as I was, I turned to look, and there she sat,
looking really amused, her slim little ears sticking straight up as they
always did when she enjoyed anything."

Mr. Rabbit rose and walked across the room and back, and sat down again,
quite excitedly.

"Think of it, after all I had done for her! I saw at once that there
would be no pleasure in carrying her books and helping her over the
mud-puddles in the way I had planned. And just then Hickory Whack
grabbed a stick and reached for me. But he didn't reach quite far
enough, for I was always rather spry, and I was half-way to the door
with one spring, and out of it and on the way home, the next. Of course
he couldn't catch me, with his stiff leg, and he didn't try. When I got
home I told my folks that I didn't feel well, and needed a change of
scene. So they said I could visit some relatives in the Big Deep
Woods--an old aunt and uncle, and I set out on the trip within less than
five minutes, for I was tired of the Thickets. My aunt and uncle were so
glad to see me that I stayed with them, and when they died they left me
their property. So I've always stayed over this way, and live in it
still. Sometimes I go over to the Heavy Thickets, and once I saw Bunty
Bun. She is married, and shows her age. She used to be fat and pretty
and silly. Now she is just fat and silly, though I don't suppose she can
help those things. Still, I had a narrow escape, and I've never thought
of doing garden work since then for anybody but myself and my good
friends, like those of the Hollow Tree."

[Illustration: MR. 'POSSUM'S SICK SPELL]

MR. 'POSSUM'S SICK SPELL

MR. 'POSSUM HAS A NIGHT ADVENTURE
WHICH CAUSES EXCITEMENT

Once upon a time, said the Story Teller, something very sad nearly
happened in the Hollow Tree. It was Mr. 'Possum's turn, one night, to go
out and borrow a chicken from Mr. Man's roost, and coming home he fell
into an old well and lost his chicken. He nearly lost himself, too, for
the water was icy cold and Mr. 'Possum thought he would freeze to death
before he could climb out, because the rocks were slippery and he fell
back several times.

As it was, he got home almost dead, and next morning was sicker than he
had ever been before in his life. He had pains in his chest and other
places, and was all stuffed up in his throat and very scared. The 'Coon
and the Crow who lived in the Hollow Tree with him were scared, too.
They put him to bed in the big room d