THE ADVENTURES OF OLD MAN COYOTE

By Thornton W. Burgess

Author of “Old Mother West Wind Series,” “Mother West Wind How Stories,” “The Bedtime Story-Books,” etc.

With Illustrations by Harrison Cady

Boston: Little, Brown, And Company, 1916

Original

Original

CONTENTS

I. THE STRANGE VOICE

II. PETER RABBIT'S RUN FOR LIFE

III. REDDY FOX MAKES A DISCOVERY

IV. REDDY FOX CONSULTS BOBBY COON

V. REDDY FOX VISITS JIMMY SKUNK

VI. JIMMY SKUNK GOES WITH REDDY FOX

VII. A CALL ON DIGGER THE BADGER

VIII. OLD MAN COYOTE MAKES HIMSELF AT HOME

IX. OLD MAN COYOTE MEETS REDDY FOX

X. GRANNY FOX VISITS PRICKLY PORKY

XI. GRANNY FOX TELLS PRICKLY PORKY A STORY

XII. GRANNY FOX TELLS ANOTHER STORY

XIII. THE MEETING AT THE LAUGHING BROOK

XIV. SLOW WIT AND QUICK WIT

XV. PRICKLY PORKY'S TAIL

XVI. OLD MAN COYOTE'S SMARTNESS

XVII. GRANNY FOX IS FOUND OUT

XVIII. THE CUNNING OF OLD GRANNY FOX

XIX. BOWSER THE HOUND HAS A VISITOR

XX. THE CLEVER PLAN OF GRANNY FOX

XXI. HOW PETER RABBIT HELPED OLD MAN COYOTE

XXII. WHY THE CLEVER PLAN OF GRANNY FOX FAILED

XXIII. OLD MAN COYOTE GETS A GOOD DINNER

ADVENTURES OF OLD MAN COYOTE

I. THE STRANGE VOICE

LISTEN!” It was Jimmy Skunk speaking. He had just met Peter Rabbit halfway down the Crooked Little Path just where the moonlight was brightest. But he did not need to tell Peter to listen. Peter was listening,-listening with all his might. He was sitting up very straight, and his long ears were turned in the direction of the strange sound. Just then it came again, a sound such as neither Peter Rabbit nor Jimmy Skunk had ever heard before. Peter's teeth began to chatter.

“Wha—wha—what is it?” he whispered.

“I don't know, unless it is Hooty the Owl gone crazy,” replied Jimmy.

“No,” said Peter, “it isn't Hooty the Owl. Hooty never could make such a noise as that.”

“Maybe it's Dippy the Loon. I've heard him on the Big River, and he sounds just as if he had gone crazy,” replied Jimmy.

“No,” said Peter, looking behind him nervously. “No, it isn't Dippy the Loon, for Dippy never leaves the water, and that voice came from the Green Meadows. I wouldn't be surprised—” Peter didn't finish, for just then the strange voice sounded again, and it was nearer than before. Never had the Green Meadows or the Green Forest heard anything like it. It sounded something like Hooty the Owl, and Dippy the Loon, and two or three little dogs howling all together, and there was something in the sound that made cold chills run up and down Peter Rabbit's backbone. He crept a little closer to Jimmy Skunk.

“I believe it is Farmer Brown's boy and some of his friends laughing and shouting together,” said Jimmy.

“No, it isn't! Farmer Brown's boy and his friends can make some dreadful noises but nothing so dreadful as that. It makes me afraid, Jimmy Skunk,” said Peter.

“Pooh! You're afraid of your own shadow!” replied Jimmy Skunk, who isn't afraid of much of anything. “Let's go down there and find out what it is.”

Peter's big eyes grew rounder than ever with fright at the very thought. “D-d-don't you think of such a thing, Jimmy Skunk I D-d-don't y-y-you think of such a thing!” he chattered. “I know it's something terrible. Oh, dear! I wish I were safe at home in the dear Old Briar-patch.”

