“What's the matter with you, Unc' Billy? You look as if you had lost
your last friend.” It was Jimmy Skunk who spoke.
Unc' Billy Possum stopped short. He had been hurrying so fast that he
hadn't seen Jimmy Skunk at all.
“Matter enuff, Suh! Matter enuff!” said Unc' Billy Possum, when he could
get his breath. “Do you hear that noise?”
“Sure, I hear that noise. That's only Bowser the Hound chasing old
Granny Fox. When she gets tired she'll lose him,” replied Jimmy Skunk.
“What are you worrying about Bowser the Hound for?”
“Bowser the Hound will have to be smarter than he is now befo' he can
worry me, Ah reckon,” said Unc' Billy Possum scornfully. “It isn't
Bowser the Hound; it's Farmer Brown's boy and his gun!” Then Unc'
Billy told Jimmy Skunk how he had been hiding in the woodpile at Farmer
Brown's and had heard Farmer Brown's boy say that he was going to hunt
over the Green Meadows and through the Green Forest until he got Reddy
Fox.
“What of it?” asked Jimmy Skunk. “If he gets Reddy Fox, so much the
better. Reddy always did make trouble for other people. I don't see what
you're worrying about Reddy Fox for. He's big enough to take care of
himself.”
“Yo' cert'nly are plumb slow in your wits this morning, Jimmy Skunk,
yo' cert'nly are plumb slow! Supposing yo' should meet up with Farmer
Brown's boy with that gun in his hands and supposing he had grown tired
of watching fo' Reddy Fox. That gun might go off, Jimmy Skunk; it might
go off when it was pointing right straight at yo'!” said Unc' Billy
Possum.
Jimmy Skunk looked serious. “That's so, Unc' Billy, that's so!” he said.
“Boys with guns do get dreadfully careless, dreadfully careless. They
don't seem to think anything about the feelings of those likely to get
hurt when the gun goes off. What was you thinking of doing, Unc' Billy?”
“Just passing the word along so everybody in the Green Meadows and
in the Green Forest will keep out of the way of Farmer Brown's boy,”
replied Unc' Billy Possum.
“Good idea, Unc' Billy! I'll help you,” said Jimmy Skunk.
So Unc' Billy Possum went one way, and Jimmy Skunk went another way.
And everyone they told hurried to tell someone else. Happy Jack Squirrel
told Chatterer the Red Squirrel; Chatterer told Striped Chipmunk, and
Striped Chipmunk told Danny Meadow Mouse. Danny Meadow Mouse told Johnny
Chuck; Johnny Chuck told Peter Rabbit; Peter Rabbit told Jumper the
Hare; Jumper the Hare told Prickly Porky; Prickly Porky told Bobby Coon;
Bobby Coon told Billy Mink; Billy Mink told Little Joe Otter; Little Joe
Otter told Jerry Muskrat, and Jerry Muskrat told Grandfather Frog. And
everybody hastened to hide from Farmer Brown's boy and his terrible gun.
By and by Farmer Brown's boy noticed how still it was in the Green
Forest. Nowhere did he see or hear a bird. Nowhere could he catch a
glimpse of anybody who wore fur.
“That fox must have scared away all the other animals and driven away
all the birds. I'll get him! See if I don't!” muttered Farmer Brown's
boy, and never once guessed that they were hiding from him.