XVI. OLD MAN COYOTE'S SMARTNESS
When you meet an adversary
Bold and brave be, also wary.
If the weapons you may hear of,
Teeth and claws, you have no fear of,
Don't be heedless and rush blindly
Lest you be received unkindly,
And, like Prickly Porky, find him
With a dangerous tail behind him.
|NOW Old Man Coyote knew nothing about that dangerous tail. He had neverheard how Bowser the Hound had been sent yelping home with his facestuck full of those sharp little spears. But Old Man Coyote is wary. Oh,my, yes! He certainly is wary. To be wary, you know, is to be very, verycareful where you go and what you do until you know for sure thatthere is no possible danger. And there is no one more wary than Old ManCoyote, not even wise, sly, old Granny Fox.
So now, though Prickly Porky, curled up in a ball in front of him,looked harmless enough except for the thousand little spears stickingout all over him, Old Man Coyote was too wary--too smart and toocareful--to take any chances as Bowser the Hound had rashly done. Andthis is why, as he stole forward with his nose stretched out as if tosniff of Prickly Porky, he suddenly stopped just when the little meadowand forest people looking on were holding their breath and huggingthemselves with joy and excitement because they expected to see the samething happen to Old Man Coyote that had happened to Bowser.
Yes, Sir, Old Man Coyote stopped. He studied Prickly Porky a fewminutes. Then slowly he walked around him, just studying and studying.
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"It looks safe enough to go closer and sniff at him," thought Old ManCoyote, "but I learned a long time ago that you cannot always tell justby looks, and that the most harmless looking thing is sometimes the mostdangerous. Now it looks to me as if this stupid Porcupine couldn't hurta flee so long as he keeps curled up this way, but I don't _know_, andI'm not going any nearer until I do know."
He scratched his head thoughtfully, and then he had an idea. He began todig in the soft earth.
"What under the sun is he doing that for?" whispered Happy Jack Squirrelto his cousin, Chatterer the Bed Squirrel.
"I don't know," replied Chatterer, also in a whisper. "We'll probablyknow in a few minutes."
He had hardly finished when Old Man Coyote threw a little lump of earthso that it hit Prickly Porky. Now, Of course Prickly Porky couldn't seewhat was going on, because, you know, he was curled up with his headtucked down in his waistcoat. But he had been listening as hard as everhe could, and he had heard Old Man Coyote's footsteps very close tohim. When the little lump of earth struck him, he thought it was OldMan Coyote himself, and like a flash he slapped that queer tail of hisaround. Of course it didn't hit anybody, because there was nobody withinreach. But it told Old Man Coyote all that he wanted to know.
"Ha, ha, ha!" he laughed. "That's the time I fooled you instead of youfooling me! You've got to get up early to fool me with a trick likethat, Mr. Smarty!"
Then what do you think he did? Why, he just scooped earth on to PricklyPorky as fast as he could dig. Prickly Porky stood it for a few minutes,but he didn't want to be buried alive. Besides, now that his trickwas found out by the smartness of Old Man Coyote, there was no usein keeping still any longer. So, with a grunt of anger, Prickly Porkyscrambled to his feet, and rattling his thousand little spears, rushedat Old Man Coyote, who just jumped to one side, laughing fit to killhimself.
XVII. GRANNY FOX IS FOUND OUT
Granny Fox is sly and wise
And seldom taken by surprise,
But wisdom wrongly put to use
Can never find a good excuse.
It ceases then to wisdom be,
But foolishness, as we shall see.
|NOW, with all her smartness and all her cleverness, old Granny Foxhad made one great mistake. Yes, Sir, old Granny Fox had made one greatmistake. You see, she had become so used to being thought the smartestand cleverest of all the little people who lived on the Green Meadowsand around the Smiling Pool and in the Green Forest, that she had cometo believe that there couldn't be anybody anywhere as smart and cleveras she. That was because she didn't know Old Man Coyote. And now, as sheand Reddy Fox watched from their hiding place the meeting between OldMan Coyote and Prickly Porky, she felt a sudden sharp sting in herpride. Old Man Coyote had proved himself too smart for Prickly Porky.She ground her teeth as she heard him laughing fit to kill himself as hekept out of Prickly Porky's reach, and she ground them still more as sheheard him say:
"You will boast that you will drive me out of the Green Forest, willyou, Mr. Porcupine? The time to brag will be when you have done it."
