Oh, he hurried away and to market he went,
And his money for spices and poultry he spent,
While behind in the market were many, he knew,
Who would talk of the marvellous things he would do;
So with joy in his heart and with twinkling eye
He returned to his home his new project to try,
Then to stir and to bake he began right away,
And his dish was complete at the end of the day.
Aye, the marvel was done--'twas a rich golden hue,
And its smell was delicious--the old raven knew
That he never had made such a pastry before,
And a look of deep trouble his countenance wore;
"For," thought he, "I am certain the' possum and 'coon
That I talked with to-day will be coming here soon,
And expect me to ask them to dine, when, you see,
There is just a good feast in this dainty for me."
Now, behold, he'd scarce uttered his thoughts when he heard
At the casement a tapping--this greedy old bird--
And the latch was uplifted, and gayly strode in
Both the 'coon and the 'possum with faces agrin.
They were barbered and brushed and arrayed in their best,
In the holiday fashion their figures were dressed,
While a look in each face, to the raven at least,
Said, "We've come here to-night, sir, prepared for a feast."
And the raven he smiled as he said, "Howdy-do?"
For he'd thought of a plan to get rid of the two;
And quoth he, "My dear friends, I am sorry to say
That the wonderful pastry I mentioned to-day
When it came to be baked was a failure complete,
Disappointing to taste and disturbing to eat.
I am sorry, dear friends, for I thought 'twould be fine;
I am sorry I cannot invite you to dine."
And the 'coon and the 'possum were both sorry, too,
And suspicious, somewhat, for the raven they knew.
They declared 'twas too bad all that pudding to waste,
And they begged him to give them at least just a taste,
But he firmly refused and at last they departed,
While the greedy old crow for the dining-room started,
And the pie so delicious he piled on his plate,
And he ate, and he ate, and he ate, and he ate!
[Illustration: THE GREEDY OLD RAVEN, BUT GREEDY NO MORE]
Well, next morn when the 'possum and 'coon passed along
They could see at the raven's that something was wrong,
For no blue curling smoke from the chimney-top came;
So they opened his door and they called out his name,
And they entered inside, and behold! on the floor
Was the greedy old raven, but greedy no more:
For his heart it was still--not a flutter was there--
And his toes were turned up and the table was bare;
Now his epitaph tells to the whole country-side
How he ate, and he ate, and he ate till he died.
When Mr. Crow finished, Mr. Rabbit said it was certainly an interesting
poem, and if he just had a chance now to eat till he died he'd take it,
and Mr. 'Coon said he'd give anything to know how that pie had tasted,
and he didn't see how any _one_ pie could be big enough to kill anybody
that felt as hungry as _he_ did now. And Mr. 'Possum didn't say much of
anything, but only seemed drowsy and peaceful-like, which was curious
for _him_ as things were.
Well, all that day, and the next day, and the next, there wasn't
anything to eat, and they sat as close as they could around the little
fire and wished they'd saved some of the big logs and some of the food,
too, that they had used up so fast when they thought the big snow would
go away. And the bark of Old Hungry-Wolf got louder and louder, and he
began to gnaw, too, and they all heard it, day and night--all except Mr.
'Possum, who said he didn't know why, but that for some reason he
couldn't hear a sound like that at all, which was _very_ strange,
indeed.
But there was something else about Mr. 'Possum that was strange. He
didn't get any thinner. All the others began to show the change right
away, but Mr. 'Possum still looked the same, and still kept cheerful,
and stepped around as lively as ever, and that was _very strange_.
By-and-by, when Mr. 'Possum had gone down-stairs for some barrel staves
to burn, for the wood was all gone, Mr. Rabbit spoke of it, and said he
couldn't understand it; and then Mr. 'Coon, who had been thinking about
it too, said he wondered why it sometimes took Mr. 'Possum so long to
get a little bit of wood. Then they all remembered how Mr. Possum had
stayed so long down-stairs whenever he went, even before Old Hungry-Wolf
came to the Hollow Tree, and they couldn't understand it _at all_.
And just then Mr. 'Possum came up with two little barrel staves which he
had been a long time getting, and they all turned and looked at him very
closely, which was a thing they had never done until that time. And
before Mr. 'Possum noticed it, they saw him chew--a kind of last,
finishing chew--and then give a little swallow--a sort of last,
finishing swallow--and just then he noticed them watching him, and he
stopped right in his tracks and dropped the two little barrel staves and
looked very scared and guilty, which was strange, when he had always
been so willing about the wood.