Again sounded the strange voice, or was it voices? It seemed sometimes as if there were two or three together. Then again it sounded like only one. Each time Peter Rabbit crept a little closer to Jimmy Skunk. Pretty soon even Jimmy began to feel a little uneasy.

“I'm going home,” said he suddenly.

“I want to, but I don't dare to,” said Peter, shaking all over with fright.

“Pooh! Any one who can run as fast as you can ought not to be afraid,” said Jimmy. “But if you really are afraid, you can come up to my house.”

“Oh, thank you, Jimmy Skunk. I believe I will come sit on your doorstep if you don't mind.”

Original

So together they went up to Jimmy Skunk's house, and sat on his doorstep in the moonlight, and listened to the strange voice all the long night; and then, when he saw Old Mother West Wind coming down from the Purple Hills in the early dawn, Peter Rabbit became courageous enough to start for his home in the dear Old Briar-patch.

II. PETER RABBIT'S RUN FOR LIFE

IT was very, very early in the morning when Old Mother West Wind came down from the Purple Hills with her big bag and out of it emptied her children, the Merry Little Breezes, to play on the Green Meadows. Peter Rabbit, watching her from the doorstep of Jimmy Skunk's house, felt his courage grow. All the night long he and Jimmy Skunk had sat on the doorstep listening to a strange voice, a terrible voice Peter had thought. But with the first light of the coming day the voice had been heard no more, and now, as Peter watched Old Mother West Wind just as he had done so often before, he began to wonder if that dreadful voice hadn't been a bad dream.

So he bade Jimmy Skunk good-by, and started for his home in the dear Old Briar-patch. He wanted to run just as fast as he knew how, but he didn't. No, Sir, he didn't. That is, not while he was in sight of Jimmy Skunk. You see, he knew that Jimmy would laugh at him. He wasn't brave enough to be laughed at.

The bravest boy is not the one

Who does some mighty deed;

Who risks his very life perchance

To serve another's need.

The bravest boy is he who dares

To face the scornful laugh

For doing what he knows is right,

Though others mock and chaff.

But as soon as Peter was sure that Jimmy Skunk could no longer see him, he began to hurry, and the nearer he got to the Old Briar-patch, the faster he hurried. He would run a little way as fast as he could, lipperty-lipperty-lip, and then stop and look and listen nervously. Then he would do it all over again. It was one of these times when he was listening that Peter thought he heard a soft footstep behind him. It sounded very much like the footstep of Reddy Fox. Peter crouched down very low and sat perfectly still, holding his breath and straining his ears. There it was again, pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat, very soft and coming nearer. Peter waited no longer. He sprang forward with a great leap and started for the dear Old Briar-patch as fast as he could go, which, you know, is very fast indeed. As he ran, he saw behind him a fierce, grinning face. It was very much like the face of Reddy Fox, only larger and fiercer and gray instead of red.

Never in all his life had Peter run as he did now, for he knew that he was running for his life. It seemed as if those long legs of his hardly touched the ground. He didn't dare try any of the tricks with which he had so often fooled Reddy Fox, for he didn't know anything about this terrible stranger. He might not be fooled by tricks as Reddy Fox was.

Peter began to breathe hard. It seemed to him that he could feel the hot breath of the fierce stranger. And right down inside, Peter somehow felt sure that this was the owner of the strange voice which had so frightened him in the night. Snap! That was a pair of cruel jaws right at his very heels. It gave Peter new strength, and he made longer jumps than before. The dear Old Briar-patch, the safe Old Briar-patch, was just ahead. With three mighty jumps, Peter reached the opening of one of his own private little paths and dived in under a bramble bush. And even as he did so, he heard the clash of sharp teeth and felt some hair pulled from his tail. And then, outside the Old Briar-patch, broke forth that same terrible voice Peter had heard in the night.

Peter didn't stop to look at the stranger, but hurried to the very middle of the Old Briar-patch and there he stretched out at full length and panted and panted for breath.

