J. W. L.
Bethayres, Pa.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE I. [The Wood Pussy’s Journey] 13 II. [Strong Medicine] 24 III. [Under the Brush Pile] 34 IV. [Every Animal Must Eat] 45 V. [The Burning Woods] 56 VI. [Good Hunting] 65 VII. [Strange Happenings] 75 VIII. [The Mystery Solved] 85 IX. [Fifty Dollars on His Head] 97 X. [Captured at Last] 107 XI. [The Winter Sleep] 117 XII. [The Spring Awakening] 125 XIII. [Raising a Family] 133 XIV. [Master of the Woods] 144
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
[Standing once more in front of the stone pile he shook himself until his fur stood out all over him, that fur for which any dealer would give a big price] Frontispiece FACING PAGE [Striped Coat’s foot-prints; front and hind foot (Pen and Ink)] 26 [The wood pussy examined it very carefully] 28 [The mouse ... had left in the nest her whole family of five young ones] 51 [Several times she looked out and wandered about uneasily] 64 [Where he had been a moment before, now stood the big bird, its eyes glaring, wings ready for another dash and strike] 72 [He approached with caution] 89 [In much the same way as a young hawk before it acquires its full plumage] 104 [Under the persimmon and wild apple trees he picked up ripe fruit, often shaken down by Possum] 119 [The friendliness of this beautiful and entirely free creature of the woods delighted many a visitor] 122 [Side by side they neared the entrance] 132 [The three tugging, biting, squealing and pulling each other this way and that until they burst from under the barn and had it out on the flat ground] 141 [Skunk Tracks (Pen and Ink)] 148 [“That big black skunk of yours was the one that did the trick”] 149
Striped Coat, the Skunk
CHAPTER I
THE WOOD PUSSY’S JOURNEY
The full moon was shining over the narrow waters of Goose Creek. Here and there, its light slipped between the seemingly endless branches of the cedars, pines and oaks, and lay in silvery patches on the sand along the banks and on the carpet of dead leaves which extended from either side of the stream on and on, into the big silent woods. Wherever the light could not pierce the foliage, there were black shadows in streaks and squares and checker board patterns—black on white, white on black—just two colors all through the quiet woods.
But presently one of these patterns seemed to move. The keen round eyes of Screech Owl who was perching on a dead limb overhead, soon made out the form of an animal, about the size of a small cat, moving quietly along the woods path; but even Screech Owl had to look very hard, for this little animal was all black and white itself and therefore like a part of the woods carpet.