HOW THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE HAVE A MOST UNWELCOME VISITOR, AND WHAT
BECOMES OF HIM
"WHAT made Mr. 'Possum so anxious to get the wood, and what made him
stay down-stairs so long when he went after it?" asks the Little Lady
next evening, when the Story Teller is lighting his pipe and getting
ready to remember the history of the Hollow Tree.
"We're coming to that. You may be sure there was some reason for it, for
Mr. 'Possum doesn't hurry after wood or stay long in a cold place if he
can help it, unless he has something on his mind. Perhaps some of the
Deep Woods People thought of that too, but if they did they didn't say
anything--not at the time. I suppose they thought it didn't matter much,
anyhow, if they got the wood."
So they went right on having a good time, keeping up a nice fire, and
eating up whatever they had; for they thought the big snow couldn't last
as long as their wood and their things to eat, and every day they went
up to look out of the up-stairs windows to see how much had melted, and
every day they found it just about the same, only maybe a little
crustier on top, and the weather stayed _very cold_.
But they didn't mind it so long as they were warm and not hungry, and
they played games, and recited their pieces, and sang, and danced, and
said they had never had such a good time in all their lives.
But one day when Mr. Crow went down into the store-room for supplies he
found that he was at the bottom of the barrel of everything they had,
and he came up looking pretty sober, though he didn't say anything about
it--not then, for he knew there were plenty of bones and odds and ends
he could scrape up, and he had a little flour and some meal in his
pantry; so he could make soup and gravy and johnny-cake and hash, which
he did right away, and they all said how fine such things were for a
change, and told Mr. Crow to go right on making them as long as he
wanted to, even if the snow stayed on till spring. And Mr. 'Possum and
Mr. 'Coon said it was like old times, and that Mr. Crow was probably the
very best provider in the Big Deep Woods.
[Illustration: ONE DAY MR. CROW FOUND HE WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL
OF EVERYTHING]
Mr. Crow smiled, too, but he didn't feel like it much, for he knew that
even johnny-cake and gravy wouldn't last forever, and that unless the
snow went away pretty soon they would all be hungry and cold, for the
wood was getting low, too.
And one morning, when Mr. Crow went to his meal-sack and his flour-bag
and his pile of odds and ends there was just barely enough for
breakfast, and hardly that. And Mr. Crow didn't like to tell them about
it, for he knew they all thought he could keep right on making
johnny-cake and gravy forever, because they didn't have to stop to think
where things came from, as he did, and he was afraid they would blame
him when there was nothing more left.
So the Old Black Crow tried to step around lively and look pleasant, to
keep anybody from noticing, because he thought it might turn warm that
day and melt the snow; and when breakfast was ready he put on what there
was and said he hadn't cooked very much because he had heard that light
breakfasts were better for people who stayed in the house a good deal,
and as for himself, he said he guessed he wouldn't eat any breakfast
that morning at all.
Then while the others were eating he crept down-stairs and looked at the
empty boxes and barrels and the few sticks of wood that were left, and
he knew that if that snow didn't melt off right away they were going to
have a _very hard time_. Then he came back up in the big living-room and
went on up-stairs to his own room, to look out the window to see if it
wasn't going to be a warm, melting day. But Mr. Crow came back pretty
soon. He came back in a hurry, too, and he slammed his door and locked
it, and then let go of everything and just slid down-stairs. Then the
Deep Woods People jumped up quick from the table and ran to him, for
they thought he was having a fit of some kind, and they still thought so
when they looked into his face: for Mr. Crow's eyes were rolled up and
his bill was pale, and when he tried to speak he couldn't. And Mr.
Rabbit said it was because Mr. Crow had done without his breakfast, and
he ran to get something from the table; but Mr. Crow couldn't eat, and
then they saw that some of the feathers on top of his head were turning
gray, and they knew he had seen some awful thing just that little moment
he was in his room.
So then they all looked at one another and wondered what it was, and
they were glad Mr. Crow had locked the door. Then they carried him over
to the fire, and pretty soon he got so he could whisper a little, and
when they knew what he was saying they understood why he was so scared
and why he had locked the door; for the words that Mr. Crow kept
whispering over and over were: "Old Hungry-Wolf! Old Hungry-Wolf! Old
Hungry-Wolf!"
All the Deep Woods People know what that means. They know that when Old
Hungry-Wolf comes, or even when you hear him bark, it means that there
is no food left in the Big Deep Woods for anybody, and that nobody can
tell how long it will be before there _will_ be food again. And all the
Deep Woods People stood still and held their breath and listened for the
bark of Old Hungry-Wolf, because they knew Mr. Crow had seen his face
looking in the window. And they all thought they heard it, except Mr.
'Possum, who said he didn't believe it was Old Hungry-Wolf at all that
Mr. Crow had seen, but only Mr. Gray Wolf himself, who had perhaps
slipped out and travelled over the snow to see if they were all at home
and comfortable.
But Mr. Crow said:
"No, no; it was Old Hungry-Wolf! He was big and black, and I saw his
great fiery eyes!"
Then Mr. 'Possum looked very brave, and said he would see if Old
Hungry-Wolf was looking into his window too, and he went right up, and
soon came back and said there wasn't any big black face at his window,
and he thought that Mr. Crow's empty stomach had made him imagine
things.
So then Mr. 'Coon said that he would go up to _his_ room if the others
would like to come along, and they could see for themselves whether Old
Hungry-Wolf was trying to get in or not.
[Illustration: THEN MR. 'COON SLAMMED HIS DOOR]
Then they all went very quietly up Mr. 'Coon's stair (all except Mr.
'Possum, who stayed with Mr. Crow), and they opened Mr. 'Coon's door
and took one look inside, and then Mr. 'Coon he slammed _his_ door shut,
and locked it, and they all let go of everything and came sliding down
in a heap, for they had seen the great fiery eyes and black face of Old
Hungry-Wolf glaring in at Mr. 'Coon's window.
So they all huddled around the fire and lit their pipes--for they still
had some tobacco--and smoked, but didn't say anything, until by-and-by
Mr. Crow told them that there wasn't another bite to eat in the house
and very little wood, and that that was the reason why Old Hungry-Wolf
had come. And they talked about it in whispers--whether they ought to
exercise any more, because though exercise would help them to keep warm
and save wood, it would make them hungrier. And some of them said they
thought they would try to go to sleep like Mr. Bear, who slept all
winter and never knew that he was hungry until spring. So they kept
talking, and now and then they would stop and listen, and they all said
they could hear the bark of Old Hungry-Wolf--all except Mr. 'Possum,
which was strange, because Mr. 'Possum is fond of good things and would
be apt to be the very first to hear Old Hungry's bark.
[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM SAID NOT TO MOVE, THAT HE WOULD GO AFTER A
PIECE OF WOOD]
And when the fire got very low and it was getting cold, Mr. 'Possum said
for them not to move; that he would go down after a piece of wood, and
he would attend to the fire as long as the wood lasted, and try to
make it last as long as possible. And every time the fire got very low
Mr. 'Possum would bring a piece of wood, and sometimes he stayed a good
while (just for one piece of wood), but they still didn't think much
about it--not then. What they did think about was how hungry they were,
and Mr. 'Crow said he knew he could eat as much as the old ancestor of
his that was told about in a book which he had once borrowed from Mr.
Man's little boy who had left it out in the yard at dinner-time.
Then they all begged Mr. Crow to get the book and read it to them, and
perhaps they could imagine they were not so hungry. So Mr. Crow brought
the book and read them the poem about