The Hollow Tree Snowed-in Book / being a continuation of the stories about the Hollow Tree and Deep Woods people

by Albert Bigelow Paine

So they ate first one thing and then another, and Mr. 'Coon asked if they remembered the time Mr. Dog had come to one of their picnics before they were friends with him, when he'd really been invited to stay away; and they all laughed when they thought how Mr. Rabbit had excused himself, and the others, too, one after another, until Mr. Dog had the picnic mostly to himself. And by-and-by the Hollow Tree People lit their pipes and smoked, and Mr. 'Possum leaned his back against a tree and read himself to sleep, and dreamed, and had a kind of a nightmare about that other picnic, and talked in his sleep about it, which made Mr. 'Coon think of something to do.

So then Mr. 'Coon got some long grass and made a strong band of it and very carefully tied Mr. 'Possum to the tree, and just as Mr. 'Possum began to have his dream again and was saying "Oh! Oh! here comes Mr. Dog!" Mr. 'Coon gave three loud barks right in Mr. 'Possum's ear, and Mr. Crow said "Wake up! Wake up, Mr. 'Possum! Here he comes!"

MR. 'POSSUM LEANED HIS BACK AGAINST A TREE AND READ HIMSELF TO SLEEP

And Mr. 'Possum did wake up, and jumped and jerked at that band, and holloed out as loud as he could:

"Oh, please let me go, Mr. Dog! Oh, please let me go, Mr. Dog!" for he thought it was Mr. Dog that had him, and he forgot all about them being friends.

But just then he happened to see Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon rolling on the ground and laughing, and he looked down to see what had him and found he was tied to a tree, and he knew that they had played a joke on him. That made him pretty mad at first, and he said if he ever got loose he'd pay them back for their smartness.

Then Mr. 'Coon told him he most likely never would get loose if he didn't promise not to do anything, so Mr. 'Possum promised, and Mr. 'Coon untied him. Mr. 'Possum said he guessed the chicken must have been pretty hard to digest, and he knew it was pretty salt, for he was dying for a good cold drink.

Then Mr. 'Coon said he knew where there was a spring over beyond the wall that had colder water than the brook, and he'd show them the way to it. So they climbed over the wall and slipped through the bushes to the spring, and all took a nice cold drink, and just as they raised their heads from drinking they heard somebody say something. And they all kept perfectly still and listened, and they heard it again, just beyond some bushes.