The Adventures of Bobby Coon

by Thornton W. Burgess

  Through the Green Forest straight to the place where Bobby's greathollow tree used to stand went Farmer Brown's boy. When they got therehe smoothed Bobby's coat and patted him gently. Then he put him down onthe ground.

  "Here we are, Bobby," said he. "Now run along and find a new house andbe happy. I hope you won't forget me, because I am going to come overoften to see you. Just keep out of mischief, and above all keep out ofthe way of hunters next fall. They shall not hunt here if I can help it,but you know I cannot watch all the time. Good-by, Bobby, and take careof yourself."

  Bobby didn't say good-by, because he didn't know how. But a greatjoy came into his eyes, and Farmer Brown's boy saw it and understood.Straight off among the trees Bobby walked. Once he looked back. FarmerBrown's boy was watching him and waved a hand.

  "He was good to me. He certainly was good to me," thought Bobby. "I--Ibelieve I really am very fond of him."

  Then he went on to look for a new house. All the joy of the springtimewas in his heart He was free! He was home once more in the Green Forest!He no longer feared Farmer Brown's boy!

  "I'm the happiest coon in all the world!" cried Bobby.

  XII. BOBBY TRIES THE WRONG HOUSE

  "Home again! Home again! Happy am I!

  Had I but wings I most surely would fly!"

  |SO sang Bobby Coon as he wandered about in the Green Forest afterleaving Farmer Brown's boy. At least, he meant it for singing. Ofcourse, it wasn't real singing, for Bobby Coon can no more sing than hecan fly. But it did very well to express his happiness, and that was allit was intended to do. Bobby was happy. He was very happy indeed. Indeedhe couldn't remember ever having been quite so happy. You see, henever before had understood fully what freedom means. No one can fullyunderstand what a wonderful and blessed thing freedom is until they havelost it and then got it again.

  Bobby took long breaths and sniffed and sniffed and sniffed and sniffedthe sweet smells of early spring. The Green Forest was full of them, andnever had they seemed so good to Bobby. He climbed a tree for nothingunder the sun but to know what it felt like to climb once more. Then heclimbed down to earth again and went poking around among the leaves justfor the fun of poking around. He rolled over and over from sheer joy.Finally he brushed himself off, climbed up on an old stump, and sat downto think things over.

  "Of course," said he to himself, "the first thing for me to do is tofind a new house. I don't have to have it right away, because thereare plenty of places in which I can curl up for a nap, but it is moreconvenient and much more respectable to have a house. People who sleepanywhere and have no homes are never thought much of by their friendsand neighbors. Without a home I can have no self-respect. There's acertain old hollow tree I always did like the looks of. Unc' BillyPossum used to live there, but maybe he has moved. Anyway, he may beout, and if so he will be smarter than I think he is to get me out onceI'm inside. I believe I'll look up that tree right away."

  Bobby scrambled down from the stump and started down the Lone LittlePath. After a while he turned off the Lone Little Path into a hollow andpresently came to the tree he had in mind. It was straight, tall, andbig. High up was a doorway plenty big enough for Bobby Coon. He sat downand looked up. The longer he looked, the better that tree seemed to him.It would suit for a house first-rate. There were marks on the tree madeby claws--the claws of Une' Billy Possum. Some of them looked quitefresh.

  "Looks as if Une' Billy is still living here," thought Bobby. "Well,I can't help it if he is. If that tree looks as good inside as it doesoutside, I am afraid Unc' Billy and I will have a falling out. It'severy one for himself in the Green Forest, and I don't think Unc' Billywill care to fight me. I'm bigger and considerably stronger than he, soif he's there, I guess I'll just invite him to move out."

  Now, of course, this wasn't at all right of Bobby Coon, but it is theway things are done in the Green Forest, and the people who live thereare used to it. The strong take what they want if they can get it, andBobby knew that Unc' Billy Possum would treat Happy Jack Squirrel thesame way, if he happened to want Happy Jack's house. So he climbed upthe tree, quite sure that this was the house he would take for his newhome. He was half-way up when a sharp voice spoke.

  "Haven't yo' made a mistake, Brer Coon?" said the voice. "This isn'tyour house."