[Illustration: LOOKED STRAIGHT AT MR. 'POSSUM AND SAID, "WHAT WAS THAT
YOU WERE CHEWING JUST NOW?"]
Then they all got up out of their chairs and looked straight at Mr.
'Possum, and said:
"What was that you were chewing just now?"
And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
Then they all said:
"What was that you were swallowing just now?"
And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
Then they all said:
"Why do you always stay so long when you go for wood?"
And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
Then they all said:
"Why is it that you don't get thin, like the rest of us?"
And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
Then they all said:
"Why is it you never hear the bark of Old Hungry-Wolf?"
And Mr. 'Possum said, very weakly:
"I did think I heard it a little while ago."
Then they all said:
"And was that why you went down after wood?"
And once more Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.
Then they all said:
"What have you got _down there_ to eat? And _where_ do you keep it?"
Then Mr. 'Possum seemed to think of something, and picked up the two
little barrel staves and brought them over to the fire and put them on,
and looked very friendly, and sat down and lit his pipe and smoked a
minute, and said that climbing the stairs had overcome him a little, and
that he wasn't feeling very well, but if they'd let him breathe a
minute he'd tell them all about it, and how he had been preparing a nice
surprise for them, for just such a time as this; but when he saw they
had found out something, it all came on him so sudden that, what with
climbing the stairs and all, he couldn't quite gather himself, but that
he was all right now, and the surprise was ready.
"Of course you know," Mr. 'Possum said, "that I have travelled a good
deal, and have seen a good many kinds of things happen, and know about
what to expect. And when I saw how fast we were using up the food, and
how deep the snow was, I knew we might expect a famine that even Mr.
Crow's johnny-cake and gravy wouldn't last through; and Mr. Crow
mentioned something of the kind once himself, though he seemed to forget
it right away again, for he went on giving us just as much as ever. But
I didn't forget about it, and right away I began laying aside in a quiet
place some of the things that would keep pretty well, and that we would
be glad to have when Old Hungry-Wolf should really come along and we had
learned to live on lighter meals and could make things last."
Mr. 'Possum was going right on, but Mr. 'Coon interrupted him, and said
that Mr. 'Possum could call it living on lighter meals if he wanted to
but that he hadn't eaten any meal at all for three days, and that if Mr.
'Possum had put away anything for a hungry time he wished he'd get it
out right now, without any more explaining, for it was food that he
wanted and not explanations, and all the others said so too.
Then Mr. 'Possum said he was just coming to that, but he only wished to
say a few words about it because they had seemed to think that he was
doing something that he shouldn't, when he was really trying to save
them from Old Hungry-Wolf, and he said he had kept his surprise as long
as he could, so it would last longer, and that he had been pretending
not to hear Old Hungry's bark just to keep their spirits up, and he
supposed one of the reasons why he hadn't got any thinner was because he
hadn't been so worried, and had kept happy in the nice surprise he had
all the time, just saving it for when they would begin to need it most.
As to what he had been chewing and swallowing when he came up-stairs,
Mr. 'Possum said that he had been taking just the least little taste of
some of the things to see if they were keeping well--some nice cooked
chickens, for instance, from a lot that Mr. Crow had on hand and didn't
remember about, and a young turkey or two, and a few ducks, and a bushel
or so of apples, and a half a barrel of doughnuts, and--
But Mr. 'Possum didn't get any further, for all the Deep Woods People
made a wild scramble for the stairs, with Mr. 'Possum after them, and
when they got down in the store-room he took them behind one of the big
roots of the Hollow Tree, and there was a passageway that none of them
had ever suspected, and Mr. 'Possum lit a candle and led them through it
and out into a sort of cave, and there, sure enough, were all the things
he had told them about and some mince-pies besides. And there was even
some wood, for Mr. 'Possum had worked hard to lay away a supply of
things for a long snowed-in time.
Then all the Hollow Tree People sat right down there and had some of the
things, and by-and-by they carried some more up-stairs, and some wood,
too, and built up a fine big fire, and lit their pipes and smoked, and
forgot everything unpleasant in the world. And they all said how smart
and good Mr. 'Possum was to save all that food for the very time when
they would need it most, when all the rest of them had been just eating
it up as fast as possible and would have been now without a thing in the
world except for Mr. 'Possum.
