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 brin