“How comical!” laughed a pretty Moon maiden. “Now tell us about the other families.”
“The head of the other family,” said the guide, “is very interesting indeed. He is a queer little animal called Opossum; he looks like a rat, but is larger than a cat. He spends the day lazily, sleeping among the foliage of trees, or in hollows of their trunks or boughs. His fur is nearly black, but little white patches about his face give him a most wise appearance. He brought his family, consisting of a wife and sixteen small babies, and started housekeeping on the edge of the swamp. The babies are not as big as mice, but they are the sweetest little furry things you ever saw. They cuddle up so nicely together, and just wait to be fed. Of course Mother ’Possum has her hands pretty full watching and caring for sixteen small children, so it devolves on the father to provide food for them; and every night he runs around the country looking for something to eat. He is really a devoted father, but he is not fond of work; and how to feed a wife and sixteen babies without work is a very hard problem to solve. So I am sorry to tell you Mr. ’Possum often steals his food, that being the easiest way to get it, and nothing appeals to him so strongly as a tender young chicken.
“Now, the third family dwelling in the marsh are the Raccoons. Mrs. ’Possum has a great contempt for this same neighbor of hers, and they are not on very friendly terms. Mrs. ’Possum is a splendid housekeeper, but Mrs. Raccoon cares nothing at all about her home. True, she builds her house carefully in the topmost branches of a tree, but having done that, she considers her duty ended, and seldom occupies it. ‘Any old place is good enough to sleep in,’ she says; and just so she can find a spot with water enough to moisten her food before eating it, she is content. Therefore she wanders around, with the little Raccoons, anywhere and everywhere, and when they get tired they just creep under some old log and go to sleep. Of course Mother ’Possum, with her strict ideas of housekeeping, thinks this careless habit no way to live or to bring up children; but whenever Mrs. ’Possum reproaches Mrs. Raccoon with being a slipshod housekeeper and a gadabout, Mrs. Raccoon invariably replies, ‘Have you ever noticed how soft and fine my fur is, and how many beautiful rings I wear on my tail?’—for she is awfully vain. Then she flourishes her tail around, and whisking about, shows off the pretty black and white rings she carries, to the best possible advantage, until Mrs. ’Possum in disgust sends all the little ’Possums scurrying away, fearing lest they become vain and worldly like the Raccoons. But with the exception of the Raccoons and the Crayfishes, the Opossum family own the big yellow and green marsh.”
CHAPTER V
THE RAINBOW SISTERS
As the guide messenger told all these tales of the marsh, the Moon Princess and her companions noticed they were gradually leaving the southern land; for of course such wonderful beings as Moon Princesses and messengers of Sun Princesses travel much faster than mortals, and they were travelling rapidly. They seemed to be in the midst of a charming forest of long, cool shadows and crystal springs.
“What place is this?” asked Prince Dorion, stopping to admire the long, cool vista of trees ahead.
“O, this,” replied the guide carelessly,—“this forest was once the abode of the Rainbow Sisters.”
“Who were they?” innocently inquired a dainty Moon maiden, tripping lightly along.
“Would you like to hear about them?” asked the guide.