“He ate a little pudding, too, Doctor,” ventured Mandy Possum, timidly.
“How much?” Doctor Rabbit asked.
“Just the smallest bit,” O. Possum began, but Doctor Rabbit interrupted him with, “Exactly how much?”
“Oh, not more than a small bowl full.”
“I see! I see!” exclaimed Doctor Rabbit, smiling, and his bright eyes twinkled. “Your bowls all hold a quart, Brother Possum. A bowl of pudding, two big pieces of chicken, some pie and some cake, and a plate of dumplings Mrs. Possum had left over from yesterday!” And Doctor Rabbit laughed, while O. Possum looked very, very much surprised, because that was exactly what he had eaten, and he wondered how Doctor Rabbit could tell.
“Mr. Possum, what have you eaten lately?”
“The fact is,” Doctor Rabbit said, “you have been making a pig of yourself, and you have acute indigestion. Here, Friend Possum; take this tablespoonful of medicine.”
O. Possum swallowed the medicine, and then coughed and choked, and said, “Whew! that’s the nastiest tasting medicine I ever swallowed. Mandy, my dear, I’ll have to trouble you for a drink of water.” After he had taken the water, he said he felt a great deal better.
“I can feel that medicine taking right hold,” he said. “Yes, sir, I can feel it, and I certainly am better.”