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diff --git a/5701-0.txt b/5701-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6cb374e --- /dev/null +++ b/5701-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1692 @@ +*** 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 *** |