e
of deer's horns they would keep my mind off the cornfield. Where did
you say I could find some?"

"I didn't say," Dickie Deer Mouse reminded him; "but I don't object to
telling you where to look. They're generally to be found in the woods,
near the foot of a tree."

Fatty Coon's face brightened at once.

"Then it ought to be easy for me to get a taste of some," he cried. And
he began to crawl down the tree even as he spoke.

He did not thank Dickie Deer Mouse for his help. But that was like
Fatty. Always having his mind on eatables, he was more than likely to
forget to be polite.

Little Dickie Deer Mouse smiled as he watched the actions of his late
caller. The instant Fatty Coon reached the ground he began to look
under the trees--first one and then another.

"Don't miss a single tree!" Dickie called to him.

"Don't worry!" Fatty Coon replied. "I'm going to keep looking until I
find some deer's horns. And I hope I'll like 'em when I find 'em, for
I'm terribly hungry right now."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

XI

A SEARCH IN VAIN

It was true that Dickie Deer Mouse and all his relations feasted on the
horns shed by the deer. But of course they didn't find horns in the
woods every day. Only at a certain season of the year did the deer drop
them. And since that time was now past, and the Deer Mouse family had
scoured the woods until they found--and devoured--them all, it is clear
that Fatty Coon had started out on a fruitless hunt.

But he didn't know that, even if Dickie Deer Mouse did. And that was the
reason why Dickie smiled as he watched Fatty Coon dodging about among
the trees, looking for deer's horns where there couldn't possibly be
any.

"It's the finest thing that could happen to Fatty," Dickie Deer Mouse
thought. "While he's hunting for horns he can't go to the cornfield. And
so long as he stays away from the cornfield, old dog Spot can't catch
him there."

And then Dickie set forth to find his friends and enjoy a romp in the
moonlight.

Dawn found him creeping into his house once more. And after what had
happened during the night it was not strange that he should dream about
Fatty Coon.

It was not a pleasant dream. For some reason or other Fatty Coon seemed
to be angry with him, and was shouting in a terrible, deep voice,
"Where's Dickie Deer Mouse? Where's Dickie Deer Mouse?"

And then Dickie awoke, all a-shiver. But of course he felt better at
once, for he knew that it