Then Mr. 'Possum asked them if they could hear Old Hungry-Wolf any more,
and they listened but they couldn't hear a sound, and then they went up
into Mr. Crow's room, and into Mr. Coon's room, and into Mr. 'Possum's
room, and they couldn't see a thing of him anywhere, though it was just
the time of day to see him, for it was late in the evening--the time
Old Hungry-Wolf is most likely to look in the window.
And that night it turned warm, and the big snow began to thaw; and it
thawed, and it thawed, and all the brooks and rivers came up, and even
the Wide Blue Water rose so that the Deep Woods Company had to stay a
little longer in the Hollow Tree, even when all the snow was nearly
gone. Mr. Rabbit was pretty anxious to get home, and started out one
afternoon with Mr. Turtle along, because Mr. Turtle is a good swimmer.
But there was too much water to cross and they came back again just at
sunset, and Mr. Crow let them in,[3] so they had to wait several days
longer. But Mr. 'Possum's food lasted, and by the time it was gone they
could get plenty more; and when they all went away and left the three
Hollow Tree People together again, they were very happy because they had
had such a good time; and the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow
were as good friends as ever, though the gray feathers on the top of Mr.
Crow's head never did turn quite black again, and some of the Deep Woods
People call him Silver-Top to this day.
The Little Lady looks anxiously at the Story Teller.
"Did Old Hungry-Wolf ever get inside of the Hollow Tree?" she asks.
"No, he never did get inside; they only saw him through the window, and
heard him bark."
"And why couldn't Mr. 'Possum ever hear him sometimes?"
"Well, you see, Old Hungry isn't a real wolf, but only a shadow
wolf--the shadow of famine. He only looks in when people dread famine,
and he only barks and gnaws when they feel it. A famine, you know, is
when one is very hungry and there is nothing to eat. I don't think Mr.
'Possum was very hungry, and he had all those nice things laid away, so
he would not care much about that old shadow wolf, which is only another
name for hunger."
The Little Lady clings very close to the Story Teller.
"Will we ever see Old Hungry-Wolf and hear his bark?"
The Story Teller sits up quite straight, and gathers the Little Lady
tight.
"Good gracious, no!" he says. "He moved out of our part of the country
before you were born, and we'll take good care that he doesn't come back
any more."
"I'm glad," says the Little Lady. "You can sing now--you know--the
'Hollow Tree Song.'"
FOOTNOTES:
[3] See picture on cover.
AN EARLY SPRING CALL ON MR. BEAR
AN EARLY SPRING CALL ON ON MR. BEAR
MR. 'POSSUM'S CURIOUS DREAM AND WHAT CAME OF IT
"What did they do then?" asks the Little Lady. "What did the Deep Woods
People all do after they got through being snowed in?"
"Well, let's see. It got to be spring then pretty soon--early spring--of
course, and Mr. Jack Rabbit went to writing poetry and making garden;
Mr. Robin went to meet Mrs. Robin, who had been spending the winter down
South; Mr. Squirrel, who is quite young, went to call on a very nice
young Miss Squirrel over toward the Big West Hills; Mr. Dog had to help
Mr. Man a good deal with the spring work; Mr. Turtle got out all his
fishing-things and looked them over, and the Hollow Tree People had a
general straightening up after company. They had a big house-cleaning,
of course, with most of their things out on the line, and Mr. 'Possum
said that he'd just about as soon be snowed-in for good as to have to
beat carpets and carry furniture up and down stairs all the rest of his
life."
But they got through at last, and everything was nice when they were
settled, only there wasn't a great deal to be had to eat, because it had
been such a long, cold winter that things were pretty scarce and hard to
get.
One morning Mr. 'Possum said he had had a dream the night before, and he
wished it would come true. He said he had dreamed that they were all
invited by Mr. Bear to help him eat the spring breakfast which he takes
after his long winter nap, and that Mr. Bear had about the best
breakfast he ever sat down to. He said he had eaten it clear through,
from turkey to mince-pie, only he didn't get the mince-pie because Mr.
Bear had asked him if he'd have it hot or cold, and just as he made up
his mind to have some of both he woke up and didn't get either.
Then Mr. 'Coon said he wished he could have a dream like that; that he'd
take whatever came along and try to sleep through it, and Mr. Crow
thought a little while and said that sometimes dreams came true,
especially if you helped them a little. He said he hadn't heard anything
of Mr. Bear this spring, and it was quite likely he had been taking a
longer nap than usual. It might be a good plan, he thought, to drop over
that way and just look in in passing, because if Mr. Bear should be
sitting down to breakfast he would be pretty apt to ask them to sit up
and have a bite while they told him the winter news.
