it as he went by. He caught it with his teeth, and two of his teeth went right through two of the holes where the buckle catches, and there they stayed. He had the trunk all right enough, but the trunk had him, too.
There he was. His feet didn't quite touch the ground, and he couldn't get up any higher either. Then all at once the people up stairs saw how it was, and they commenced to laugh in spite of themselves, and hitched the rope around a peg under the sill so they could rest a minute. That was fun for them, but it wasn't for Mr. Dog, by a good deal. He couldn't laugh, and he couldn't rest, either. And just then Mr. Squirrel came with his trunk, and Mr. Robin with his satchel and a hand bag, and Mr. Turtle with his things in a big sack. Mr. 'Coon ran down and let them all in and locked the door. Then he ran back to the window where Mr. Dog was.
"If we'll let you down will you go home and not come around this hotel interfering with our business?" says Mr. 'Possum.
"Yes; will you promise not to try to get any of our guests away from us?" says Mr. 'Coon.
Mr. Dog couldn't talk much in the fix he was in, but he did the best he could, and promised yes to everything, so pretty soon they let the trunk down till his feet touched the ground and he could get his teeth out of the strap. Then he put out for home just about as fast as he could go, without so much as thanking them for letting him down, and up went Mr. Rabbit's trunk pretty quick, now that there were plenty to help.
Then the guests all hurried to their rooms to unpack, and Mr. Crow bustled around to get supper with what he had in the house, for Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon hadn't time yet to bring in anything. It was a pretty good supper, though, and all the guests said so, and said they knew what a good cook Mr. Crow was if he had things to work with, and the Crow said he guessed he could do his part if the 'Coon and 'Possum would do theirs.
Well, it makes a good deal of difference whether you're company at a house or a boarder. They all felt a good deal like company at first, but by the next evening at supper time they felt different. Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum had been out all day bringing in things, too, and Mr. Crow had been cooking harder than ever. Mr. Robin was first to make remarks. He said the cherries were canned, and not very good at that.
"That's what I said," put in Mr. 'Coon, "but Mr. 'Possum said you wouldn't know the difference."
"Oh, he did, did he?" says Mr. Robin. "Well, I've got better cherries than these at home," and he got up from the table with a disgusted air.
Then Mr. Squirrel picked up some roasted nuts that the Crow had just brought in.
"Where'd you get these nuts?" he says, after he'd cracked one or two of them.
"Down on the slope of Green Bushes," says Mr. 'Coon. "Why, aren't they good ones?"
"I suppose they were once," says Mr. Squirrel – "two or three years ago. Nuts have to be fresh to be good."
"That's what I told him," says Mr. 'Possum, "but he said you wouldn't know the difference."
"Oh, he did, did he?" says Mr. Squirrel. "Well, I've got better nuts than these at home," and Mr. Squirrel he got up and left the table.
Then Jack Rabbit began.
"Where'd you get this salad?" he says, turning up his nose.
"Out by Mr. Man's back gate," says Mr. 'Possum. "Why, isn't it good?"
"Might have been once," says Mr. Rabbit. "I s'pose it's some Mr. Man threw out because it was wilted."
"That's what I told him," says Mr. 'Coon, "but he said you wouldn't know the difference."
"Oh, he did, did he? Well, I've got better salad than this at home," and Jack Rabbit he got up and he left the table.
And then, pretty soon, Mr. Turtle made a face over the fish because they were salt mackerel and not nice fresh fish, such as he was used to at home. So he got up and left the table, too, and there sat the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow all by themselves and looking cheap enough to fall through the floor. Mr. Crow said it wasn't his fault, and then Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum commenced to blame it on each other, and nearly got into a fight. They were just about to fight when Mr. Crow happened to think of something. Mr. Crow always did think of things.
"I'll tell you!" he says. "We'll just rent rooms."
"Do what?" says Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon together.
"Why, just rent each of our guests his room and let him take his meals out. Then we won't have any work."
"Whoop-ee!" says Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon both together, as loud as ever they could. That made all the guests come running back, and when they heard the new plan they all said it was just the thing.
So then Mr. 'Possum went down and got the sign and brought it up and changed it to read: —
And that was how business began at last in the Hollow Tree.
A DEEP WOODS FISHING PARTY
AN ADVENTURE WITH MR. DOG AND A VERY LARGE FISH
ONE warm, still June morning (this, of course, was before the Hollow Tree Inn started) Mr. Jack Rabbit looked out of the window while he was dressing and thought to himself that it would be just the very morning for fish to bite.
Jack Rabbit liked to fish better than anything, almost, so right after breakfast he took an empty tomato can and went out in the back yard and turned over boards till he had the can about half full of bait, with a little dirt thrown on top. Then he reached up under the eaves of the smoke-house and pulled out a long cane pole with a line and hook and floater on it, all rigged up ready, and flung it over his shoulder and started.
Mr. Rabbit walked pretty fast – even lazy folks do that when they go fishing, and Mr. Jack Rabbit wasn't lazy, by a good deal. So pretty soon he came to the Hollow Tree, and there, looking out of an up-stairs window, he saw the 'Coon, the 'Possum, and the Old Black Crow.
"Hello, up there!" he said. "Don't you fellows want to go fishing?"
Mr. 'Possum said he thought fish would bite well on such a morning, and that he'd like to go first rate. Mr. 'Coon said he knew a place where you could pull them out as fast as you could throw in your hook, and he went on and told how he caught a fish there last year that would weigh more than four pounds, and lost him just as he got him to the top of the water. Mr. Crow said he'd always noticed that Mr. 'Coon's four-pound fish never got any nearer to him than the top of the water, and that for his part he didn't care much about fishing. He said, though, that if the 'Coon and the 'Possum wanted to go he'd stay at home and get dinner while they were gone, so's to have it ready when they all came home hungry. He told them that he had some nice canned salmon in the cupboard that he could catch 'most any time, and that if they really wanted fish for dinner he s'posed he might as well open it. Then they all laughed, and in about a minute down came Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum with their fishing things. Jack Rabbit said he had plenty of bait, so away they went. Mr. Crow sat up in the window and watched them off, and Mr. Robin, who happened along just then, laughed and called after them that he'd take a few pounds of nice bass when they got home. The Robin just said that to plague them, of course, and Mr. 'Coon called back that they'd fool him this time, and then he went on to remark that he'd never in his life seen a finer day for fishing.
Jack Rabbit said yes, that it was fine, and that it was a fine day for Mr. Dog to be out gallivanting over the country, too, and that they'd better hurry up and get to the lake and out in his boat before anything happened. That made Mr.
