[Illustration]
[Illustration: AND UP HE CAME.]
Now, when Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon heard that their hair stood up
straight, for they knew very well that there'd be two vacant rooms any
way if Mr. Dog ever got inside, and two if he stayed where he was, for
they happened to think that Mr. Rabbit would be coming along presently,
and Mr. Squirrel wouldn't be far behind. So they hurried to the back
window and looked out, and sure enough there was Mr. Rabbit coming with
his trunk on his shoulder and almost there. At first they were
frightened most to death for Mr. Rabbit, and then the 'Coon slipped over
and whispered to the Crow to keep Mr. Dog talking as hard as he could,
so he wouldn't notice anything. All the time he was doing this the
'Possum was motioning to Jack Rabbit to slip up easy-like with his
trunk.
So Mr. Rabbit slipped up softly on the other side of the house from Mr.
Dog and set his trunk down, and the 'Possum let out a long rope with a
hook on it. Jack Rabbit stood up on his trunk and grabbed the hook as
soon as he could reach it and hooked it under his arms. Then the 'Coon
and the 'Possum pulled and pulled and up he came, and as soon as he was
safe they let down the rope and caught the hook in the trunk handle.
That was a load for all three of them, and even then they couldn't get
it up, and called across to the Crow to come quick and help. So he had
to leave Mr. Dog a minute, and when he did that Mr. Dog walked around
the tree, and there was the trunk just a few feet from the ground, going
up very slowly. That was enough for Mr. Dog. He knew then he'd been
fooled, and he was so mad he didn't know what to do.
He took one look at that trunk and made up his mind he wouldn't stand
it. So he stepped back a little and made a short run and gave a jump for
the trunk, just as high as ever he could.
[Illustration: HE CAUGHT IT AS HE WENT BY.]
But Mr. Dog wasn't very lucky, for instead of landing on the trunk he
landed his nose right against one corner of it, and that made him madder
than ever. He ran and jumped again harder than before, but this time the
trunk was a little higher and Mr. Dog didn't quite hit it. There was a
strap hanging down, though, and he caught it as he went by. He caught it
with his teeth, and two of his teeth went right through two of the holes
where the buckle catches, and there they stayed. He had the trunk all
right enough, but the trunk had him, too.
[Illustration: THE ARRIVAL OF THE OTHER GUESTS.]
There he was. His feet didn't quite touch the ground, and he couldn't
get up any higher either. Then all at once the people up stairs saw how
it was, and they commenced to laugh in spite of themselves, and hitched
the rope around a peg under the sill so they could rest a minute. That
was fun for them, but it wasn't for Mr. Dog, by a good deal. He couldn't
laugh, and he couldn't rest, either. And just then Mr. Squirrel came
with his trunk, and Mr. Robin with his satchel and a hand bag, and Mr.
Turtle with his things in a big sack. Mr. 'Coon ran down and let them
all in and locked the door. Then he ran back to the window where Mr. Dog
was.
"If we'll let you down will you go home and not come around this hotel
interfering with our business?" says Mr. 'Possum.
"Yes; will you promise not to try to get any of our guests away from
us?" says Mr. 'Coon.
Mr. Dog couldn't talk much in the fix he was in, but he did the best he
could, and promised yes to everything, so pretty soon, they let the
trunk down till his feet touched the ground, and he could get his teeth
out of the strap. Then he put out for home just about as fast as he
could go, without so much as thanking them for letting him down, and up
went Mr. Rabbit's trunk pretty quick, now that there were plenty to
help.
Then the guests all hurried to their rooms to unpack, and Mr. Crow
bustled around to get supper with what he had in the house, for Mr.
'Possum and Mr. 'Coon hadn't time yet to bring in anything. It was a
pretty good supper, though, and all the guests said so, and said they
knew what a good cook Mr. Crow was if he had things to work with, and
the Crow said he guessed he could do his part if the 'Coon and 'Possum
would do theirs.
Well, it makes a good deal of difference whether you're company at a
house or a boarder. They all felt a good deal like company at first, but
by the next evening at supper time they felt different. Mr. 'Coon and
Mr. 'Possum had been out all day bringing in things, too, and Mr. Crow
had been cooking harder than ever. Mr. Robin was first to make remarks.
He said that the cherries were canned, and not very good ones at that.
"That's what I said," put in Mr. 'Coon, "but Mr. 'Possum said you
wouldn't know the difference."
[Illustration]
"Oh, he did, did he?" says Mr. Robin. "Well, I've got better cherries
than these at home," and he got up from the table with a disgusted air.
Then Mr. Squirrel picked up some roasted nuts that the Crow had just
brought in.
"Where'd you get these nuts?" he says, after he'd cracked one or two of
them.
"Down on the slope of Green Bushes," says Mr. 'Coon. "Why, aren't they
good ones?"
"I suppose they were once," says Mr. Squirrel--"two or three years ago.
Nuts have to be fresh to be good."
"That's what I told him," says Mr. 'Possum; "but he said you wouldn't
know the difference."
"Oh, he did, did he?" says Mr. Squirrel. "Well, I've got better nuts
than these at home," and Mr. Squirrel he got up and left the table.
Then Jack Rabbit began.
"Where'd you get this salad?" he says, turning up his nose.
"Out by Mr. Man's back gate," says Mr. 'Possum. "Why, isn't it good?"
"Might have been once," says Mr. Rabbit. "I s'pose it's some Mr. Man
threw out because it was wilted."
"That's what I told him," says Mr. 'Coon, "but he said you wouldn't know
the difference."
"Oh, he did, did he? Well, I've got better salad than this at home," and
Jack Rabbit he got up and he left the table.
And then, pretty soon, Mr. Turtle made a face over the fish because they
were salt mackerel and not nice fresh fish, such as he was used to at
home. So he got up and left the table, too, and there sat the 'Coon and
'Possum and the Old Black Crow all by themselves and looking cheap
enough to fall through the floor. Mr. Crow said it wasn't his fault, and
then Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum commenced to blame it on each other, and
nearly got into a fight. They were just about to fight when Mr. Crow
happened to think of something. Mr. Crow always did think of things.
"I'll tell you!" he says. "We'll just rent rooms."
"Do what?" says Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon together.
"Why, just rent each of our guests his room and let him take his meals
out. Then we won't have any work."
"Whoo-ee!" says Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon both together, as loud as ever
they could. That made all the guests come running back, and when they
heard the new plan they all cheered, too, and said it was just the
thing.
So then Mr. 'Possum went down and got the sign and brought it up and
changed it to read: