they got it a good deal more than half done, and could hardly wait to
get at it next morning. They hurried out right after breakfast, and Mr.
'Possum had Mr. 'Coon and Mr. Crow sawing, and boring, and shaving with
Mr. Man's drawing-knife, making the crank, which was a sort of double
windlass that stood up in the car over the back axle, built so two
people could turn it; and there would be a strong strap that went down
through a hole in the bottom of the car and around the axle to make that
turn, too, which would drive the car. Then Mr. 'Possum showed them how
to make a seat for the front of the box, so he could sit on it and drive
and steer, because that was the hardest thing to do, while Mr. Crow and
Mr. 'Coon only had to be the motor and work the windlass. Then they got
the strap off of Mr. 'Coon's trunk, because it was a very strong one,
and put it on, and tightened it up, and Mr. 'Possum said as far as he
could see there was nothing more to be done with his car, now, but to
use it. Of course he might think of new things later, to attach to it,
but he didn't see how he could improve it at present, and that they'd
better take it out to the race-track and try it.
[Illustration: SO THEN MR. 'POSSUM GOT UP INTO THE SEAT TO STEER]
So then Mr. 'Possum got up into the seat to steer, and Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
Crow pushed, but it went pretty hard, until they put some grease on the
wheels and transmission; after that it went better, but squeaked so loud
that you could hear it all through the Big Deep Woods, and Mr. Rabbit
came kiting over, and Mr. Robin and Mr. Squirrel came skipping among the
trees, and Mr. Turtle came waddling up from the Wide Blue Water, to see
what new thing was going on over at the Hollow Tree. And when they saw
what the Hollow Tree people had made they could hardly speak for their
surprise. And when they found out how Mr. 'Possum had done all the
hardest part--the planning it and showing how--they said they had never
been so proud in their lives, just to be his friend, and they all helped
push it over to the race-track, and when they got there Mr. 'Possum
invited Mr. Rabbit to sit in the front seat beside him, because Mr.
Rabbit was an author and would want to write something about it; and Mr.
Robin and Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Turtle went down the track a piece to see
them dash by.
Then Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon took hold of the windlass, and Mr. 'Possum
told them not to start too suddenly or go too fast at first, as it might
injure the transmission, which was quite delicate. So Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
Crow put a little strength on the windlass, but it didn't turn. Then
they put some more on it, but it didn't turn. Then they put all they had
on it and it turned just a little bit, but very slow. Mr. 'Possum said
he didn't think it would be dangerous to go a little faster, and Mr.
Coon and Mr. Crow turned with every bit of strength they had, and worked
harder even than they had at sawing up the log, but still Mr. 'Possum
said he didn't believe they were going quite as fast as Mr. Man's car
had travelled, and Mr. Turtle called to them that perhaps if he and the
others pushed until they got it to going well, and the machinery warmed
up, it might run better.
Mr. 'Possum didn't much like to have his car pushed, but he said that
Mr. Man's car didn't always start well, either, and very likely had to
be pushed sometimes. So then Mr. Turtle and Mr. Squirrel got one on each
corner, and Mr. Robin went ahead to kick stones out of the road, and Mr.
'Possum said "Ready!" and everybody did his best, and the Deep Woods
automobile squeaked and squealed and started down the race-track pretty
fast, but not always keeping in the middle of it, because Mr. 'Possum
couldn't steer perfectly the first time, and went from one side of the
road to the other, and said it was because they didn't push evenly, and
he was as proud as could be of his great invention. Then Mr. Squirrel
and Mr. Turtle gave it one big push, and let go, and Mr. 'Coon and Mr.
Crow ground away at the windlass their level best, and the car went on
quite a ways before it stopped. It wouldn't have stopped then if Mr.
Coon and Mr. Crow hadn't given clean out and let go of the crank and
hung over the sides of the car and said it was all so exciting and they
were enjoying it so much that they were quite overcome.
[Illustration: GOING FASTER AND FASTER EVERY MINUTE]
Then Mr. Turtle said _he_ had an idea. He said down not far from his
house which stood by the Wide Blue Water there was a smooth road with a
good deal of a slant in it, and that if the car was over there and got
started down that slant it would very likely almost run itself and move
a good deal faster. So they all said yes, that was just the thing, and
everybody but Mr. 'Possum took hold and pushed, because Mr. 'Possum had
to steer; and by and by they got to the slanting road, which was, really
quite a hill, and Mr. Rabbit got in again by Mr. 'Possum, and Mr. 'Coon
and Mr. Crow took hold of the windlass, and sure enough, that time, the
car started well enough, and went without any trouble at all. Mr. Turtle
and the others had run a good ways down the road to see them pass, and
pretty soon they did pass, going faster and faster every minute, and
everybody cheered and waved, and Mr. 'Possum called back to Mr. 'Coon
and Mr. Crow that they could turn a little slower, so all could enjoy
the scenery.
But Mr. 'Coon and Mr. Crow _couldn't_ turn any slower, and when they
tried to hold back on the crank it just jerked them right around, and
when they let go entirely they went even faster, for that slanting road
had turned into a real hill, and they were going down it as speedy as
Mr. Man would go down, and perhaps speedier, and Mr. 'Possum wasn't
looking at the scenery any more, but was holding as fast as he could to
the steering-wheel, trying to keep in the road, and not doing it the
best in the world, though nobody was pushing now.
Then all at once Mr. 'Possum saw something that scared him--scared him
so he nearly fainted away, for just then they rounded a turn, going
lickety-split, and right in front of him Mr. 'Possum saw the Wide Blue
Water. They were headed straight for it, and Mr. 'Possum's thoughts
became confused. He could only realize two things clearly--one was that
he had forgotten all about putting brakes on his car, to stop with, and
the other was that he _must_ stop without delay, or they would all
disappear in the Wide Blue Water, and that he couldn't swim.
Mr. 'Possum wondered very rapidly what would stop them, and just then he
saw a little tree ahead, right at the side of the road, and he thought
_that_ would probably do it. He couldn't think of anything _but_ that,
and he steered for the tree as straight as he could, which wasn't so
very straight, for he hit it on the bias.
Still, that was enough to stop the car, but not the people in it. Mr.
'Possum himself flew into a thick blackberry-patch and lost
consciousness; Mr. Rabbit sailed clear over the blackberry-patch, and
landed in a boggy place, which was soft enough, but quite splashy; Mr.
'Coon went straight up into the little tree they had hit, and grabbed
some limbs and hung on, while Mr. Crow just opened his wings, though he
hadn't used them for ever so long, and went sailing over to a nice
grassy place by the road, and wasn't injured at all.
There wasn't really anything fatally damaged except the automobile. When
Mr. 'Possum came to, and Mr. Rabbit cleaned some of the bog off of
himself, and Mr. Crow came back, and Mr. 'Coon climbed down, and the
others caught up with them, they all looked around to see what they
could find of Mr. 'Possum's invention. Some of it was in the bushes
and some in the tree, and two of the wheels they couldn't find at all.
Mr. 'Coon said his trunk-strap was as good as ever, which was more than
Mr. Crow could say for his wood-box. Mr. 'Possum, who limped and seemed
suffering, said, when he looked at what they had gathered, that he felt
just about as his car looked--a good deal broken up and hardly worth
carrying home. Then he said that very likely Mr. Man had had the same
experience with his first car, and that next year's model would be
different in several ways.
[Illustration: MR. TURTLE TOOK MR. 'POSSUM ON HIS BACK, AND EVERYBODY
SAID IT WAS FINE]
Then Mr. Turtle took Mr. 'Possum on his back, and everybody said it was
very fine for the first time, and certainly most exciting, and the
Hollow Tree people invited all the others to the Hollow Tree to
celebrate Mr. 'Possum's great invention. They stayed quite late, and
when Mr. Rabbit started home he said he would certainly write a poem on
all the events.
MR. BEAR'S EARLY SPRING CALL
AN UNWELCOME VISITOR PAYS
A VISIT TO THE HOLLOW TREE
Once upon a time when it had been a hard winter in the Big Deep Woods,
and spring was late, and there was still very little in the way of fresh
food to be had, Mr. 'Possum came in quite excited, one evening, and
after bolting the down-stairs door put a heavy prop against it, though
he called up first to see if Mr. 'Coon and Mr. Crow were both in.
"_I'm_ in," Mr. 'Coon called back. "I hunted till I was tired and
couldn't find a thing worth bringing home, except some winter parsnips
that I dug out of Mr. Man's garden."
"_I'm_ in," Mr. Crow called back. "I found a beefsteak that Mr. Man had
hung out to freeze. I'll cook it with Mr. 'Coon's parsnips. Why, is
anything the matter?"
[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM CAME PUFFING UP THE STAIRS]
Mr. 'Possum came puffing up the stairs to the big room, and sat down
before the fire, and took off his shoes and warmed himself a little, and
lit his pipe, and said:
"Well, there _may_ be, if we don't keep that prop pretty firmly against
the down-stairs door. I met Mr. Robin while I was out, and he tells me
that a new Mr. Bear has moved over into the edge of the Big Deep Woods,
into that vacant cave down there by the lower drift. His name is
Savage--Aspetuck Savage--one of those Sinking Swamp Savages, and he's
hungry and pretty fierce. They've had a harder winter in the Swamp than
we have had up here, and when Aspetuck came out of his winter nap last
week and couldn't find anything, he started up this way. Mr. Man has
shut up all his pigs, and Mr. Robin thinks that Aspetuck is headed now
for the Hollow Tree. Somebody told him, Mr. Robin said, that we manage
to live well and generally come through the winter in pretty fair order,
though I can tell by the way my clothes hang on me that I've lost
several pounds since Mr. Man built that new wire-protected pen for his
chickens."
Mr. 'Coon said the news certainly was not very good, and that while his
condition was not so bad for such a hard season, he didn't propose to
let Mr. Aspetuck Savage use him in the place of pork, if he could help
it. Mr. Crow said he didn't feel so much afraid on his own account, as
Aspetuck would not be apt to have much taste for one of his family,
unless his appetite was extremely fierce, though, of course, it was
safer to take no chances. So then they all went down-stairs and put
still another prop against the door, and piled a number of things
behind it, too, to make it safe. Then they went up and Mr. Crow cooked
the nice steak and put some fried parsnips with it, and Mr. 'Possum said
if it wasn't for thinking of Aspetuck he could eat twice as much and get
his lost weight back; and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. Crow told him he had better
keep right on thinking of Aspetuck, so there would be enough to go
around. By and by they all sat before the fire and smoked, and got
sleepy, and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum went up to their rooms to bed, but
Mr. Crow said he would nap in his chair, so that if Mr. Savage Bear
should arrive early he would be up to receive him.
"Tell him I'm very sick," said Mr. 'Coon, "and too run down and feeble
to get up to make him welcome."
"Tell him I'm dead," said Mr. 'Possum. "Say I died last week, and you're
only waiting for the ground to thaw to bury me. Tell Aspetuck I starved
to death."
[Illustration: DID NOT REALLY INTEND TO GO SOUND ASLEEP]
Mr. Crow said he would tell as many things as he could think of, and
then he sat down by the fire, and did not really intend to go sound
asleep, but he did, and the fire went down, and Mr. Crow got pretty
cold, though he didn't know it until all of a sudden, just about
sunrise, there was a big pounding knock at the down-stairs door, and a
big, deep voice called out:
"Hello! Hello! Wake up! Here's a visitor to the Hollow Tree!"
Then Mr. Crow jumped straight up, and almost cracked, his joints were
so stiff and cold, and Mr. 'Coon heard it, and jumped straight up, too,
in his bed; and Mr. 'Possum heard it, and jumped straight up in _his_
bed, and Mr. 'Coon said, "'Sh!" and Mr. 'Possum said, "'Sh!" and Mr.
Crow stumbled over to the window and opened it and looked out, and said:
"Who's there?" Though he really didn't have to ask, because he knew, and
besides, he could see the biggest Mr. Bear he ever saw, for Aspetuck
Savage was seven feet tall, and of very heavy build.
"It's me," said Mr. Bear, "Mr. Aspetuck S. Bear, come to make a spring
morning call." You see, he left out his middle name, and only gave the
initial, because he knew his full name wasn't popular in the Deep Woods.
"Why, Mr. Bear, good morning!" said Mr. Crow. "How early you are! I
didn't know it was spring, and I didn't know it was morning. I'm sorry
not to invite you in, but we've had a hard time lately, and haven't
cleaned house yet, and I'd be ashamed to let you see how we look."
"Oh, never mind that," said Mr. Aspetuck Bear. "I don't care how things
look. I forget everything else in the spring feeling. I only want to
enjoy your society, especially Mr. 'Coon's. I've heard he's so fine and
fat and good-natured, in his old age."
When Mr. 'Coon heard that he fell back in bed and covered his head and
groaned, but not loud enough for Aspetuck to hear him.
And Mr. Crow said: "Ah, poor Mr. 'Coon! You have not heard the latest.
The hard winter has been a great strain on him and lately he has been
very poorly. He is quite frail and feeble, and begs to be excused."
"Is that so?" said Mr. Bear. "Why, I heard as I came along that Mr.
'Coon was out yesterday and was never looking better."
"All a mistake--all a mistake, Mr. Bear. Must have been his cousin from
Rocky Hollow. They look very much alike. I'm greatly worried about Mr.
Coon."
"Oh, well," said Mr. Savage Bear, "It doesn't matter much. Mr. 'Possum
will do just as well. So fine and fat, I am told--I was quite reminded
of one of Mr. Man's pigs I once enjoyed."
[Illustration: WHEN MR. 'POSSUM HEARD THAT HE FAINTED DEAD AWAY]
When Mr. 'Possum heard that he fainted dead away, but was not so far
gone that he couldn't hear what Mr. Crow said. Mr. Crow wiped his eyes
with a new handkerchief before he said anything.
"Oh, Mr. Bear," he called back, "it's so sad about Mr. 'Possum. We shall
never see his like again. He had such a grand figure, and such a good
appetite--and to think it should prove his worst enemy."
"Why--what's the matter--what's happened? You don't mean to say--"
"Yes, that's it--the appetite was too strong for him--it carried him
off. Mr. 'Coon and I did our best to supply it. That is what put Mr.
'Coon to bed and I am just a shadow of my old self. We worked to save
our dear Mr. 'Possum. We hunted nights and we hunted days, to keep him
in chicken-pie with dumplings and gravy, but that beautiful appetite of
his seemed to grow and grow until we couldn't keep up with it, this hard
year, and one day our noble friend said:
"'Don't try any more--the more I eat, the more I want--good-by.'"
Mr. Crow wiped his eyes again, while Mr. Bear grumbled to himself
something about a nice state of affairs; but pretty soon he seemed to
listen, for Mr. 'Possum was smacking his lips, thinking of those chicken
pies Mr. Crow had described, and Mr. Bear has very quick ears.
"Mr. Crow," he said, "do you think Mr. 'Possum is really as dead as he
might be?"
"Oh yes, Mr. Bear--at least twice as dead, from the looks of him" (for
Mr. 'Possum had suddenly fainted again). "We're just waiting for the
ground to thaw to have the funeral."
"Well, Mr. Crow, I think I'll just come up and take a look at the
remains, and visit _you_ a little, and maybe say a word to poor Mr.
'Coon."
When Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum heard that they climbed out of their beds
and got under them, for they didn't know what might happen next.
And they heard Mr. Crow say: "I'm awfully sorry, Mr. Bear, but the
down-stairs door is locked, and bolted, and barred, and propped, and all
our things piled against it, for winter; and I can't get it open until
Mr. 'Coon gets strong enough to help me."
"Oh, never mind that," said A. Savage Bear, "I can make a run or two
against it, and it will come down all right. I weigh seven hundred
pounds."
[Illustration: FLUNG HIMSELF AGAINST THE DOWN-STAIRS DOOR WITH A GREAT
BANG]
Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum had crept out to listen, but when they heard
that they dodged back under their beds again, and got in the darkest
corners, and began to groan, and just then Mr. Bear gave a run and flung
himself against the down-stairs door with a great bang, and both of them
howled, because they couldn't help it, they were so scared, and Mr. Crow
was worried, because he knew that about the second charge, or the third,
that door would be apt to give way, and then things in the Hollow Tree
would become very mixed, and even dangerous.
Mr. Crow didn't know what to do next. He saw Mr. Savage Bear back off a
good deal further than he had the first time, and come for the
down-stairs door as hard as he could tear, and when he struck it that
time, the whole Hollow Tree shook, and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum howled
so loud that Mr. Crow was sure Mr. Bear could hear them. They were all
in an awful fix, Mr. Crow thought, and was just going to look for a safe
place for himself when who should come skipping through the tree-tops
but Mr. Robin. Mr. Robin, though quite small, is not afraid of any Mr.
Bear, because he is good friends with everybody. He saw right away how
things were at the Hollow Tree--in fact, he had hurried over, thinking
there might be trouble there.
"Oh, Tucky," he called--Tucky being Mr. Aspetuck Savage Bear's pet
name--"I've brought you some good news--some of the very best kind of
news."
Mr. Bear was just that minute getting fixed for his third run. "What is
it?" he said, holding himself back.
"I found a big honey-tree, yesterday evening," Mr. Robin said. "The
biggest one I ever saw. I'll show you the way, if you care for honey."
Now Mr. Bear likes honey better than anything in the world, and when he
heard about the big tree Mr. Robin had found he licked out his tongue
and smacked his lips.
"Of _course_ I like honey," he said, "especially for dessert. I'll be
ready to go with you in a few minutes."
Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum, who had crept out to listen, fell over at
those words, and rolled back under the beds again.
"But you ought not to wait a minute, Tucky dear," Mr. Robin said. "It's
going to be warm when the sun gets out, and those bees will be lively
and pretty fierce."
Mr. Savage Bear scratched his head, and his tongue hung out, thinking of
the nice honey he might lose.
"It's beautiful honey, Tucky--clover honey, white and fresh."
A. Savage Bear's tongue hung out farther, and seemed fairly to drip.
"Where is that tree?" he said.
"In the edge of the Sinking Swamps," said Mr. Robin. "Not far from your
home. You can eat all you want and carry at least a bushel to your
folks. You ought to be starting, as I say, before it warms up. Besides,
a good many are out looking for honey-trees, just now."
Mr. Aspetuck Savage Bear just wheeled in his tracks and started south,
which was the direction of the Sinking Swamps.
[Illustration: "I HOPE MR. 'POSSUM'S FUNERAL WILL BE A SUCCESS"]
"You lead the way," he called to Mr. Robin, "and I'll be there by
breakfast-time. I'm mighty glad you happened along, for there looks to
be a poor chance for supplies around here. I've heard a lot about the
Big Deep Woods, but give me the Sinking Swamps, every time." Then he
looked back and called "Good-by, Mr. Crow. Best wishes to poor Mr.
'Coon, and I hope Mr. 'Possum's funeral will be a success."
And Mr. Crow called good-by, and motioned to Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum,
who had crept out again a little, and they slipped over to the window
and peeked out, and saw Mr. Aspetuck Savage Bear following Mr. Robin
back to the Sinking Swamps, to the honey-tree which Mr. Robin had really
found there, for Mr. Robin is a good bird, and never deceives anybody.
HOW MR. 'POSSUM'S TAIL BECAME BARE
MR. 'POSSUM RELATES SOME
VERY CURIOUS FAMILY HISTORY
Once upon a time, when it was a very pleasant afternoon, and the Hollow
Tree people were sitting along the edge of the world, hanging their feet
over and thinking, Mr. 'Possum went to sleep, and would have nodded
himself off into the Deep Nowhere if his strong, smooth tail hadn't been
quite firmly hooked around a little bush just behind him. All the others
noticed it, and said how lucky it was that a person of Mr. 'Possum's
habits had a nice, useful tail like that, which allowed him to sleep in
a position that for some was thought dangerous even to be awake in. Then
they wondered how it happened that Mr. 'Possum's family had been gifted
in that peculiar way, and by and by, when he woke up, and stretched, and
moved back in the shade, and leaned against a stump to smoke, they asked
him.
