Do you think Louie would do that? I guess not. He’d learned something that afternoon. Tommy Peele showed him how nice sweet roasting ears of fresh corn were what you ought to feed a coon. He just pretended to pick up something, and then he sneaked down to listen. The coon was there all right enough; he could hear him. You just ought to have heard Louie then. His bare feet went pat-pat-patting over to his father’s cornfield. Then they came pat-pat-patting back again. Pat-pat they went on the cellar floor. And Tad could smell the nice sweet corn.
Tad and Louie had the grain sacks flying, to find the family of mice.
“There!” said Louie in a happy voice, “I guess you’ll be glad you came back again.” And he poked the corn into the cage. “Oh, I thought you hated me. I do want you to like me, you nice coon.”
Was this the cross little boy who’d snapped and snarled at him? Tad just couldn’t believe his ears. He stopped eating to listen.
“I will be good to you--’deed I will--if you’ll only be tame,” Louie was saying in this brand-new voice.
Tad poked his nose through his bars and sniffed at him. Then he took hold of his door in his handy-paws and shook it until the cellar echoed with its jangly noise.
“Don’t, don’t!” begged Louie. “My pa will hear you.” But Tad wanted to be let out. He went on shaking. “Aw, what’s the use of locking you up, you’ll come back to me, anyhow,” said Louie at last. He reached for the door and Tad’s little handy-paw caught hold of his finger. But he didn’t jerk it away, because this wasn’t a snappy, snarly coon. This cunning little fellow didn’t bite him any more than he’d bite Tommy Peele. He opened the door.
Thump went Tad on the floor. But this time he didn’t try to run--he was too busy examining Louie Thomson. He twitched Louie’s trousers and he felt of Louie’s toes, and his curious little handy-paws were so tickly they set Louie giggling.
Louie’s mother finished sweeping out her kitchen. She was all ready to go to bed now except for one thing. “It’s kind of funny,” she said to herself, “I haven’t seen Louie since I sent him down cellar to feed his coon.” So she took the lamp and started down the stairs, using the broom for a cane, because it came in so handy when she felt tired and stiff. On the fourth step she stopped to listen. That was a queer sound! There it was again. She smiled herself.