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.

"That young man called himself Somers, and he certainly became popular
with the young Miss 'Possums of our section. They went crazy over him,
and of course that made all the young Mr. 'Possums jealous of him,
though they would have given anything to be like him. They knew they
couldn't be that, so they hoped something would happen to him, and used
to tell him of nice new an interesting walks to take when they thought
Mr. Painter might be in that neighborhood. Then they would follow, and
hide around in the bushes and watch, expecting some time to see Mr.
Painter get his claws into that curly blond duster before Somers could
reach a limb, or shake him down afterward.

"Well, just as they expected, one day when Somers went out for a little
promenade alone Mr. Painter happened along, but Somers saw him first,
and made for a tree, with Mr. Painter after him, reaching for that fine
plume and just missing it, as the handsome stranger went up the tree and
out on a limb, with Mr. Painter right behind and making very savage
noises. Then he began shaking the limb as hard as he could, and my
ancestors, who were watching from quite a safe place, thought Somers
would drop pretty soon, for they didn't think he could be trained to
holding on--such a fine person as he was.

"So they watched, very hopeful, and sure enough, about the third hard
shake Somers dropped--just let go with his hands and feet, and rolled
off, almost as if he really didn't care. My ancestors said that was what
it looked like, and that was what it was. Somers didn't care at all, for
when he let go and dropped, he didn't fall, but just swung off into
space, and stayed attached to that limb, hanging head down, by his tail!

[Illustration: CALLING OUT, "MUCH OBLIGED, MR. PAINTER"]

"My ancestors had never been s