Mr. 'Possum said it was a very old story, because it had happened about
a hundred and fifty-six great-grandfathers back. He had heard it when he
was quite small, he said, and would have to think some, to get it
straight. So then he shut his eyes and smoked very slowly, and about the
time the Deep Woods people thought he was going to sleep again he began
telling.
"My family is a very ancient one," he said--"one of the oldest in the
Big Deep Woods, and there used to be only a few, even of us. That was
when Mr. Painter, or Panther, as we say now, was King of the Deep Woods,
and he was very fond of our family, which helped to make them scarce,
and was one reason why they got to slipping out at night for food, when
Mr. Painter was asleep.
"We were a pretty poor lot in those days, and whenever Mr. Painter took
after one of my ancestors that ancestor would make for a tree and run
out on a limb that was too small to bear up Mr. Painter, and just cling
there, because Mr. Painter would climb up, too, and shake the limb, and
very often he would shake an ancestor down, like a papaw, and the only
thing to do then was to make for another tree, or if the next tree was
too far, to play dead, because Mr. Painter did not much like anything he
hadn't killed himself. That is how we got the playing-dead habit, which
others sometimes try and call it 'playing 'possum,' because nobody can
do it so well as our family, and I judge some of our family didn't do it
perfectly the one and only chance they got to try it, or else Mr.
Painter was smarter, or hungrier, at those times.
"Well, my ancestors got so that they could hold to those limbs very
firmly with their hands and feet, and Mr. Painter had a hard time to
shake them down, though he didn't like to give up, and would go on
shaking all day, sometimes, until my folks would get tired out. They
used to try to hold and brace themselves with their tails, too, but we
had just big, ornamental tails in those days, covered with thick, bushy
hair, and of very little use, like Mr. Squirrel's and Mr. 'Coon's."
When Mr. 'Possum made that remark, Mr. 'Coon and Mr. Squirrel sat up
quite straight, and were just about to say something, but Mr. Rabbit
motioned to them and said "'Sh!" and Mr. 'Possum went right on, without
noticing that anything had happened.
"Those tails were no manner of account, but just in the way, and some of
my folks thought it would be almost better if they didn't have them at
all, but just a funny bunch of cotton, or something, like Mr. Rabbit's."
When Mr. 'Possum said that, Mr. Rabbit sat up quite straight, and was
just about to say something, but Mr. 'Coon and Mr. Squirrel motioned to
him and said "'Sh!" and Mr. 'Possum didn't notice anything had happened.
"You see," he went right on, "every little while it happened that one of
my ancestors would start up the tree not quite soon enough, and Mr.
Painter would just manage to get his claws in that bushy ornament, which
would settle it for that ancestor, right away. Of course, my family were
proud of those big, plumy things, people being generally proud of their
most useless property, something they would be better off, and live
longer, without. My folks thought those great tails were handsome,
especially our young people, who would walk about waving them and
practise carrying them in new positions, and about once a week would do
up the long, thick fur on them in little knots, tied with tough, twisted
grass, which would make the hair curl and look very showy indeed. Even
some of my ancestors who happened to get old acted in that foolish way,
and when the fur got thin would wear some kind of false stuff, though
any one but a blind person could always tell it.
[Illustration: ONE DAY A NEW AND VERY HANDSOME MR. 'POSSUM CAME INTO THE
NEIGHBORHOOD]
"Well, one day a new and very handsome Mr. 'Possum came into the
neighborhood, from some place nobody had ever heard of before, and none
of our folks had ever seen anything like him. He was stouter than our
breed and lighter colored, and had a very long, bushy tail that curved
in a peculiar way and stayed beautifully curled, without ever being put
up in grass at all. He said so, and my ancestors watched him, to prove
it.