THE FINDING OF THE HOLLOW TREE
HOW THE 'COON AND 'POSSUM AND THE OLD BLACK CROW MOVED AND SET UPHOUSEKEEPING
WELL, the Widow Crow set a very good table, and everything in herboarding-house went along quite well for a while, and Mr. 'Possum andMr. 'Coon both said what a good thing it was to have a home, and Mr.Crow said so too, though he didn't look as if he enjoyed it as much ashe said, for his mother-in-law kept him so busy cutting and carryingwood and helping her with the cooking that he never had any time forhimself at all.
Even when Mr. Rabbit and some of his friends had the great fall handicaprace he had to stay at home and peel potatoes, and not see it, besidesbeing scolded all the time for wanting to go to such a thing as a rabbitrace anyway. And Mr. Crow was sad because it reminded him of hismarried life, which he was trying to forget--Mrs. Crow having been theimage of his mother-in-law and exactly like her about races and peelingpotatoes and such things.
And by-and-by, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon didn't like it so much, either.Widow Crow got so she scolded them, too, about their habits, especiallyabout being out nights and lying in bed next morning, and she wouldn'tgive them any breakfast unless they got up in time.
At last she even asked them to take care of their own rooms and to doother work, the same as Mr. Crow did; and she didn't cook as goodthings, nor as many of them, as she did when they first came. Then oneday when they complained a little--not very much, for they were afraidof the Widow Crow, but a little--she told them that if they didn't likewhat she gave them they could find a place they liked better, and thatshe was tired of their ways anyhow.
HAD TO STAY AT HOME AND PEEL POTATOES]
So then Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum all got together andtalked it over. And Mr. Crow said _they_ might be pretty tired of it,but that they couldn't in a hundred years, thinking night and day, thinkhow tired of it _he_ was. He said if they would just say the word hewould take the things that belonged to him out of that house, and thethree of them would find some good place and all live together, andnever have anything more to do with mothers-in-law or their families. Hesaid he knew how to cook as well as she did, and really liked to cookwhen he was in a pleasant place and wasn't henpecked to death.
And he said if they moved his things they had better do it at nightwhile his mother-in-law was asleep, so as not to disturb her.
Well, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon both spoke right up and said _they'd_ goin a minute, and that they'd hunt up the place to live that very day,though it wasn't the best time of year to move. And Mr. Crow said:
"I know where there's a big Hollow Tree that would be _just_ the place.It's the biggest tree in the Big Deep Woods. It has three big hollowbranches that would do for rooms, and with a little work it could bemade into the finest place anywhere. The Old Wise Man of the Woods oncelived there and fixed it all up with nice stairs, and a fireplace, andwindows, and doors with good latches on them, and it's still just as heleft it. All it needs are a few repairs, and we could move right in. Ifound it once as I was flying over, and I could tell _you_, so you couldfind it. It's in a thick swampy place, and you would never guess it wasthere if you didn't know it. Mr. Dog knows about it, but he never couldget in if we kept the door latched, and it's not so far away from Mr.Man's that we could not borrow, when we ran out of little things weneeded."
Well, Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon took the directions from Mr. Crow, andwent right off to look at the Hollow Tree that very day, and decidedthey'd take it, and pitched in to clean it up and get it ready to livein. And next day they came with a hammer and some nails and worked allday again, and Mr. Rabbit heard the noise and came over and lookedthrough the place and said how nice it was; and they were so tired atnight that they never thought of going out, and were up early forbreakfast.
Widow Crow was so surprised she forgot what she had always scolded themfor before, and scolded them this time for getting up so early that theyhad to stand around and wait for breakfast to be put on the table. Butthey didn't seem to mind the scolding at all, and Mr. Crow lookedhappier than he had looked for months, and skipped around and helped setthe table, and brought in a big wood-box full of wood, and when WidowCrow scolded him for getting chips on the floor he laughed. Then sheboxed his ears and told him he ought to remember the poor Missing One atsuch a time, and Mr. Crow said he did, and could almost imagine she wasthere now.
Well, Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum got the Hollow Tree all ready, that day,and that night they moved.
The Widow Crow was pretty fat, and liked to go to bed early, and sleepsound, and leave Mr. Crow to do the evening dishes; and that evening Mr.'Coon and Mr. 'Possum pitched in and helped him, and they got throughin a jiffy and began to move.
Mr. Crow said he knew his own things, and that he wouldn't take any thatbelonged to the Missing One, because they had mostly come from hermother; and, besides, they would be a sad reminder, and didn't seem togo with the kind of a place they had planned to have. He said if theydidn't have enough things they could borrow a few from Mr. Man when Mr.Man went away and left his windows open, and that they wouldn't needmuch to begin with.
So then they got Mr. Crow's cook-stove out of the back store-room, and atable that was his, and some chairs from different parts of the house,and a few dishes which had come to him from his side of the family, andthey tiptoed around and listened now and then at Widow Crow's door to besure she was asleep.