  Bobby stopped and looked up. Unc' Billy Possum was grinning down at himfrom his doorway. Bobby grinned back. "It occurred to me that you mightlike to move, and as I'm looking for a house, I think this one will suitme very well," said he, and grinned again, for he knew that Unc' Billywould understand just what he meant.

  0084]

  Before Unc' Billy could say a word, another sharp face appeared besidehis own, and a voice still sharper than his said: "What's that no 'countCoon doing in our tree? What's this talk Ah hear about moving? Isn'tnobody gwine to move that Ah knows of." Bobby had forgotten all aboutold Mrs. Possum, and now as he saw that it was two against one hesuddenly changed his mind.

  "Excuse me," said he, "I guess I've got the wrong house."

  XIII. BOBBY MAKES ANOTHER MISTAKE

  |WHEN Bobby Coon left Unc' Billy Possum's hollow tree, he went fishing.You know he is very fond of fishing. All night long he fished and playedalong the Laughing Brook, and when at last jolly, round, red Mr. Sunbegan his daily climb up in the blue, blue sky, Bobby was wet, tired,and sleepy. But he was happy. It did seem so good to be wandering aboutat his own sweet will in the beautiful Green Forest once more. It struckhim now as rather a joke that he hadn't any house to go to. It was along, long time since he had been without a home.

  "I've got to sleep somewhere," said Bobby, rubbing his eyes and yawning,"and the sooner I find a place, the better. I'm so sleepy now I canhardly keep my eyes open. Hello, there's a great big log over there! Ifit is hollow, it will be just the place for me."

  He marched straight over to the old log. It was big, very big, and toBobby's great joy it was hollow, with an opening at one end. He was justgoing to crawl in, when Peter Rabbit popped out from behind a tree.

  "Hello, Bobby Coon!" cried Peter joyously. "Where have you been? I wasover where you used to live and found your house gone, and I was afraidsomething dreadful had happened to you. What did happen, and where haveyou been?"

  Now, tired and sleepy as he was, Bobby had to stop and talk for a fewminutes. You see, Peter was the first of his friends Bobby had met towhom he could tell all the wonderful things that had happened to him,and he was fairly aching to tell some one. So he sat down and told Peterhow his hollow tree had been cut down, and how his leg had been broken,and how Farmer Brown's boy had taken him home and fixed that leg sothat Old Mother Nature could make it as well and sound as ever, and howFarmer Brown's boy had brought him back to the Green Forest and set himfree, and how he had been fishing all night and now was looking for aplace to get a wink or two of sleep.

  "Now, if you'll excuse me, Peter, I'm going to turn in for a nap," Bobbyended, and started to crawl in the end of the hollow log.

  "Oh!" cried Peter. "Oh, you mustn't go in there, Bobby!"

  But Bobby didn't hear him, or if he did he didn't heed. He kept right onand disappeared. A funny look crept over Peter's face, and presently hebegan to chuckle. "I think I'll wait awhile and see what happens," saidhe.

  Inside that big hollow log, Bobby found it very dry and warm andcomfortable. There was a bed of dry leaves there, and it looked veryinviting. Now ordinarily Bobby would have examined the inside of thatlog very thoroughly before going to sleep, but he was so tired andsleepy that he didn't half look around. He didn't go to the farther endat all. He just dropped right down midway, curled up, and in no time atall was fast asleep. It was a mistake, a very great mistake, as Bobbywas shortly to find out. Meanwhile, outside sat Peter Rabbit, althoughit was already past time for him to be home in the dear Old Briar-patch.

  XIV. BOBBY FINDS OUT HIS MISTAKE

  If friend of yours a mistake makes

  Nor y
et has found it out,

  I pray that when at last he does

  You will not be about.

  |IT is bad enough to find out for yourself that you have made a mistake,but to have other people know it makes you feel a great deal worse. Sothe kindest thing that any one can do when they know a friend has made amistake and it is too late to warn them, is to appear not to know of itat all. So it wasn't nice at all of Peter Rabbit to hang around watchingthat old hollow log into which Bobby Coon had crawled for a nap.