III. REDDY FOX MAKES A DISCOVERY

REDDY FOX had boasted that he was not afraid of the unknown stranger who had frightened Peter Rabbit so, and whose voice in the night had brought the great fear to the Green Meadows and the Green Forest. But Reddy Fox is always boasting, and a boaster is seldom very brave. Right down deep in his heart Reddy was afraid. What he was afraid of, he didn't know. That is one reason that he was afraid. He is always afraid of things that he doesn't know about. Old Granny Fox had taught Reddy that.

“If you are afraid of things you don't know all about, and just keep away from them, they never will hurt you,” said wise old Granny Fox, and that is one reason that Farmer Brown's boy had never been able to catch her in a trap. But Granny was too smart to boast that she wasn't afraid when she was, while Reddy was forever bragging of how brave he was, when all the time he was one of the greatest cowards among all the little meadow and forest people.

When he had first heard that strange voice, little cold chills had chased each other up and down his backbone, just as they had with nearly all the others who had heard it, and Reddy had not gone hunting that night. But Reddy has a big appetite, and a hungry stomach doesn't let one think of much else. So after a day or two, Reddy grew brave enough to go hunting. Somehow he had a feeling that it was safer to hunt during the day instead of during the night. You see, it was only after jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had gone to bed behind the Purple Hills that that strange voice was heard, and Reddy guessed that perhaps the stranger slept during the day.

So Reddy started out very early in the morning, stepping as softly as he knew how, looking behind every bush and tree, and with his sharp little ears wide open to catch every sound. Every few feet he stopped and sniffed the wind very carefully, for Reddy's nose can tell him of things which his eyes do not see and his ears do not hear. And all the time he was ready to run at the first sign of danger. He had left the Green Forest and was out on the Green Meadows, hoping to catch Danny Meadow Mouse, when that sharp little nose of his was tickled by one of the Merry Little Breezes with a smell that Reddy knew. Reddy turned and went in the direction from which the Merry Little Breeze had come. Just a few steps he went, and then he stopped and sniffed.

“Um-m-m,” said Reddy to himself, “that smells to me like chicken. It certainly does smell like chicken!”

Very, very slowly and carefully Reddy moved forward in the direction from which that delicious smell came. Every few steps he stopped and sniffed. Sniff, sniff, sniff! Yes, it certainly was chicken. Reddy's mouth watered. A few more steps and there, a little way in front of him, partly hidden in a clump of tall grass and bushes, lay a half-eaten chicken. Reddy stopped short and sat down to look at it. Then he looked all around it to see if there was any one about. Then he walked clear around it in a circle, but he was very careful not to go too near. Finally he sat down again where he could smell the chicken. His tongue hung out with longing, and water dripped from the corners of his mouth. His stomach said, “Go get it;” but his head said, “Don't go any nearer; it may be some sort of a trap.”

Then Reddy remembered one of the sayings of wise old Granny Fox:

“When you are tempted very much

Just turn your back and go away.

Temptation then can harm you not,

But only those who choose to stay.”

“I hate to do it, but I guess it's the best way,” said Reddy Fox and turned his back on the chicken and trotted away.

IV. REDDY FOX CONSULTS BOBBY COON

WHEN Reddy Fox had turned his back on the half-eaten chicken that he had found hidden in a bunch of grass and bushes on the Green Meadows it had been the hardest thing to do that Reddy could remember, for his stomach fairly ached, he was so hungry. But there might be danger there, and it was best to be safe. So Reddy turned and trotted away where he could neither see nor smell that chicken. He caught some grasshoppers, and he found a family of fat beetles. They were not very filling, but they were better than nothing. After a while he felt better, and he curled up in a warm sunny spot to rest and think. “It may be that Farmer Brown's boy has set a trap there,” said Reddy to himself. Then he remembered that the chicken was half-eaten, and he knew that it wasn't likely that Farmer Brown's boy would have a half-eaten chicken unless he had found one that Jimmy Skunk had left near the hen-yard, and for some reason he didn't know, he had a feeling that Jimmy Skunk had not had anything to do with that chicken. The more he thought about it, the more he felt sure that that chicken had something to do with the stranger whose voice had brought so much fear to the Green Meadows. The very thought made him nervous and spoiled his sun-bath.

