“She thought and thought. At last she caught up her biggest clamshell and walked down into the thicket where the cows stood. And the dog went with her. ‘Old Cow,’ she said, ‘you can live with us for ever and ever because you stopped the passageway with your horns when the wolves were trying to get in to kill my husband. Young Cow, you will have to pay something if you’re going to live with us.’ And with that she tried to milk the young cow into her clamshell.
“The young cow didn’t like it a little bit. But she was afraid of the dog, and besides the old cow argued, ‘You have milk to spare, and you’ll never have any place as safe as this. Let me talk to her.’
“So the young cow gave in and let herself be milked. But the old one said to the woman: ‘We’ll stay with you and give you milk so long as you see we get food and water and protect us from the wolves. But the minute you don’t we’ll go off and be wild again, and you’ll be no better off than you were before.’
“‘Agreed,’ said the woman. ‘The dog will be our witness.’
“So that was the beginning of the compact. The cows settled down to live with the man and his family. But after the woman was gone the wise old cow said comfortably, ‘It’s spring now. She doesn’t think how much trouble it will be to feed us through the winter.’”
“Wasn’t that old cow clever!” exclaimed Nibble admiringly.
The White Cow snorted. “She was wise. But that woman was wiser. She knew that if she waited long enough there would be cattle on that island who hadn’t any milk, so she and the man could bargain some more with them. They had to carry loads and pull ploughs; they even had to let the man kill certain ones. They didn’t like that a little bit, but the wise old cow argued, ‘It’s better than being hunted by both wolves and men.’ So they finally gave in. It was really a good bargain for us,” finished the White Cow thoughtfully, “but it was a better one for the man. After he learned to build barns as safe as that island he gave up hunting.”
CHAPTER IX
HOW A BUNNY UNDERTOOK TO HUNT A FOX
Madame snowflake swished her tail thoughtfully for a moment; then she went back to chewing her cud as a sign that her story was all done.
“My horns!” exclaimed the Red Cow. “That’s awfully interesting.”