  Presently Peter's long ears caught sounds from inside that hollow log.First there was a rattling and rustling. Then came a series of gruntsand squeaks. These were followed by growls and snarls. The latter werefrom Bobby Coon. He was insisting that he was going to stay right wherehe was and wouldn't move an inch for any one. Peter clapped one handover his mouth to keep from laughing aloud when he heard that, and hefastened his eyes, very big and round with expectation, on the openingin the end of the hollow log. You see, Peter knew all about that log andwho lived there. That is what he had tried to tell Bobby Coon. He couldhear Bobby declaring:

  "I won't move a step, not a single step. You can stay right where youare until I finish my nap. If you come any nearer, I'll--"

  Peter didn't hear the rest, if indeed Bobby finished what he had startedto say. You see, Bobby was interrupted by a great rattling and rustlingand a grunt that sounded both angry and very business-like. Once moreBobby growled and snarled and declared he wouldn't move a step, butPeter noticed that Bobby's voice seemed to come from nearer the openend of the log than before. Again there was a grunt and a rattling andrustling.

  Then out of the end of the old log backed Bobby Coon, still growlingand snarling and declaring he wouldn't move a step. It was too funny forPeter to hold in any longer. He had to laugh. He couldn't help it.Then the black nose and little dull eyes of Prickly Porky the Porcupineappeared. In each of those little dull eyes there was just a wee sparkof anger which made them less dull than usual. It was plain that PricklyPorky was provoked.

  [Ill 0009]

  As soon as he was outside, he made the thousand little spears which hecarries hidden in his coat stand on end, and made a quick little rushtowards Bobby Coon. Bobby turned tail and ran. The sight of thosesharp-pointed little spears was too much for him. He was afraid of them.Everybody is afraid of them, even big Buster Bear. It was these littlespears brushing against the inside of the old log that had made therattling and rustling Peter had heard.

  "The impudence of that Coon to walk into my house and go to sleepwithout so much as asking if he might, and then telling me that I can'tcome out until he says so! The impudence of him!" grunted Prickly Porky,rattling his thousand little spears.

  As for Bobby Coon, he realized now the great mistake he had made in notfirst finding out whether any one was at home in that old log beforetrying to take a nap there. It mortified him to think he had been socareless as to make such a mistake, and it mortified him still more toknow that Peter Rabbit had seen all that had happened.

  XV. ONCE MORE BOBBY TRIES TO SLEEP

  Did you ever have the Sandman

  Fill your eyes all full of sand

  And then have to keep them open

  When there was no bed at hand?

  |IF you have had that happen, then you know exactly how Bobby Coon feltwhen he was obliged to crawl out of Prickly Porky's bed and go hunt foranother. He was so very, very sleepy that he felt almost as if he couldgo to sleep standing right on his feet. This was because he had been upall night and awake most of the day before. Now he wished that insteadof spending the night in fishing and playing about the Laughing Brook,he had hunted for a house.

  To be sleepy and not able to sleep makes Bobby cross, just as it doesmost folks. So, as he hurried away from the neighborhood of PricklyPorky and his thousand little spears, he was in a bad temper. Of course,he knew it was his own fault that he was in such a fix, and this didn'tmake him feel a bit better. In fact, it made him feel worse. It usuallyis that way.

  So he grumbled to himself as he went along. He didn't know where he wasgoing. He was too cross and sleepy and upset to do any thinking. Sohe went along, aimlessly looking for a place where he might sleepundisturbed. At last he came to a tall stump, a great big old stump thathad stood in the Green Forest for years and years. Bobby climbed to thetop of it. It was hollow, just as he had hoped. Indeed, it was just ashell. Looking down, Bobby saw with a great deal of satisfaction thatthe bottom was covered with a great mass of rotted wood. It would make avery comfortable bed. Moreover, it was plain that no one else was usingit.

  Bobby sighed with satisfaction. It was just the place for a good longnap. He could sleep there all day in perfect comfort. It wouldn't dofor a home, because the top was open to the sky, and on a rainy day theinside of that stump would soon be a very wet place indeed. But for anice long nap on a pleasant day, it would be hard to beat. Bobby sighedagain, looked all about to make sure that no one was watching him, andthen climbed down inside.

