HOW THE 'COON AND 'POSSUM AND THE OLD BLACK CROW MOVED AND SET UP
HOUSEKEEPING
WELL, the Widow Crow set a very good table, and everything in her
boarding-house went along quite well for a while, and Mr. 'Possum and
Mr. 'Coon both said what a good thing it was to have a home, and Mr.
Crow said so too, though he didn't look as if he enjoyed it as much as
he said, for his mother-in-law kept him so busy cutting and carrying
wood and helping her with the cooking that he never had any time for
himself at all.
Even when Mr. Rabbit and some of his friends had the great fall handicap
race he had to stay at home and peel potatoes, and not see it, besides
being scolded all the time for wanting to go to such a thing as a rabbit
race anyway. And Mr. Crow was sad because it reminded him of his
married life, which he was trying to forget--Mrs. Crow having been the
image of his mother-in-law and exactly like her about races and peeling
potatoes and such things.
And by-and-by, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon didn't like it so much, either.
Widow Crow got so she scolded them, too, about their habits, especially
about being out nights and lying in bed next morning, and she wouldn't
give them any breakfast unless they got up in time.
At last she even asked them to take care of their own rooms and to do
other work, the same as Mr. Crow did; and she didn't cook as good
things, nor as many of them, as she did when they first came. Then one
day when they complained a little--not very much, for they were afraid
of the Widow Crow, but a little--she told them that if they didn't like
what she gave them they could find a place they liked better, and that
she was tired of their ways anyhow.
[Illustration: HAD TO STAY AT HOME AND PEEL POTATOES]
So then Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum all got together and
talked it over. And Mr. Crow said _they_ might be pretty tired of it,
but that they couldn't in a hundred years, thinking night and day, think
how tired of it _he_ was. He said if they would just say the word he
would take the things that belonged to him out of that house, and the
three of them would find some good place and all live together, and
never have anything more to do with mothers-in-law or their families. He
said he knew how to cook as well as she did, and really liked to cook
when he was in a pleasant place and wasn't henpecked to death.
And he said if they moved his things they had better do it at night
while his mother-in-law was asleep, so as not to disturb her.
Well, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon both spoke right up and said _they'd_ go
in a minute, and that they'd hunt up the place to live that very day,
though it wasn't the best time of year to move. And Mr. Crow said:
"I know where there's a big Hollow Tree that would be _just_ the place.
It's the biggest tree in the Big Deep Woods. It has three big hollow
branches that would do for rooms, and with a little work it could be
made into the finest place anywhere. The Old Wise Man of the Woods once
lived there and fixed it all up with nice stairs, and a fireplace, and
windows, and doors with good latches on them, and it's still just as he
left it. All it needs are a few repairs, and we could move right in. I
found it once as I was flying over, and I could tell _you_, so you could
find it. It's in a thick swampy place, and you would never guess it was
there if you didn't know it. Mr. Dog knows about it, but he never could
get in if we kept the door latched, and it's not so far away from Mr.
Man's that we could not borrow, when we ran out of little things we
needed."
Well, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon took the directions from Mr. Crow, and
went right off to look at the Hollow Tree that very day, and decided
they'd take it, and pitched in to clean it up and get it ready to live
in. And next day they came with a hammer and some nails and worked all
day again, and Mr. Rabbit heard the noise and came over and looked
through the place and said how nice it was; and they were so tired at
night that they never thought of going out, and were up early for
breakfast.
Widow Crow was so surprised she forgot what she had always scolded them
for before, and scolded them this time for getting up so early that they
had to stand around and wait for breakfast to be put on the table. But
they didn't seem to mind the scolding at all, and Mr. Crow looked
happier than he had looked for months, and skipped around and helped set
the table, and brought in a big wood-box full of wood, and when Widow
Crow scolded him for getting chips on the floor he laughed. Then she
boxed his ears and told him he ought to remember the poor Missing One at
such a time, and Mr. Crow said he did, and could almost imagine she was
there now.
Well, Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum got the Hollow Tree all ready, that day,
and that night they moved.
The Widow Crow was pretty fat, and liked to go to bed early, and sleep
sound, and leave Mr. Crow to do the evening dishes; and that evening Mr.
'Coon and Mr. 'Possum pitched in and helped him, and they got through
in a jiffy and began to move.
Mr. Crow said he knew his own things, and that he wouldn't take any that
belonged to the Missing One, because they had mostly come from her
mother; and, besides, they would be a sad reminder, and didn't seem to
go with the kind of a place they had planned to have. He said if they
didn't have enough things they could borrow a few from Mr. Man when Mr.
Man went away and left his windows open, and that they wouldn't need
much to begin with.
So then they got Mr. Crow's cook-stove out of the back store-room, and a
table that was his, and some chairs from different parts of the house,
and a few dishes which had come to him from his side of the family, and
they tiptoed around and listened now and then at Widow Crow's door to be
sure she was asleep.
