“Fur and feathers working together,� sobbed Bobby. “What chance have we poor birds? What won’t they do to us to-night?�
“Well, you’re feathers and I’m fur,� argued Watch. “Can’t we do something, too?�
And that made Bobby so happy again he just had to flap his wings over it.
But Watch was thoughtful.
“Now listen to me, Bobby,� he said at last. “If Killer and the Bad Little Owls are going to hunt together, we Woodsfolk are going to have trouble, aren’t we? Trouble afoot and awing.� He licked his nose, as though he were trying to smell out the thing to do next.
“Trouble afoot is the only thing I’m afraid of,� cheeped Bobby. “Those owls can’t do anything alone; I thought you were going to nip Killer’s tail for him. Wasn’t that what you said?� He sounded all discouraged again.
“Now don’t get flutter-headed,� warned Watch. “So I am. But I have to get my teeth on it, don’t I? And that means I have to catch the cleverest, craftiest of all things from under-the-earth. Yes, and the wickedest. It gives me the creeps to think about him.�
“By the Great Grub Who Gnawed the Moon!â€� gasped the bird, leaning over to get a good look at the big dog. “You talk as though you were afraid of him—a great big beast like you afraid of a slinky little thing like him!â€�
And then Watch repeated exactly what Killer had told the wife of the Bad Little Owl. “It isn’t size, it’s brains. Nobody is really safe from him. I’m ever so much bigger than Doctor Muskrat or even Tad Coon. But if Killer caught me while I was asleep and got his weasel hold under my chin, even I couldn’t bite him back. He’s so small I couldn’t reach him.�
“That’s so!� exclaimed Bobby. “You’d be no safer than a bird.