“I believe I'll run over and see Bobby Coon,” said Reddy, and off he started for the Green Forest.

Bobby Coon bad been out all night, but he had not been very far away from his hollow-tree, because he too had felt little chills of fear when he heard that strange voice, which wasn't the voice of Hooty the Owl or of Dippy the Loon or of a little yelping dog and yet sounded something like all three together. So Bobby's stomach wasn't as full as usual, and he felt cross and uncomfortable. You know it is hard work to feel hungry and pleasant at the same time. He had just begun to doze when he heard Reddy Fox calling softly at the foot of the tree.

“Bobby! Bobby Coon!” called Reddy.

Bobby didn't answer. He kept perfectly still to try to make Reddy think that he was asleep. But Reddy kept right on calling. Finally Bobby scrambled up to the doorway of his house in the big hollow-tree and scowled down at Reddy Fox.

“Well, what is it?” he snapped crossly. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself to disturb people who are trying to get a little honest sleep.”

Reddy grinned. “I'm very sorry to wake you up, Bobby Coon,” said Reddy, “but you see I want your advice. I know that there is no one smarter than you, and I have just discovered something very important about which I want to know what you think.”

The scowl disappeared from Bobby Coon's face. He felt very much flattered, just as Reddy meant that he should feel, and he tried to look very important and wise as he said:

“I'm listening, Reddy Fox. What is it that is so important?”

Then Reddy told him all about the half-eaten chicken over on the Green Meadows, and how he suspected that the stranger with the terrible voice had had something to do with it. Bobby listened gravely.

“Pooh!” said he. “Probably Jimmy Skunk knows something about it.”

“No,” replied Reddy, “I'm sure that Jimmy Skunk doesn't know anything about it. Come over with me and see it for yourself.”

Bobby began to back down into his house. “You'll have to excuse me this morning, Reddy Fox. You see, I'm very tired and need sleep,” said he.

Reddy turned his head aside to hide a smile, for he knew that Bobby was afraid.

“I'm sure it must have been Jimmy Skunk,” continued Bobby. “Why don't you go ask him? I never like to meddle with other people's business.”

And with that Bobby Coon backed down out of sight in the hollow-tree.

V. REDDY FOX VISITS JIMMY SKUNK

BOBBY COON is afraid! Yes, Sir, Bobby Coon is afraid! He doesn't dare go with me to look at that half-eaten chicken over on the Green Meadows. He's a coward, that's what he is!”

Reddy Fox muttered this to himself as he trotted away from Bobby Coon's big hollow-tree in the Green Forest. Reddy was right, and he was wrong. He was right in thinking that Bobby Coon was afraid. Bobby was afraid, but that didn't make him a coward. You see, he couldn't see what good it would do him to go see that half-eaten chicken way out there in the Green Meadows so far away from trees. Bobby is like Happy Jack Squirrel,—he never feels really safe unless there is a tree close at hand to climb, for Bobby's legs are not very long, and though he can run fast for a little distance, he soon gets out of breath. Then he climbs the nearest tree. But if there had been any really good reason for going, Bobby would have gone even though he was afraid, and that shows that he wasn't a coward.

But Reddy Fox likes to think himself very brave and every one else a coward. So he trotted along with his nose turned up in scorn because Bobby Coon was afraid. He was disappointed, too, was Reddy Fox. You see he had hoped to get Bobby to go with him and when they got there that Bobby would go close to the half-eaten chicken and try to find out who had left it on the Green Meadows, and for what reason. Reddy, who is always suspicious, thought that there might be a trap, and if so, Bobby would find it, and then Reddy would know without running any danger himself. That shows how sly he is.

But as long as Bobby wouldn't go, there was nothing for Reddy to do but to try the same plan with Jimmy Skunk, and so he headed straight for Jimmy Skunk's house. Now deep down in his heart Reddy Fox hated Jimmy Skunk, and more than once he had tried to get Jimmy into trouble. But now, as he saw Jimmy sitting on his doorstep, Reddy looked as pleasant as only Reddy can. He smiled as if Jimmy were his very best friend.

