty; for he knew that Fatty was angry with him.
-
-"Oh, ho! You were, were you?" Fatty answered. He began to slide down the
-tree he had been climbing.
-
-Jimmy Rabbit and his brother edged a little further away.
-
-"Better not come too near us!" he said. "We've both got the pink-eye,
-and you don't want to catch it."
-
-Fatty paused and looked at the brothers. Sure enough! their eyes were as
-pink as anything.
-
-"Does it hurt much?" Fatty asked.
-
-"Well--it does and it doesn't," Jimmy replied. "I just stuck a brier
-into one of my eyes a few minutes ago and it hurt awful, then. But
-you'll be perfectly safe, so long as you don't touch us."
-
-"How long does it last?" Fatty inquired.
-
-"Probably we'll never get over it," Jimmy Rabbit said cheerfully. And
-his brother nodded his head, as much as to say, "That's so!"
-
-Fatty Coon was just the least bit alarmed. He really thought that there
-was something the matter with their eyes. You see, though the Rabbit
-brothers' eyes were always pink (for they were born that way), he had
-never noticed it before. So Fatty thought it would be safer not to go
-too near them.
-
-"Well, it's too bad," he told Jimmy. "I'm sorry. I wanted to play with
-you."
-
-"Oh, that's all right!" Jimmy said. "We can play, just the same. I'll
-tell you what we'll play. We'll play--"
-
-"Not barber-shop!" Fatty interrupted. "I won't play barber-shop, I never
-liked that game."
-
-Jimmy Rabbit started to smile. But he turned his smile into a sneeze.
-And he said--
-
-"We'll play robber. You'll like that, I know. And you can be the robber.
-You look like one, anyhow."
-
-That remark made Fatty Coon angry. And he wished that Jimmy hadn't the
-pink-eye. He would have liked to make an end of him right then and
-there.
-
-"What do you mean?" he shouted. "Robber nothing! I'm just as good as you
-are!"
-
-"Of course, of course!" Jimmy said hastily. "It's your face, you know,
-That black patch covers your eyes just like a robber's mask. That's why
-we want you to be the robber."
-
-Fatty had slipped down his tree to the ground; and now he looked down
-into the creek. It was just as Jimmy said. Fatty had never thought of it
-before, but the black patch of short fur across the upper part of his
-face made him look exactly like a robber.
-
-"Come on!" said Jimmy. "We can't play the game without you."
-
-"Well--all right!" said Fatty. He began to feel proud of his mask. "What
-shall I do?"
-
-"You wait right here," Jimmy ordered. "Hide behind that tree. We'll go
-into the woods. And when we come back past this spot you jump out and
-say 'Hands up!' ... You understand?"
-
-"Of course!" said Fatty. "But hurry up! Don't be gone long."
-
-"Leave that to us," said Jimmy Rabbit. He winked at his brother; and
-they started off together.
-
-Fatty Coon did not see that wink. If he had, he wouldn't have waited
-there all the afternoon for those Rabbit brothers to return. They never
-came back at all. And they told everybody about the trick they had
-played on Fatty Coon. For a long time after that wherever Fatty went the
-forest-people called "Robber!" after him. And Jasper Jay was the most
-annoying of all, because whenever he shouted "Robber!" he always laughed
-so loudly and so long. His hoarse screech echoed through the woods. And
-the worst of it was, everybody knew what he was laughing at.
-
-
-
-
-XVII
-
-FATTY FINDS THE MOON
-
-
-Wandering through the woods one day, Fatty Coon's bright eyes caught a
-strange gleam from something--something that shone and glittered out of
-the green. Fatty wanted to see what it was, though he hardly thought it
-was anything to eat. But whenever he came upon something new he always
-wanted to examine it. So now Fatty hurried to see what the strange thing
-was.
-
-It was the oddest thing he had ever found--flat, round, and silvery; and
-it hung in the air, under a tree, just over Fatty's head. Fatty Coon
-looked carefully at the bright thing. He walked all around it, so he
-could see it from all sides. And at last he thought he knew what it was.
