THE SPRING AWAKENING
December and January passed without Striped Coat waking up for more than
an occasional peep at the woods whenever the warm south wind was
blowing; but the last days of February found him uneasy and on the watch
for good weather; then there came a gentle warm rain which brought a new
scent into the woods--the scent of Spring.
Striped Coat caught it and was lured out as soon as darkness came; his
mother followed eagerly. They were both anxious to get food but also
interested in looking around and hunting up the old places which they
had frequented in the summer. The mother travelled to the deserted
woodchuck burrow under the holly tree, and finding it pleasantly dry and
homelike, rearranged the nest and slept there instead of returning to
the cabin.
Striped Coat however went further; he made a great circle through the
woods which carried him far beyond Farmer Slown's field to a sandy hill
where, because the ground was dryer and warmer than below, many animals
had their winter dens and where therefore it was not as lonely as nearer
the Creek. Here he found the trails of Possum and of Coon and even of
Gray Fox, but of none of his own kind. Wherever he went he saw others of
the woods folk, all hungry, all in a hurry and none interested in him.
That day he spent in a hollow log far in the pines. It was an
uncomfortable place, so he left it early on the following night and
restlessly resumed his trip through the dripping, scented woods, on and
on with scarcely a stop for rest. The long sleep had left him lonely, he
knew that somewhere were companions, and he would keep on going until he
found them.
Nearly all of the food of the last year had already been gathered by the
woods creatures and the new year's food had not begun to grow, but here
and there he picked up something to stave off hunger--a half awakened
insect or two, a dead shrew, scattered acorns and some grass bulbs. Here
and there, too, he found good dens and spent more than one day in
comfortably sleeping in them, only to start out again at dusk.
His seemed now almost a hopeless task, due to the success of trappers
and especially to Farmer Slown's relentless work against the wood
pussies; yet still he searched.
At length his circle brought him back to the Goose Creek country where
he knew the trails and felt a longing once more to sleep safely in his
home under the cabin. For ten nights he had been travelling, and now
disheartened, footsore and thin, he was back where he started, after
finding the world a lonely place. But here would at least be his mother,
or was she too gone now and he left, the last of the wood pussies on
Goose Creek?
Ahead loomed the cabin. Striped Coat, dragging himself gloomily through
the bushes scarcely looked at it until, near the stone pile, he caught
on a breath of wind an unfamiliar scent--very faint, very elusive but at
the same time unmistakably telling him that a strange wood pussy had
been there.
In an instant it reawakened his interest in life and made of him a
different looking creature. Again he was alert, quick footed, eager.
Again his wonderful fur fluffed up, until his body looked like a perfect
muff.
Cautiously, he entered the drain, following the elusive scent which led
under the cabin and showed that in his absence the other wood pussy had
actually slept in his cozy nest. Now the den was empty, he had come back
too late.
Striped Coat moved about, noting all the places where the other had
walked also. Little changes had been made here and there--a burrow
started, some earth moved away from the nest and the nest itself made
smaller as if to fit around a smaller body. Presently he came again to
the drain and started out, determined to go in search of this other,
where he did not know.
And then he noticed the scent more strongly, and coming out of the stone
pile found it stronger still, as if the other had been there only a
moment before. Searching this way and that he picked up the trail and
followed it into the woods. Had the other come back to the cabin and,
finding the rightful owner in possession tried to escape unobserved? But
how escape Striped Coat, whose nose was as keen as a knife blade was
sharp; Striped Coat, the fame of whose fur had travelled over a whole
country and who yet lived; Striped Coat who could travel a whole night
without growing tired; Striped Coat who was lonely!
And did the other really wish very much to escape? Was not she too
lonely? If not, why should she have gone so slowly into the woods as to
be scarcely out of sight of the cabin when Striped Coat came rushing
along her trail. Pretty little wood pussy! Was not she as thrilled as he
at this meeting and timidly anxious to make friends?
And yet she pretended with all her might that she did not care the least
bit about him and wanted to continue her lonely way, and only when
Striped Coat seemed on the point of turning back would she look around
and hesitate and lead him on again. And somehow it happened that instead
of going further into the big woods, they made a circle which brought
them back to the cabin. Side by side they neared the entrance, and just
as the sun lit up the sky in the East they vanished that way into the
stone pile, and Striped Coat had found a companion.
[Illustration: Side by side they neared the entrance]