“Good morning, Jimmy Skunk. I'm glad to see you,” said Reddy. “I hope you are feeling well this morning.”

Now Jimmy had had a good breakfast of fat beetles, and he was feeling very good-natured. But he wasn't fooled by Reddy's pleasant ways. To himself he thought, “I wonder what mischief Reddy Fox is up to,” but aloud he said: “Good morning, Reddy Fox. You are looking very fine and handsome this morning. Of course no one who is as big and brave as you are is afraid of the stranger with the terrible voice who has frightened the rest of us so for the last few nights.”

Now all the time he was saying this, Jimmy knew perfectly well that Reddy was afraid, and he turned his head to hide a smile as Reddy swelled up to look very big and important and replied: “Oh, my, no! No, indeed, certainly not! I'm not afraid of anybody or anything. By the way, I saw a strange thing down on the Green Meadows early this morning. It was a half-eaten chicken hidden in a clump of grass and bushes. I wondered if you left it there.”

Jimmy Skunk pricked up his ears. “No,” said he, “I didn't leave it there. I haven't taken a chicken from Farmer Brown's this spring, and I haven't been up to his hen-house for more than a week. Who do you suppose could have left it there?”

“I haven't the least idea unless—” Reddy looked this way and that to make sure that they were alone—“unless it was the stranger who has frightened every one but me,” he finished in a whisper.

Jimmy pricked his ears up more than ever. “Do you really suppose it could have been?” he asked.

“Come down there with me and see for yourself,” replied Reddy. And Jimmy said he would.

VI. JIMMY SKUNK GOES WITH REDDY FOX

JIMMY SKUNK and Reddy Fox trotted along down the Crooked Little Path to the Green Meadows. Reddy was impatient and in a hurry. But Jimmy Skunk never hurries, and he didn't now. He just took his time, and Reddy Fox had to keep waiting for him. Reddy was nervous and anxious. He kept turning his head this way and that way. He looked behind every little bush and clump of grass. He cocked his sharp ears at every little sound. He sniffed every little breeze. It was very plain that Reddy Fox was ill at ease.

“Hurry up, Jimmy Skunk! Hurry up!” he urged every few minutes, and he had hard work to make his voice sound pleasant.

But Jimmy didn't hurry. Indeed, it seemed as if Jimmy were slower than usual. The more impatient Reddy grew, the slower Jimmy seemed to go. And every time Reddy's back was turned, Jimmy would grin, and his sharp little eyes twinkled with mischief. You see, he knew that despite all his boasting Reddy Fox afraid, and because he wasn't afraid himself, Jimmy was getting a lot of fun out of watching Reddy. Once, when Reddy had stopped to look over the Green Meadows, Jimmy stole up behind him very softly and suddenly pulled Reddy's tail. Reddy sprang forward with a frightened yelp and started to run as only Reddy can. Then he heard Jimmy Skunk laughing and knew that Jimmy had played a joke on him. He stopped short and whirled around.

“What are you laughing at, Jimmy Skunk?” he shouted angrily.

“Oh, nothing, nothing at all,” replied Jimmy, and his face was as sober as if he never had laughed and never could laugh. Reddy opened his mouth to say something ugly, but suddenly remembered that if he quarrelled with Jimmy Skunk, then Jimmy wouldn't go any farther with him. So he gulped down his anger as best he could and grinned sheepishly while he waited for Jimmy to catch up with him.

So at last they came to the bunch of grass and bushes in which Reddy had found the half-eaten chicken early that morning. There it lay just as Reddy had left it. Reddy stopped at a safe distance and pointed it out to Jimmy Skunk. Jimmy looked at it thoughtfully.

“Who do you suppose could have brought it away down here on the Green Meadows?” whispered Reddy, as if afraid that some one might overhear him.

Jimmy Skunk scratched his head as if thinking very hard. “It might have been Redtail the Hawk,” said he at last.

“That's so. I didn't think of him,” replied Reddy.

“But it looks to me as if it were left there in the night, and Redtail never hunts at night because his eyes are for seeing in the daytime and not in the dark,” added Jimmy Skunk. “Let's go closer, and perhaps we can tell who left it there.”

“Of course. That's a good idea,” replied Reddy, starting forward as if he were going to walk right up to the chicken. After a few steps he stopped as if he had a sudden thought. “I tell you what,” said he “one of us had better keep watch to see that no danger is near. I am taller than you and can see over the grass better than you can, so I'll keep watch while you see what you can find out.”

Now Jimmy Skunk saw through Reddy's plan right away, but Jimmy wasn't afraid, because he isn't afraid of much of anything, so he agreed. While Reddy kept watch, he carefully made his way to the half-eaten chicken hidden in the clump of grass and bushes. All the time he kept his eyes wide open for traps. But there were no traps there. He was gone a long time, and when at last he came out, his face was very sober.

“Well, was it Redtail the Hawk?” asked Reddy eagerly.

“No,” said Jimmy. “No, it wasn't Redtail the Hawk or Hooty the Owl. It was some one with teeth very much like yours, Reddy Fox, only bigger, and with feet very much like yours, only these were bigger too. And the chicken wasn't one of Farmer Brown's at all; it was brought from somewhere farther away than Farmer Brown's, and that shows that it was some one smarter than you, Reddy Fox, because whoever it was knew that if they stole a chicken from Farmer Brown, his boy and Bowser the Hound, would come looking for it.”

VII. A CALL ON DIGGER THE BADGER

For fox or man the better plan

With unknown danger near,

Is to go home and no more roam

Until the way be clear.

THAT is what Reddy Fox thinks. The thought popped right into his head when Jimmy Skunk told him that the half-eaten chicken had been left on the Green Meadows by some one with teeth and feet very like Reddy's own but bigger. But Reddy pretended not to believe it. “Pooh!” said he. “How do you know that this stranger has feet like mine, only bigger. You haven't seen him, have you?”

“No,” said Jimmy Skunk, shaking his head, “no, I haven't seen him, and I don't need to, to know that. His footprints are right over here in the sand. Come look for yourself, Reddy Fox.”

“No, thanks!” said Reddy hastily. “The fact is, I have some very important matters to look after in the Green Forest, and I must hurry along. You'll excuse me, won't you, Jimmy Skunk? If you say that there are footprints like mine, only larger, of course I believe it. I would stop to look at them if I could, but I find that I am already very late. By the way, if you will look a little closer at those footprints, I think you will find that they were made by a dog. I'm sorry I can't wait for you, but you are such a slow walker that I really haven't the time. Let me know if you find out anything about this stranger.” And with that off he started for the Green Forest.

Jimmy Skunk grinned, for he knew that Reddy had nothing more important to attend to than to get away as fast as he could from a place which he felt might be dangerous.

“Don't fool yourself, Reddy Fox, by thinking I don't know the footprints of a dog when I see them. Besides, I smelled of them, and they don't smell of dog!” shouted Jimmy, before Reddy could get out of hearing.

Jimmy watched Reddy out of sight and chuckled as he saw Reddy keep turning to look over his shoulder as if he expected to find something terrible at his heels. “I'd never run away until I knew what I was running from!” exclaimed Jimmy, with the greatest scorn. “Did you ever see such a coward?”

With Reddy gone, Jimmy's thoughts came back to the queer things which were driving all the happiness from the Green Meadows at the very happiest time of all the year. There was that strange, terrible voice in the night, the voice that was not that of Hooty the Owl or Dippy the Loon or a little yelping dog, yet which sounded something like all three, and which was frightening all the little people until they were afraid to move out of sight of their homes. And here was this half-eaten chicken hidden in the clump of grass and hushes on the Green Meadows by some one with teeth and feet very much like those of Reddy Fox only bigger. It was all very queer, very queer indeed. The more he thought about it, the more Jimmy felt sure that the owner of the terrible voice was the owner of the big teeth and the maker of the strange footprints. He was scratching his head as he puzzled over the matter when he happened to look over to the home of Digger the Badger. Jimmy's eyes brightened.