-He made up his mind that it was the moon!
-
-He had often seen the moon up in the sky; and here it was, just the same
-size exactly, hanging so low that he could have reached it with his paw.
-He saw nothing strange in that; for he knew that the moon often touched
-the earth. Had he not seen it many a time, resting on the side of Blue
-Mountain? One night he had asked his mother if he might go up on the
-mountain to play with the moon; but she had only laughed. And here, at
-last, was the moon come to him! Fatty was so excited that he ran home as
-fast as he could go, to tell his mother, and his brother Blackie, and
-Fluffy and Cutey, his sisters.
-
-"Oh! the moon! the moon!" Fatty shouted. He had run so fast that, being
-so plump, he was quite out of breath. And that was all he could say.
-
-"Well, well! What about the moon!" Mrs. Coon asked. "Anybody would think
-you had found it, almost." And she smiled.
-
-Fatty puffed and gasped. And at last he caught his breath again.
-
-"Yes--I've found it! It's over in the woods--just a little way from
-here!" he said. "Big, and round, and shiny! Let's all go and bring it
-home!"
-
-"Well, well, well!" Mrs. Coon was puzzled. She had never heard of the
-moon being found in those woods; and she hardly knew what to think. "Are
-you sure?" she asked.
-
-"Oh, yes, Mother!" Fatty could hardly wait, he was so eager to lead the
-way. And with many a shake of the head, Mrs. Coon, with her family,
-started off to see the moon.
-
-"There!" Fatty cried, as they came in sight of the bright, round thing.
-"There it is--just as I told you!" And they all set up a great shouting.
-
-All but Mrs. Coon. She wasn't quite sure, even yet, that Fatty had
-really found the moon. And she walked close to the shining thing and
-peered at it. But not too close! Mrs. Coon didn't go too near it. And
-she told her children quite sternly to stand back. It was well that she
-did; for when Mrs. Coon took her eyes off Fatty's moon and looked at the
-ground beneath it--well! she jumped back so quickly that she knocked two
-of her children flat on the ground.
-
-A trap! THAT was what Mrs. Coon saw right in front of her. And Farmer
-Green, or his boy, or whoever it was that set the trap, had hung that
-bright piece of TIN over the trap hoping that one of her family would
-see it and play with it--and fall into the trap. Yes--it was a mercy
-that Fatty hadn't begun knocking it about. For if he had he would have
-stepped right into the trap and it would have shut--SNAP! Just like
-that. And there he would have been, caught fast.
-
-It was no wonder that Mrs. Coon hurried her family away from that spot.
-And Fatty led them all home again. He couldn't get away from his moon
-fast enough.
-
-
-
-
-XVIII
-
-THE LOGGERS COME
-
-
-Fatty Coon was frightened; he had just waked up and he heard a sound
-that was exactly like the noise Farmer Green and his hired man had made
-when they cut down the tall chestnut tree where he was perched.
-
-"Oh, Mother! What is it?" he cried.
-
-"The loggers have come," Mrs. Coon said. "They are cutting down all the
-big trees in the swamp."
-
-"Then we'll have to move, won't we?" Fatty asked.
-
-"No! They won't touch this tree," his mother told him. "It's an old
-tree, and hollow--so they won't chop it down. It's only the good sound
-trees that they'll take."
-
-"But I thought this was a good tree." Fatty was puzzled.
-
-"So it is, my son! It's a good tree for us. But not for the loggers.
-They would have little use for it."
-
-Fatty Coon felt better when he heard that. And he had a good deal of
-fun, peeping down at the loggers and watching them work. But he took
-care that they should not see HIM. He knew what their bright axes could
-do.
