At last Tom stopped. “Maybe climbing a tree would help me,” he said, and away he went for a tree, then up into the tree; but he was right down again in no time, so Stubby Woodchuck could not move. Tom Wildcat was panting now, ever so hard. He came up and stood looking down at Stubby. Presently he said, “Well, I believe I’m feeling a little better, but I guess I’ll wait around here a while and see if I get to feeling queer again.”
Tom Wildcat then lay down, with his head between his paws, and was quite still for a long time.
After a while he stretched and yawned, and said, “Ho, hum,” and rubbed his eyes. Now the very minute old Tom rubbed his eyes, he didn’t have to imagine something hurt him; he knew it did—and I’ll tell you what it was. You remember that hot salve that Doctor Rabbit put on the foot the dog had bitten? Well, that hot salve keeps its strength for days and days, and when Tom Wildcat, not thinking, rubbed his eyes, he rubbed some of that hot salve right into one of them. It was in only one eye, but my! how that eye did burn! One eye was certainly enough. Tom Wildcat let out a yell that could be heard all over the Big Green Woods; and then before he thought, he rubbed his eye again, and of course he rubbed in some more hot salve.
Well, it got to smarting and burning so badly that it nearly set Tom Wildcat crazy. With both eyes shut, and yowling terribly, he began running in every direction. The first thing he ran into was a brush thicket; then he backed out of that and started again, and presently butted his head against a tree.
By this time he had forgotten all about Stubby and everything else except that smarting and burning in his eye.
TOM WILDCAT MAKES A DISCOVERY
When Tom Wildcat began running around with his smarting eye, Stubby looked up mighty quick to see whether there was any chance of his running away. You see, he had to be very, very careful now about trying to get away, because he probably would be safe if he lay there long enough.
“And still,” Stubby said to himself, “Tom Wildcat might fool around and watch me, and just keep on watching me, to see if I die; and then when he sees I don’t die, he might grow suspicious. And still,” he went on thinking, “if I should start to run, and old Tom should see me, then he would know I’m not poisoned, and he’d finish me sure!”