“I believe I'll make a call on Digger. Perhaps he will know something about it,” said he, and off he started.

Digger the Badger sat on his doorstep. He has very few friends, for he is grumpy and very apt to be out of sorts. Besides, most of the little Meadow people are afraid of him. But Jimmy Skunk isn't afraid of any one but Farmer Brown's boy, and not even of him unless he has his terrible gun. So he walked right up to the doorstep where Digger the Badger was sitting.

Original

“Good morning,” said Jimmy politely.

“Morning,” grunted Digger the Badger.

“What do you think of the queer doings on the Green Meadows?” asked Jimmy.

“What queer doings?” asked Digger.

Then Jimmy Skunk told all about the strange voice and the strange footprints.

Digger the Badger didn't say a word until Jimmy was through. Then he chuckled.

“Why,” said he, “that is only my old friend from the Great West—Old Man Coyote.”

VIII. OLD MAN COYOTE MAKES HIMSELF AT HOME

IT was out at last. Digger the Badger had told Jimmy Skunk who it was that had so frightened the little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows with his terrible voice, and Jimmy Skunk had straightway sent the Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West Wind over to the Smiling Pool, up along the Laughing Brook, through the Green Forest, and over the Green Meadows to spread the news that it was Old Man Coyote from the Great West who had come to make his home on the Green Meadows. And that night when they heard his voice, somehow it didn't sound so terrible. You see, they knew who it was, and that made all the difference in the world.

The shivers still might crawl and creep

And chase away good friendly Sleep,

But knowing whom he had to fear

Brought to each heart a bit of cheer.

That may seem a bit queer, but it was so. You see, not knowing what or whom to be afraid of made the little meadow and forest people afraid every minute of the time, afraid to sleep, afraid to put their noses out of their homes, almost afraid to draw a long breath. But now that they knew it was Old Man Coyote who had so frightened them, they felt better, for Digger the Badger, who had known him in the Great West where they had been neighbors, had told Jimmy Skunk what he looked like, and Jimmy Skunk had spread the news so that everybody would know Old Man Coyote when they saw him. So though each one knew that he mustn't give Old Man Coyote a chance to catch him, each felt sure right down in his heart that all he had to do was to be just a little bit smarter than Old Man Coyote, and he would be safe.

Of course it didn't take Old Man Coyote long to learn that he had been found out. He grinned to himself, stretched, and yawned, and then came out from his secret hiding place.

“I think I'll call on my neighbors,” said he, and trotted towards the house of Digger the Badger. The Merry Little Breezes saw him first and in a great flutter of excitement they hurried this way and that way to tell everybody that the stranger from the Great West had come out in the light of day. My, my, my! such a scampering as there was for a safe place from which to peep out at Old Man Coyote! He pretended not to notice, and didn't look this way or that way, but trotted on about his own business.

Digger the Badger was sitting on his doorstep, and he grinned when he saw Old Man Coyote coming.

“It's about time you called on your old friend,” said he.

It was Old Man Coyote's turn to grin. “That's so, Brother Badger,” he replied, “but the fact is, I've been living very quietly.”

“Excepting at night,” said Digger, showing all his teeth in a rather broad grin. “You're voice certainly has sounded good to me.”

“I guess it's the first time,” interrupted Old Man Coyote.

“The first time I heard it I thought I was dreaming,” continued Digger, just as if he hadn't heard what Old Man Coyote said. “Seems just like home to have you about. But tell me, how does it happen that you have come here out of the Great West?”

“That's too long a story to tell now. Anyway, I might ask you the same thing. But here I am, and I believe I'll stay. I like the Green Meadows and the Green Forest. Now I must be going along to call on the rest of my new neighbors. I hope they'll be glad to see me.” Old Man Coyote grinned again when he said this, for no one knew better than he did how very much afraid of him his new neighbors were.

“Come again when you can stop longer,” said Digger the Badger.

“I will,” replied Old Man Coyote, starting toward the Smiling Pool.