“The next most important thing is dryness. A damp house is bad, very bad. It is uncomfortable, and it is bad for the health. This place is perfectly dry. It will be warm in winter and cool in summer. I can't imagine a more comfortable house. The only thing lacking is a good bed, and that I'll soon make. On the whole, I guess the finding of this new house is worth all I went through. Now I think I'll go out and get acquainted with the neighborhood and see if I have got any near neighbors.”
So Bobby went out through the narrow entrance and began to look about to see what he could discover. “I think,” said he, “that I'll follow this ledge and see if there are any more caves like mine. I might find a better one, though I doubt it.”
He shuffled along, light of heart and brimming over with excitement and curiosity. You know it always is great fun to explore a strange place. He had gone but a little way when he came to a sort of big open cave in the rock. Bobby stopped and peered in. Almost the first thing he saw was a bed. It was a big bed, and it was made of dry leaves and little branches of hemlock. It was a very good bed, and it was clear that some one had been sleeping in it very recently. Bobby's eyes grew very round. Then he sniffed.
That one sniff was enough. Bobby turned and ran back to his new house as fast as his legs would take him. All the pleasure he had taken in his new home was gone. He had discovered that his nearest neighbor was none other than Buster Bear himself!
XXIII. BUSTER BEAR FINDS BOBBY COON
BOBBY COON was back in his new house, in the little cave in the rocky ledge deep in the Green Forest, and never was he or any member of his family more upset. You see, he had started out in high spirits to see what was to be seen about his new home and to find out who his neighbors might be, and he hadn't much more than started when he discovered that his nearest neighbor was none other than Buster Bear. Wasn't that enough to upset anybody? Anyway, it was enough to upset Bobby Coon, for only a few hours before Buster Bear had tried to catch him and had threatened to eat him. So all desire to spend the night looking about left Bobby the very instant he found Buster Bear's home in that very same rocky ledge in which his own new home was.
“What a dreadful fix, what a dreadful, dreadful fix I'm in,” whined Bobby. “Here I've found the best home I've ever had, and now I find that Buster Bear lives almost next door. I don't dare stay here, and I haven't any place to go. Oh, dear, oh, dear, what can a poor little fellow like me do? I wish I were as big as Buster Bear. I do. Then I'd fight him. I would. I'd fight him.”
“Who would you fight?” demanded a great, deep, grumbly, rumbly voice from outside his doorway.