-
-When night came Fatty had still more fun. When the loggers were asleep
-Fatty went to their camp in the woods beside the brook and he found many
-good things to eat. He did not know the names of all the goodies; but he
-ate them just the same. He 'specially liked some potatoes which the
-careless cook had left in a pan near the open camp-fire. The fire was
-out. And the pan rested on a stump close beside it. Fatty Coon climbed
-up and crawled right inside the pan. And after he had had one taste of
-those potatoes he grew so excited--they were so good--that he tipped the
-pan off the stump and the potatoes rolled right into the ashes.
-
-Fatty had jumped to one side, when the tin pan fell. It made a great
-clatter; and he kept very still for a few moments, while he listened.
-But no one stirred. And then Fatty jumped plump into the ashes.
-
-WHEW! He jumped out again as fast as he could; for beneath the ashes
-there were plenty of hot coals. Fatty stood in them for not more than
-three seconds, but that was quite long enough. The bottoms of his feet
-burned as if a hundred hornets had stung them.
-
-He stood first on one foot and then on another. If you could have seen
-him you would have thought Fatty was dancing. And you might have
-laughed, because he looked funny.
-
-But Fatty Coon did not laugh. In fact, he came very near crying. And he
-did not wait to eat another mouthful. He limped along toward home. And
-it was several days before he stirred out of his mother's house again.
-He just lay in his bed and waited until his burns were well again.
-
-It was very hard. For Fatty did not like to think of all those good
-things to eat that he was missing. And he hoped the loggers would not go
-away before his feet were well again.
-
-
-
-
-XIX
-
-FATTY GROWS EVEN FATTER
-
-
-When Fatty Coon's burned feet were well once more, the very first night
-he left his mother's house he went straight to the loggers' camp. He did
-not wait long after dark, because he was afraid that some of his
-neighbors might have found that there were good things to eat about the
-camp. And Fatty wanted them all.
-
-To his delight, there were goodies almost without end. He nosed about,
-picking up potato peelings, and bits of bacon. And perhaps the best of
-all was a piece of cornbread, which Fatty fairly gobbled. And then he
-found a box half-full of something--scraps that tasted like apples, only
-they were not round like apples, and they were quite dry, instead of
-being juicy. But Fatty liked them; and he ate them all, down to the
-smallest bit.
-
-He was thirsty, then. So he went down to the brook, which ran close by
-the camp. The loggers had cut a hole through the ice, so they could get
-water. And Fatty crept close to the edge of the hole and drank. He drank
-a great deal of water, because he was very thirsty. And when he had
-finished he sat down on the ice for a time. He did not care to stir
-about just then. And he did not think he would ever want anything to eat
-again.
-
-At last Fatty Coon rose to his feet. He felt very queer. There was a
-strange, tight feeling about his stomach. And his sides were no longer
-thin. They stuck out just as they had before winter came--only more so.
-And what alarmed Fatty was this: his sides seemed to be sticking out
-more and more all the time.
-
-He wondered what he had been eating. Those dry things that tasted like
-apples--he wondered what they were.
-
-Now, there was some printing on the outside of the box which held those
-queer, spongy, flat things. Of course, Fatty Coon could not read, so the
-printing did him no good at all. But if you had seen the box, and if you
-are old enough to read, you would have known that the printing said:
-
-EVAPORATED APPLES
-
-Now, evaporated apples are nothing more or less than dried apples. The
-cook of the loggers' camp used them to make apple pies. And first,
-before making his pies, he always soaked them in water so they would
-swell.
-
-Now you see what made Fatty Coon feel so queer and uncomfortable. He had
-first eaten his dried apples. And then he had soaked them, by drinking
-out of the brook. It was no wonder that his sides stuck out, for the
-apples that he had bolted were swelling and puffing him out until he
-felt that he should burst. In fact, the wonder of it was that he was
-able to get through his mother's doorway, when he reached home.
-
-But he did it, though it cost him a few groans. And he frightened his
-mother, too.
-
-"I only hope you're not poisoned," she said, when Fatty told her what he
-had been doing.
-
-And that remark frightened Fatty more than ever. He was sure he was
-never going to feel any better.