They knew she _was_ by the sound; but still they were very quiet until
Mr. 'Possum started to bring a rocking-chair of Mr. Crow's down-stairs
and somehow got his legs through the rounds and fell and rolled clear to
the bottom, expressing his feelings as he came down.
[Illustration: LISTENED NOW AND THEN AT WIDOW CROW'S DOOR TO BE SURE SHE
WAS ASLEEP]
That woke up Widow Crow with a jump, and she sat up in bed and called
"Thieves!" and "Help!" and Mr. Crow ran to her door and said that it
wasn't anything, only those scamps Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon had been
out late again. He said they had brought home one of Mr. Man's
beehives and had dropped it because the bees woke up just as they were
climbing the stairs.
Then Mrs. Crow called out quick, and said for him not to dare to open
that door and let those pesky bees into her room, and that she hoped
they'd sting that 'Possum and 'Coon until they wouldn't be able to tell
themselves apart. She said she bet she'd get that pair out of her house
if she lived through the night. Then she rolled over and went to sleep
again, and Mr. 'Possum got up and limped a little, but wasn't much
damaged, and they got all the things outside and loaded up, and set out
for the Hollow Tree.
[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM SAID HE'D JUST GET ON AND HOLD THE THINGS]
It was moonlight and Mr. Crow led the way, and the minute they were far
enough off to be sure they wouldn't wake up Widow Crow they sang the
chorus of a song that Mr. Rabbit had made for them the day before when
he called at the Hollow Tree, and they had told him what they were going
to do. That was the "Hollow Tree Song," which, of course, everybody in
the Big Deep Woods knows now, but it had never been sung there before,
and when they joined in the chorus,
Then here's to the 'Possum and the Old Black Crow
And the 'Coon with a one, two, three!
And here's to the hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow--
Then here's to the Hollow Tree,
Mr. Owl, who was watching them from a limb overhead, thought he had
never heard anything quite so fine.
Well, they couldn't get along very fast, for the things got so heavy and
they had to rest so often that it began to look as if they wouldn't get
to the Hollow Tree by morning. But just as they got out into a little
open place that was about half-way there they saw somebody coming, and
who do you suppose it was?
"I know," says the Little Lady, "it was the Old Wise Man of the Woods,
to tell them they couldn't have his house."
No, he didn't live there any more--he had gone away for good. No, it
wasn't the Old Wise Man; it was Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Turtle, coming to
help them move. Mr. Rabbit had gone all the way to the Wide Blue Water
after Mr. Turtle because he is so strong, and they would have been there
a good deal sooner, only Mr. Turtle didn't get home till late, and
travels slow.
Well, it wasn't so hard to move after that. They just set the cook-stove
on Mr. Turtle's back and piled on as much as would stay on, and he kept
telling them to put on more, until pretty soon Mr. 'Possum said that he
would just get on and hold the things from slipping off, which he did,
and sat on the stove and rode and swung his feet and held the other
things, while Mr. Crow and the rest walked and carried what was left.
[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM AND MR. 'COON TRIED TO PUT UP THE STOVE]
And when they got to the Hollow Tree it was just about sun-up, and Mr.
'Possum said if they didn't have breakfast pretty soon he would starve
to death with being up all night and working so hard holding on those
things.
So then Mr. Crow told him that he and Mr. 'Coon could set up the stove,
and that he would unpack the food and stir up something as quick as he
could if the others would bring a little wood and some water from the
spring, and place the things around inside; for he saw a cloud coming,
he said, and it might rain. And Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon tried to put
up the stove in a hurry, and the pieces of pipe didn't fit very well,
and they came as near having a quarrel over it as they ever did over
anything, for even the best friends can't always put up stovepipe
together without thinking and sometimes saying unpleasant things about
each other, especially when they are hungry and not very warm and the
house is all upset. Mr. 'Coon said he only wished he had another hand
and he would do that job alone, and Mr. 'Possum told him that if he'd
been provided with a handy and useful tail he'd _have_ the same as
another hand, and could work more and not wish so much.
Then Mr. Rabbit came to help them, and just as they got it about up it
all came down again, and Mr. Crow said that if they'd all go away he'd
set up the stove himself; which he did in about a minute, and had a
fire in it and the coffee on in no time.
Then the others rushed around and got the things straightened out, and a
fire in the fireplace, and they said how nice their rooms were, and when
Mr. Crow called they all came hurrying down, and in about another minute
the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow, with Mr. Rabbit and Mr.
Turtle, all sat down to the first meal in the Hollow Tree.
It was then that Jack Rabbit read all of the "Hollow Tree Song" he had
made for them, and they all sang it together; and then the storm that
Mr. Crow had seen coming did come, and they shut all the doors and
windows tight, and sat before the fire and smoked and went to sleep,
because they were so tired with being up all night.
And that was the first day in the Hollow Tree, and how the 'Possum and
'Coon and Old Black Crow came to live there, and they live there
still.