  "I guess," muttered Bobby, as he curled up on the bed of rotted wood,which is sometimes called punk, "that at last I shall be allowed tosleep in peace. I never was more sleepy in all my life." He yawned twoor three times, changed his position for greater comfort, closed hiseyes, and in a twinkling was asleep.

  Now, though he thought no one saw him go into that old stump, some onedid. That some one was Peter Rabbit. Peter had followed Bobby just outof curiosity. He had hidden behind trees so as to keep out of Bobby'ssight. So he had seen Bobby climb the stump and disappear inside.

  "I guess," said Peter, "that this time he will sleep in peace. No oneis likely to find him there unless it should be that Sammy Jay or Blackythe Crow happens to fly over and so discover him. They wouldn't give hima bit of peace if they should. Hello! There's Blacky's voice now, and heseems to be coming this way. I think I will hang around a while longer."

  XVI. BLACKY THE CROW DISCOVERS BOBBY

  Blacky the Crow is sharp of eye;

  He dearly loves to peek and pry.

  I must confess, alas! alack!

  Blacky the Crow's an imp in black.

  |IT is true, I am sorry to say, that Blacky the Crow never is happierthan when he is teasing some one and making them uncomfortable. He isan imp of mischief, is Blacky. Whatever business he has on hand he goesabout it with one eye open for a chance to have fun at the expense ofsome one else. And there is little that those sharp eyes of his miss. Hesees all that there is to see. Yes, Sir, you may trust Blacky for that!

  It was just the hard luck of Bobby Coon that no sooner was he asleep inthat hollow stump in the Green Forest than along came Blacky the Crow,flying above the tree-tops on his way to his nest, but as usual watchingsharply for what might be going on below. It just happened that he flewright over that stump, so that he could look right down inside. He sawBobby Coon curled up there asleep. Yes, indeed, you may be sure he sawBobby.

  Blacky checked himself in his flight and hovered for an instant rightabove that stump. Mischief fairly danced in his sharp eyes. Then heturned and silently flew down and alighted on the edge of the old stump.For a few minutes he sat there, looking down at Bobby Coon. All the timehe was chuckling to himself. Then he flew to the top of a tree and beganto call with all his might.

  "Caw caw, caw, ca-a-w, caw, caw!" he called. "Caw, ca-a-w, caw!"

  Almost right away he was answered, and presently from all directionsdame hurrying his friends and relatives, each one cawing at the top ofhis voice and asking Blacky what he had found. Blacky didn't tell themuntil the last one came hurrying up. Then he told them to go look in theold hollow stump. One after another they flew over it, looking down, andone after another they shouted with glee. Then as many as could find aplace on the edge of the old stump did so, while the others sat about inthe trees or flew back and forth overhead, and all of them began to cawas
hard as ever they could. Such a racket as they made!

  Of course, Bobby Coon couldn't sleep. Certainly not. No one could haveslept through that racket. He opened his eyes and looked up. He saw aring of black heads looking down at him and mischief fairly dancing inthe sharp eyes watching him. The instant it was known that he was awake,the noise redoubled.

  "Ca-a-w, ca-a-w, ca-a-w, caw, caw, ca-a-w, caw, caw, caw!"

  Bobby drew back his lips and snarled, and at that his tormentors fairlyshrieked with glee. Then Blacky dropped a little stick down on Bobby.Another crow did the same thing. Bobby scrambled to his feet and startedto climb up. His tormentors took to the air and screamed louder thanever. Bobby stopped. What was the use of going up where they could getat him? They would pull his fur and make him most uncomfortable, and heknew he couldn't catch one of them to save him. He backed down and satglaring up at them and telling them what dreadful things he would do tothem if ever he should catch one of them. This delighted Blacky and hisfriends more than ever. They certainly were having great fun.

  Finally Bobby did the wisest thing possible. He once more curled up andtook no notice at all of the black imps. Of course, he couldn't go tosleep with such a racket going on, but he pretended to sleep. Now youknow there is no fun in trying to tease one who won't show he is teased.After a while Blacky and his friends got tired of screaming. They hadhad their fun, and one by one they flew about their business untilat last the Green Forest was as still as still could be. Bobby sighedthankfully and once more fell asleep.