Then Mr. 'Possum said that he didn't believe anybody in the world but
Mr. Crow would have thought of that, and that hereafter he was going to
tell him every dream he had. They ought to start right away, he said,
because if they should get there just as Mr. Bear was clearing off the
table it would be a good deal worse than not getting the mince-pie in
his dream.
So they hurried up and put on their best clothes and started for Mr.
Bear's place, which is over toward the Edge of the World, only farther
down, in a fine big cave which is fixed up as nice as a house and nicer.
But when they got pretty close to it they didn't go so fast and
straight, but just sauntered along as if they were only out for a little
walk and happened to go in that direction, for they thought Mr. Bear
might be awake and standing in his door.
They met Mr. Rabbit about that time and invited him to go along, but Mr.
Rabbit said his friendship with Mr. Bear was a rather distant one, and
that he mostly talked to him from across the river or from a hill that
had a good clear running space on the other slope. He said Mr. Bear's
taste was good, for he was fond of his family, but that the fondness had
been all on Mr. Bear's side.
[Illustration: THEY WENT ALONG, SAYING WHAT A NICE MAN THEY THOUGHT MR.
BEAR WAS]
So the Hollow Tree People went along, saying what a nice man they
thought Mr. Bear was, and saying it quite loud, and looking every which
way, because Mr. Bear might be out for a walk too.
But they didn't see him anywhere, and by-and-by they got right to the
door of his cave and knocked a little, and nobody came. Then they
listened, but couldn't hear anything at first, until Mr. 'Coon, who has
very sharp ears, said that he was sure he heard Mr. Bear breathing and
that he must be still asleep. Then the others thought they heard it,
too, and pretty soon they were sure they heard it, and Mr. 'Possum said
it was too bad to let Mr. Bear oversleep himself this fine weather, and
that they ought to go in and let him know how late it was.
[Illustration: SLEEP RIGHT WHERE HE WAS]
So then they pushed open the door and went tiptoeing in to where Mr.
Bear was. They thought, of course, he would be in bed, but he wasn't. He
was sitting up in a big arm-chair in his dressing-gown, with his feet up
on a low stool, before a fire that had gone out some time in December,
with a little table by him that had a candle on it which had burned down
about the time the fire went out. His pipe had gone out too, and they
knew that Mr. Bear had been smoking, and must have been very tired and
gone to sleep right where he was, and hadn't moved all winter long.
It wasn't very cheerful in there, so Mr. 'Possum said maybe they'd
better stir up a little fire to take the chill off before they woke
Mr. Bear, and Mr. 'Coon found a fresh candle and lighted it, and Mr.
Crow put the room to rights a little, and wound up the clock, and set
it, and started it going. Then when the fire got nice and bright they
stood around and looked at Mr. Bear, and each one said it was a good
time now to wake him up, but nobody just wanted to do it, because Mr.
Bear isn't always good-natured, and nobody could tell what might happen
if he should wake up cross and hungry, and he'd be likely to do that if
his nap was broken too suddenly. Mr. Possum said that Mr. Crow was the
one to do it, as he had first thought of this trip, and Mr. Crow said
that it was Mr. 'Possum's place, because it had been in his dream. Then
they both said that as Mr. 'Coon hadn't done anything at all so far, he
might do that.
Mr. 'Coon said that he'd do it quick enough, only he'd been listening to
the way Mr. Bear breathed, and he was pretty sure he wouldn't be ready
to wake up for a week yet, and it would be too bad to wake him now when
he might not have been resting well during the first month or so of his
nap and was making it up now. He said they could look around a little
and see if Mr. Bear's things were keeping well, and perhaps brush up his
pantry so it would be nice and clean when he did wake.
Then Mr. Crow said he'd always wanted to see Mr. Bear's pantry, for he'd
heard it was such a good place to keep things, and perhaps he could get
some ideas for the Hollow Tree; and Mr. 'Possum said that Mr. Bear had
the name of having a bigger pantry and more things in it than all the
rest of the Deep Woods People put together.
So they left Mr. Bear all nice and comfortable, sleeping there by the
fire, and lit another candle and went over to his pantry, which was at
the other side of the room, and opened the door and looked in.
