“Have you ever been over there?” asked Toto.
“Yes, indeed!” replied the squirrel, “hundreds of times. I often go over to spend the day with my cousin, and we amuse ourselves by dropping nuts on the hermit’s head as he sits in front of his cave. I know few things more amusing,” he continued, turning to the grandmother, “than dropping nuts on a bald head. You can make bets as to how high they will go on the rebound. Have you ever tried it, ma’am? sitting in a tree, you know.”
“Never!” replied the grandmother with much dignity. “In my youth it was not the custom for gentlewomen to sit in trees for any purpose; and if it had been, I trust I should have had more respect for age and infirmity than to amuse myself in the manner you suggest.”
The squirrel was somewhat abashed at this, and scratched his ear to hide his embarrassment.
The pause which ensued gave the raccoon an opportunity for which he had been waiting. He addressed the grandmother in his most honeyed accents:—
“Our ways, dear madam,” he said, “are necessarily very different from yours. There must be much in our woodland life that seems rough, and possibly even savage, to a person of refinement and culture like yourself. While we roam about in the untutored forest” (“Hear! hear!” interrupted the squirrel. “‘Untutored forest’ is good!”), “you remain in the elegant atmosphere of your polished home. While we fare hardly, snatching a precarious and scanty subsistence from roots and herbs, you, lapped in intellectual and highly cultivated leisure, while away the hours by manufacturing gingerbread and—a—jam.” The raccoon here waved his tail, and gave Toto a look whose craftiness cannot be described in words.
Toto took the hint. “Dear me!” he cried. “Of course! how stupid of me! Grandmother, is there any gingerbread in the house? My friends have never tasted any, and I should like to give them some of yours.”
“Certainly, my dear boy,” said the good old lady; “by all means. I have just made some this afternoon. Bring a good plateful, and bring a pot of raspberry jam, too. Perhaps Mr. Coon would like a little of that.”
Mr. Coon did like a little of that. In fact, Mr. Coon would have liked the whole pot, and would have taken it, too, if it had not been for Toto, who declared that it must be share and share alike. He gave them each a spoon, and let them help themselves in turn, observing the strictest impartiality.
The feast seemed to be highly enjoyed by all.