Prickly Porky stopped short in the middle of one of his clumsy rushes.
"Boaster and bragger yourself!" he grunted. "You don't seem to be diningon Porcupine the first time we meet. Why don't you? Why don't you makeyour own boast good?"
Old Man Coyote stopped laughing and pricked up his ears. "What's that?"he demanded. "What's that? Somebody has been filling your ears withsomething that is very like a lie, Mr. Porcupine."
"No more than they have yours, Mr. Coyote," replied Prickly Porky,letting his thousand little spears drop part way back into his coat."But old Granny Fox told me."
"Ha! So it was Granny Fox!" interrupted Old Man Coyote. "So it wasold Granny Fox! Well, it was that same old mischief-maker who told methat--" He stopped and suddenly looked very hard at the very placewhere Granny and Reddy were hiding. Then he made, a long jump in thatdirection. Granny and Reddy didn't wait for him.
They started for home so fast that they looked like nothing but twolittle red streaks disappearing among the trees.
"Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho! Hee, hee, hee! Ha, ho, he, ho!" laughed OldMan Coyote, and all the little meadow and forest people who were lookingon laughed with him. Then he turned to Prickly Porky.
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"I guess you and I are going to be friends," said he.
"I guess we are," replied Prickly Porky, and all his little spearsdropped out of sight.
XVIII. THE CUNNING OF OLD GRANNY FOX
You must get up very early,
You must lie awake at night,
You must have your wits well sharpened
And your eyes must be so bright
That there's nothing can escape them,
Nothing that you do not see,
If ahead of Granny Fox you
Ever get, or hope to be.
|Happy Jack squirrel made up that verse one day after he had had oh,such a narrow escape from old Granny Fox. It had made Happy Jack verysober for a while, for Granny had so nearly caught him that she actuallyhad pulled some hair from Happy Jack's tail. All the other little forestand meadow people agreed that Happy Jack was quite right.
Most of them had had just such narrow escapes from old Granny Fox.
You see, it is this way: Old Granny Fox is very, very cunning. To becunning, you know, is to be sly and smart in doing things in such a wayas no one else will think of doing them. Just now, the thing that Grannywanted most of anything in the world was to drive Old Man Coyote awayfrom the Green Meadows and the Green Forest. She couldn't do it openly,because he was bigger and stronger than she, so she had thought andthought and thought, trying to find some plan which might get Old ManCoyote into trouble, so that he would go away and stay away.
Then Reddy Fox told her that he had found the place where Old Man Coyotetook a sun-nap every day and a splendid plan came to Granny. At least,it seemed like a splendid plan. The more she thought about it, thebetter it seemed.
But Granny Fox never acts hastily. She is too wise for that. So shestudied and studied this plan that she had thought of to make troublefor Old Man
Coyote. Finally she was satisfied.
"I believe it will work. I certainly do believe it will work," said she,and called Reddy Fox over to her.
"I want you to make sure that Old Man Coyote takes his sun-nap in thesame place every day," said she. "You must see him there yourself. Itwon't do to take the word of any one else for it. I want you to stealup every day and make sure that he is there. Be sure you don't tell anyone, not any one at all, what you are doing, and above all things, don'tlet _him_ get so much as a glimpse of you."
Reddy promised that he would take the greatest care, and so for a weekevery day he crept to a snug hiding-place behind a thick clump of grasswhere he could peep through and see Old Man Coyote taking his sun-nap.Then he would tiptoe softly away and hurry to report to old Granny Fox.
"Good!" she would say. "Go again, to-morrow and make sure that he is.there."
"But what do you want to know for?" Reddy asked one day, for he wasbecoming very, very curious.