They knew she _was_ by the sound; but still they were very quiet untilMr. 'Possum started to bring a rocking-chair of Mr. Crow's down-stairsand somehow got his legs through the rounds and fell and rolled clear tothe bottom, expressing his feelings as he came down.
LISTENED NOW AND THEN AT WIDOW CROW'S DOOR TO BE SURE SHEWAS ASLEEP]
That woke up Widow Crow with a jump, and she sat up in bed and called"Thieves!" and "Help!" and Mr. Crow ran to her door and said that itwasn't anything, only those scamps Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon had beenout late again. He said they had brought home one of Mr. Man'sbeehives and had dropped it because the bees woke up just as they wereclimbing the stairs.
Then Mrs. Crow called out quick, and said for him not to dare to openthat door and let those pesky bees into her room, and that she hopedthey'd sting that 'Possum and 'Coon until they wouldn't be able to tellthemselves apart. She said she bet she'd get that pair out of her houseif she lived through the night. Then she rolled over and went to sleepagain, and Mr. 'Possum got up and limped a little, but wasn't muchdamaged, and they got all the things outside and loaded up, and set outfor the Hollow Tree.
MR. 'POSSUM SAID HE'D JUST GET ON AND HOLD THE THINGS]
It was moonlight and Mr. Crow led the way, and the minute they were farenough off to be sure they wouldn't wake up Widow Crow they sang thechorus of a song that Mr. Rabbit had made for them the day before whenhe called at the Hollow Tree, and they had told him what they were goingto do. That was the "Hollow Tree Song," which, of course, everybody inthe Big Deep Woods knows now, but it had never been sung there before,and when they joined in the chorus,
Then here's to the 'Possum and the Old Black Crow And the 'Coon with a one, two, three! And here's to the hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow-- Then here's to the Hollow Tree,
Mr. Owl, who was watching them from a limb overhead, thought he hadnever heard anything quite so fine.
Well, they couldn't get along very fast, for the things got so heavy andthey had to rest so often that it began to look as if they wouldn't getto the Hollow Tree by morning. But just as they got out into a littleopen place that was about half-way there they saw somebody coming, andwho do you suppose it was?
"I know," says the Little Lady, "it was the Old Wise Man of the Woods,to tell them they couldn't have his house."
No, he didn't live there any more--he had gone away for good. No, itwasn't the Old Wise Man; it was Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Turtle, coming tohelp them move. Mr. Rabbit had gone all the way to the Wide Blue Waterafter Mr. Turtle because he is so strong, and they would have been therea good
deal sooner, only Mr. Turtle didn't get home till late, andtravels slow.
Well, it wasn't so hard to move after that. They just set the cook-stoveon Mr. Turtle's back and piled on as much as would stay on, and he kepttelling them to put on more, until pretty soon Mr. 'Possum said that hewould just get on and hold the things from slipping off, which he did,and sat on the stove and rode and swung his feet and held the otherthings, while Mr. Crow and the rest walked and carried what was left.
MR. 'POSSUM AND MR. 'COON TRIED TO PUT UP THE STOVE]
And when they got to the Hollow Tree it was just about sun-up, and Mr.'Possum said if they didn't have breakfast pretty soon he would starveto death with being up all night and working so hard holding on thosethings.
So then Mr. Crow told him that he and Mr. 'Coon could set up the stove,and that he would unpack the food and stir up something as quick as hecould if the others would bring a little wood and some water from thespring, and place the things around inside; for he saw a cloud coming,he said, and it might rain. And Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon tried to putup the stove in a hurry, and the pieces of pipe didn't fit very well,and they came as near having a quarrel over it as they ever did overanything, for even the best friends can't always put up stovepipetogether without thinking and sometimes saying unpleasant things abouteach other, especially when they are hungry and not very warm and thehouse is all upset. Mr. 'Coon said he only wished he had another handand he would do that job alone, and Mr. 'Possum told him that if he'dbeen provided with a handy and useful tail he'd _have_ the same asanother hand, and could work more and not wish so much.
Then Mr. Rabbit came to help them, and just as they got it about up itall came down again, and Mr. Crow said that if they'd all go away he'dset up the stove himself; which he did in about a minute, and had afire in it and the coffee on in no time.
Then the others rushed around and got the things straightened out, and afire in the fireplace, and they said how nice their rooms were, and whenMr. Crow called they all came hurrying down, and in about another minutethe 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow, with Mr. Rabbit and Mr.Turtle, all sat down to the first meal in the Hollow Tree.
It was then that Jack Rabbit read all of the "Hollow Tree Song" he hadmade for them, and they all sang it together; and then the storm thatMr. Crow had seen coming did come, and they shut all the doors andwindows tight, and sat before the fire and smoked and went to sleep,because they were so tired with being up all night.
And that was the first day in the Hollow Tree, and how the 'Possum and'Coon and Old Black Crow came to live there, and they live therestill.