But just in time she turned on him and threw up so quickly her dangerous looking, fluffy tail that he checked himself and began to dance around her in a circle, looking for a better chance to rush in without in any way getting hurt himself. The noise was quite enough to bring Farmer Slown’s tousled head out of the window.
“What’s going on around here!” he thundered. In the dark he could not see what kind of creature the dog had found, but wanted it killed anyway. “Sic ’em, you!” he encouraged, “sic ’em!” But the hound was a big coward at heart and only danced about all the more.
The Farmer grew angry at once.
“Just you wait!” he muttered, and vanished from the window only to appear at the door, clad in his blue night shirt and armed with a gun.
“Now, go for him!” he called and ran out to help the dog.
That was enough encouragement for the hound. Just as his master came up, he excitedly threw himself on the wood pussy, but not before that quick little animal had twisted herself around and given him a terrible musk bath square in the eyes and mouth. She could not run fast, her claws were not made for scratching, nor her teeth for fighting, but she had instead this weapon of defense which was enough to stop any hound.
With a yowl of pain the surprised dog threw himself on the ground and tried to rub the smarting stuff from his half blinded eyes. He wildly rolled and rubbed and finally in desperate fear and pain rushed to Farmer Slown and bounded against him again and again regardless of the man’s frantic efforts to keep him away.
The dog, the man, the yard and indeed the whole farm were wrapped in a cloud of horrible odor. But the little wood pussy, unhurt and untouched by the musk, was nowhere to be seen. She had vanished in the confusion and soon was nursing the hungry young ones safe under the brush pile.
That night, the little watchers about the clearing could have seen an angry looking figure in a blue night shirt striding down the path to the waters of Goose Creek. A big bar of soap and a towel went along too, also a strong smell, suggestive of fumes from a burning gum shoe factory. Also there was some fiery language about fool dogs, wood pussies in general and a certain one especially. Oh, it was a great night on Goose Creek!