"Never mind what I want to know for," replied Granny severely. "Do as Itell you, and you will find out soon enough."
You see, Granny Fox was too cunning to let even Reddy know of her plan,for if no one but herself knew it, it couldn't possibly leak out, andthat, you know, is the only way to keep a secret.
XIX. BOWSER THE HOUND HAS A VISITOR
|BOWSER the Hound lay in Fanner Brown's dooryard dozing in the sun.Bowser was dreaming. Yes, Sir, Bowser was dreaming. Farmer Brown's boy,passing through the yard on his way to the cornfield, laughed.
"Sic him, Bowser! Sic him! That's the dog! Don't let him fool you thistime," said he.
You see, Bowser was talking in his sleep. He was whining eagerly, andevery once in a while breaking out into excited little yelps, and soFarmer Brown's boy knew that he was dreaming that he was hunting, thathe was on the trail of Reddy Fox or sly old Granny Fox. His eyes wereshut, and he didn't; hear what Fanner Brown's boy said. The latter wentoff laughing, his hoe on his shoulder, for there was work for him downin the cornfield.
Bowser kept right on getting more and more excited. It was a splendidhunt he was having there in dreamland. Across the Green Meadows, alongthe edge of the Green Forest, and up through the Old Pasture he ran, allin his dream, you know, and just ahead of him ran old Granny Fox. Notonce was he fooled by her tricks, and she tried every one she knew.For once he was too smart for her, and it made him tingle all over withdelight, for he was sure that this time he would catch her.
And then something queer happened. Yes, Sir, it was something very queerindeed. He saw Granny Fox stop just a little way ahead of him. She satdown facing him and began to laugh at him. She laughed and laughed fitto kill herself. It made Bowser very angry. Oh, very angry indeed. Noone likes to be laughed at, you know, and to be laughed at by Granny Foxof all people was more than Bowser could stand. He opened his mouth togive a great roar as he sprang at her and then--why, Bowser waked up.Yes, Sir, he really had given a great roar, and had waked himself upwith his own voice.
For a few minutes Bowser winked and blinked, for the sun was shining inhis eyes. Then he winked and blinked some more, but not because of thesun. Oh, my, no! it wasn't because of the sun that he winked and blinkednow. It was because--what do you think? Why, it was because Bowser theHound couldn't tell whether he was awake or asleep. He thought that hewas awake. He was sure that he was awake, and yet--well, there sat oldGranny Fox laughing at him, just as he had seen her in his dream. Yes,Sir, there she sat, laughing at him. Poor Bowser! He just didn't knowwhat to think. He rubbed both eyes and looked. There she sat, laughingjust as before. Bowser closed his eyes tight and kept them closed for awhole minute. Perhaps when he opened them again, she would be gone. Thenhe would know that she was only a dream fox, after all.
But no, Sir! When he opened his eyes again, there she sat, laughingharder than ever. Just then a hen came around a corner of the house.Granny Fox stopped laughing. Like a flash she caught the hen, slungher over her shoulder and trotted away, all the time keeping one eye onBowser.
Then Bowser knew that this was no dream fox, but old Granny Fox herself,and that she had had the impudence and boldness to steal a hen rightunder his very nose! He was awake now, was Bowser, very much awake. Witha great roar of anger, he sprang to his feet, and started after Granny,and startled the Merry Little Breezes at play on the Green Meadows.
XX. THE CLEVER PLAN OF GRANNY FOX
|THE bold visit of old Granny Fox to Bowser the Hound in Farmer Brown'sdooryard right in broad daylight was all a part of the clever planGranny had worked out to make trouble for Old Man Coyote. First she hadsent Reddy Fox to make sure that Old Man Coyote was taking his usualsun-nap in his usual place. If he were, Reddy was to softly steal awayand then hurry to the top of the Crooked Little Path where it comes downthe hill. When he got there, he was to bark three times. Granny wasto be hidden behind the old stone wall on the edge of Farmer Brown'sorchard, and when she heard Reddy bark, she was to do her part, whileReddy was to hide in a secret place on the edge of the Green Forest andwatch what would happen.
