The moment he plunged into the woods beyond the cornfield Dickie Deer
Mouse began to feel better. He knew that Fatty Coon would not leave that
place of plenty until he had filled himself almost to bursting with
tender young corn.
After Dickie had eaten a few seeds that he found under the trees, as
well as a plump bug that was hiding beneath a log, he actually told
himself that he was glad he had met Fatty Coon in the cornfield.
"Now that he has talked with me," Dickie reasoned, "he won't trouble
himself to come to my house when old Mr. Crow tells him where I live."
That thought was a great comfort to him. Ever since he had waked up and
heard Mr. Crow and Jasper Jay talking outside his house he had felt most
uneasy. If Mr. Crow was going to guide Fatty Coon to his new home,
Dickie hardly thought it safe to stay there any longer.
But now he was sure that that danger was past. Fatty had given him his
warning. And Dickie had no doubt that so long as he kept away from the
corn his greedy neighbor would never bother to disturb him.
So instead of quitting his snug home--as he had feared he must--he went
back to it to finish his nap.
Now, Dickie Deer Mouse had lost so much sleep--through being disturbed
by Mr. Crow and Jasper Jay--that when night came he kept right on
sleeping. Yes! Instead of joining his friends in a mad scamper through
the woods in the moonlight, Dickie Deer Mouse slept on and on and on,
until--something shook the small tree where he lived and made it sway as
if an earthquake had come.
Dickie Deer Mouse roused himself with a start. His sharp ears caught a
scratching sound. And sticking his head through his doorway, he looked
out.
One quick glance told him what was happening. That pudgy rascal, Fatty
Coon, was climbing the tree! And every moment brought him nearer and
nearer to Dickie's house.
Dickie's big, black eyes bulged more than ever as he whisked out of his
house and scampered to the top of the tree, where the branches were so
small that Fatty Coon could never follow him.
"Stop!" Fatty Coon cried. "Mr. Crow told me where I could find you. And
I want to have a word with you."
"What sort of word?" Dickie Deer Mouse inquired.
"It's about the cornfield," Fatty Coon explained.
"I haven't been near that place since you last saw me there," Dickie
declared.
"I know you haven't," Fatty told him. "That's just why I want to have a
word with you. I'm in a peck of trouble. And I want you to help me."
Dickie Deer Mouse could scarcely believe it. But being a very polite
young gentleman, he told Fatty that he would be glad to do anything in
his power to assist him--or at least, anything except to come down out
of the top of the tree.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
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