-
-Poor Mrs. Coon was much worried all the rest of the night. But when
-morning came she knew that Fatty was out of danger. She knew it because
-of something he said. It was this:
-
-"Oh, dear! I wish I had something to eat!"
-
-
-
-
-XX
-
-THE TRACKS IN THE SNOW
-
-
-One fine winter's day Fatty Coon came upon the queerest tracks in the
-snow. They were huge--a great deal bigger, even, than bear-tracks, which
-Fatty had sometimes seen, for once in a while, before the weather grew
-too cold, and he fell into his winter's sleep, a bear would come down
-into the valley from his home on Blue Mountain.
-
-But these were six times as big as bear tracks. And Fatty felt a shiver
-of fear run up and down his back.
-
-He followed the trail a little way. But he was very careful. He was
-always ready to scramble up a tree, in case he should suddenly see the
-strange animal--or rather, in case the strange animal should see HIM.
-
-The great tracks led straight toward Farmer Green's house. And Fatty did
-not want to go there. So he hurried home to ask his mother what he had
-found. Mrs. Coon listened to Fatty's story.
-
-"I think it must be the monster that almost caught me in the road last
-summer," said Fatty, meaning the automobile that had given him a great
-fright. "Maybe he's come back again to catch Farmer Green and his family
-... Do you suppose he's eaten them up?"
-
-Mrs. Coon was puzzled. And she was somewhat alarmed, too. She wanted to
-see those strange tracks herself. So she told her other children not to
-step a foot out of the house until she came back. And then she asked
-Fatty to run along and show her where he had come upon the monster's
-trail.
-
-Fatty Coon felt very important, as he led the way across the swamp and
-into the woods. It was not often that he could show his mother anything.
-And he was so proud that he almost forgot his fright.
-
-"I guess you're glad I have sharp eyes," he said, as they hurried along.
-
-"If the tracks are as big as you say they are, your eyes wouldn't have
-to be very sharp to see them," his mother told him. Mrs. Coon never
-liked to hear her children boast. She knew that boasting is one of the
-most unpleasant things anyone can do.
-
-"Well--maybe you don't think I saw the monster's tracks at all," said
-Fatty. "Maybe you don't think I heard him screech--"
-
-"When did you hear him screech?" Mrs. Coon asked. "This is the first
-you've said about SCREECHING. When was it?"
-
-"Last summer," Fatty answered.
-
-Mrs. Coon didn't smile. Perhaps she was too worried for that.
-
-"It may not be the same monster," she said. "It may not be a monster at
-all."
-
-But by this time Fatty was sure he was right. He was sure he knew more
-than his mother.
-
-"Why can't we go right over to Farmer Green's and take some of his
-chickens?" he asked. "The monster has probably eaten him by this time,
-and all his family, too."
-
-But Mrs. Coon would do no such thing.
-
-"Show me the tracks," she said firmly. And so they went on into the
-woods.
-
-"There they are!" Fatty cried, a few minutes later. "See, Mother!
-They're even bigger than I said." He heard a funny noise behind him,
-then. And when Fatty Coon looked around he saw that his mother was
-actually holding her sides, she was laughing so hard.
-
-"Those are Farmer Green's tracks," she said, as soon as she could stop
-laughing long enough to speak.
-
-"What--as big as that?" Fatty pointed at the huge prints in the snow.
-
-"Snowshoes!" Mrs. Coon said. "He was wearing snowshoes--great frames
-made of thongs and sticks, to keep him from sinking into the snow."
-
-So that was all there was to Fatty's monster. Somehow, he was
-disappointed. But he was very glad he had said nothing to Jasper Jay
-about his strange animal. For if he had, he knew he would never have
-heard the last of it.
-
-And Fatty was glad about another thing, too. He felt very happy that his
-mother had not let him go after Farmer Green's chickens.
-
-THE END
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sleepy-Time Tales: The Tale of Fatty
-Coon, by Arthur Scott Bailey
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