It all turned out just as Granny had planned. She had been in hidingbehind the old stone wall only a few minutes when she heard Reddybark three times. Granny grinned. Then she stole up to Farmer Brown'sdooryard, and there she found Bowser the Hound fast asleep and dreaming.She was just getting ready to bark to waken him, when he waked himselfwith his own voice. It was just then that a hen happened to walk aroundthe corner of the house. Granny's eyes sparkled. "Good," said she toherself. "I'll take this hen along with me, and Reddy and I will have agood dinner after I have set Bowser to chasing Old Man Coyote,"--for thatwas what Granny was planning to do. So she caught the hen, threw it overher shoulder, and started off with Bowser the Hound after her, making agreat noise with his big voice.
Now, of course Granny knew that she couldn't carry that hen very far andkeep ahead of Bowser, so she ran straight across the Old Orchard towardsthe secret place on the edge of the Green Forest where she knew thatReddy Fox was hiding. When she was sure that Reddy could see her, shegave the hen a toss over into the grass and then raced away towards theGreen Meadows. You see, she knew that Bowser would keep on right afterher, and when it was safe for him to do so, Reddy would steal out fromhis hiding place and get the hen, and that is just what did happen.
Away ran Granny, and after her ran Bowser, and all the little meadow andforest people heard his great voice and were glad that he was not afterthem. But Granny Fox was not worried. You see, she had fooled him somany times that she knew she could do it again. So she kept just alittle way ahead of him and gradually led him towards the place whereOld Man Coyote took his sun-nap every day. But she was too smart to runstraight towards it, "For," said she to herself, "if I do that, he willbecome alarmed and run away before Bowser is near enough to see him."So she ran in a big circle around the place, feeling sure that Old ManCoyote would lie perfectly still so as not to be seen.
Round and round ran Granny Fox with Bowser after her, and all the timeshe was making the circles smaller and smaller so as to get nearer andnearer to the napping-place of Old Man Coyote. When she thought that shewas near enough, she suddenly started straight for it.
"Now," thought she, "he'll jump and run, and when Bowser sees him, hewill forget all about me. He will follow Old Man Coyote, and perhaps hewill drive him away from the Green Meadows forever."
Nearer and nearer to the napping place Granny drew. She was almostthere. Why didn't Old Man Coyote jump and run? At last she was right toit. She could see just where he had been stretched out, but he wasn'tthere now. There wasn't a sign of him anywhere! What did it mean? Justthen she heard a sound over in the Green Forest that made her grind herteeth with rage.
"Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho! Hee, hee, nee! Ha, ho, hee, ho!" It was thelaughter of Old Man Coyote.
XXI. HOW PETER RABBIT HELPED OLD MAN COYOTE
A kindly word, a kindly deed,
Is like the planting of a seed;
It f
irst sends forth a little root
And by and by bears splendid fruit.
|WHEN Old Man Coyote first came to the Green Meadows, to live, he chasedPeter Rabbit and gave Peter a terrible fright. After that for some timePeter kept very close to the dear Old Briar-patch, where he always feltperfectly safe. But Peter dearly loves to roam, and Peter is very, verycurious, so it wasn't long before he began to grow tired of the OldBriar-patch and long to go abroad on the Green Meadows and in the GreenForest as he always had done, and find out all that was going on amonghis neighbors.
Of course Peter heard a great deal, for Sammy Jay and Blacky the Crowwould stop almost every day to tell him the latest news about Old ManCoyote. They told him all about how Granny Fox had tried to make troublebetween him and Prickly Porky the Porcupine, and how she had been foundout. After they had gone, Peter sat very still for a long time, thinkingit all over.
"H-m-m," said Peter to himself, "it is very plain to me that Old ManCoyote is smarter than Granny Fox, and that means a great deal to me.Y es, Sir, that means a great deal to me. It means that I have got towatch out for him even sharper than I have to watch out for Granny andReddy Fox. Dear me, dear me, just as if I didn't have troubles enough asit is!"