Washer began to tremble, not with fear, but because he knew he had to save the raccoon in some way, and he couldn’t think of any trick that would do it. The cubs mistook his trembling for fear, and one of them exclaimed:
“Little Brother’s afraid to go up the tree! See, he’s trembling all over!”
“When was Little Brother afraid before?” asked another. “Surely he’s not afraid of that animal.”
Washer saw that they had not recognized the animal up the tree as one of his own people. They hardly knew a raccoon from any other animal. This fact gave Washer new hope. He didn’t want to betray to them his feelings.
“Are you afraid, Little Brother?” added another, standing before him. “I don’t believe it.”
“No, I’m not afraid,” replied Washer finally, recovering from his embarassment. “When was I afraid of anything! Have I not played and fought with you all, and did you ever know me to beg for mercy? Then why should I be afraid of that small animal?”
“I knew it, Little Brother,” replied the last cub. “Now you’ll go up the tree and shake him down to us.”
Washer rose to his feet and trotted away from the tree. “Come here, Brothers,” he called, “I want to talk to you, and we must not be overheard. Now listen,” he added, when they were at a safe distance from the tree, “you’ve heard of Billy Porcupine, haven’t you?”
“Billy Porcupine! Oh, you mean the animal with the prickly thorns! Yes, we’ve heard of him.”
Washer nodded his head. “Then you remember that Mother Wolf and Sneaky always told you to beware of Billy Porcupine. If you didn’t he’d run his thorns in your nose, and it would take days and days for the wounds to heal up.”