Well, they couldn't say a word at first, but only just looked at one
another and at all the things they saw in that pantry. First, on the top
shelf there was a row of pies, clear around. Then on the next shelf
there was a row of cakes--first a fruit-cake, then a jelly-cake, then
another fruit-cake and then another jelly-cake, and the cakes went all
the way around, too, and some of them had frosting on them, and you
could see the raisins in the fruit-cake and pieces of citron. Then on
the next shelf there was a row of nice cooked partridges, all the way
around, close together. And on the shelf below was a row of meat-pies
made of chicken and turkey and young lamb, and on the shelf below that
there was a row of nice canned berries, and on the floor, all the way
around, there were jars of honey--nice comb honey that Mr. Bear had
gathered in November from bee-trees.
Mr. Crow spoke first.
"Well, I never," he said, "never in all my life, saw anything like it!"
And Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum both said:
"He can't do it--a breakfast like that is too much for _any_ bear!"
Then Mr. Crow said:
"He oughtn't to be _allowed_ to do it. Mr. Bear is too nice a man to
lose."
And Mr. 'Possum said:
"He _mustn't_ be allowed to do it--we'll help him."
"Where do you suppose he begins? said Mr. 'Coon.
"At the top, very likely," said Mr. Crow. "He's got it arranged in
courses."
"I don't care where he begins," said Mr. 'Possum; "I'm going to begin
somewhere, now, and I think I will begin on a meat-pie."
And Mr. Crow said he thought he'd begin on a nice partridge, and Mr.
'Coon said he believed he'd try a mince-pie or two first, as a kind of a
lining, and then fill in with the solid things afterward.
So then Mr. 'Possum took down his meat-pie, and said he hoped this
wasn't a dream, and Mr. Crow took down a nice brown partridge, and Mr.
'Coon stood up on a chair and slipped a mince-pie out of a pan on the
top shelf, and everything would have been all right, only he lost his
balance a little and let the pie fall. It made quite a smack when it
struck the floor, and Mr. 'Possum jumped and let his pie fall, too, and
that made a good deal more of a noise, because it was large and in a tin
pan.
Then Mr. Crow blew out the light quick, and they all stood perfectly
still and listened, for it seemed to them a noise like that would wake
the dead, much more Mr. Bear, and they thought he would be right up and
in there after them.
But Mr. Bear was too sound asleep for that. They heard him give a little
cough and a kind of a grunt mixed with a sleepy word or two, and when
they peeked out through the door, which was open just a little ways,
they saw him moving about in his chair, trying first one side and then
the other, as if he wanted to settle down and go to sleep again, which
he didn't do, but kept right on grunting and sniffing and mumbling and
trying new positions.
Then, of course, the Hollow Tree People were scared, for they knew
pretty well he was going to wake up. There wasn't any way to get out of
Mr. Bear's pantry except by the door, and you had to go right by Mr.
Bear's chair to get out of the cave. So they just stood there, holding
their breath and trembling, and Mr. 'Possum wished now it _was_ a dream,
and that he could wake up right away before the nightmare began.
Well, Mr. Bear he turned this way and that way, and once or twice seemed
about to settle down and sleep again; but just as they thought he really
had done it, he sat up pretty straight and looked all around.
Then the Hollow Tree People thought their time had come, and they wanted
to make a jump, and run for the door, only they were afraid to try it.
Mr. Bear yawned a long yawn, and stretched himself, and rubbed his eyes
open, and looked over at the fire and down at the candle on the table
and up at the clock on the mantel. The 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old
Black Crow thought, of course, he'd know somebody had been there by all
those things being set going, and they expected him to roar out
something terrible and start for the pantry first thing.
But Mr. Bear didn't seem to understand it at all, or to suppose that
anything was wrong, and from what he mumbled to himself they saw right
away that he thought he'd been asleep only a little while instead of all
winter.
"Humph!" they heard him growl, "I must have gone to sleep, and was
dreaming it's time to wake up. I didn't sleep long, though, by the way
the fire and the candle look, besides it's only a quarter of ten, and I
remember winding the clock at half after eight. Funny I feel so hungry,
after eating a big supper only two hours ago. Must be the reason I
dreamed it was spring. Humph! guess I'll just eat a piece of pie and go
to bed."
So Mr. Bear got up and held on to his chair to steady himself, and
yawned some more and rubbed his eyes, for he was only about half awake
yet, and pretty soon he picked up his candle and started for the pantry.