THE ADVENTURES OF OLD MAN COYOTE

By Thornton W. Burgess

Author of "Old Mother West Wind Series," "Mother West Wind How Stories," "The Bedtime Story-Books," etc.

With Illustrations by Harrison Cady

Boston: Little, Brown, And Company, 1916

Original

Original

CONTENTS

I. THE STRANGE VOICE

II. PETER RABBIT'S RUN FOR LIFE

III. REDDY FOX MAKES A DISCOVERY

IV. REDDY FOX CONSULTS BOBBY COON

V. REDDY FOX VISITS JIMMY SKUNK

VI. JIMMY SKUNK GOES WITH REDDY FOX

VII. A CALL ON DIGGER THE BADGER

VIII. OLD MAN COYOTE MAKES HIMSELF AT HOME

IX. OLD MAN COYOTE MEETS REDDY FOX

X. GRANNY FOX VISITS PRICKLY PORKY

XI. GRANNY FOX TELLS PRICKLY PORKY A STORY

XII. GRANNY FOX TELLS ANOTHER STORY

XIII. THE MEETING AT THE LAUGHING BROOK

XIV. SLOW WIT AND QUICK WIT

XV. PRICKLY PORKY'S TAIL

XVI. OLD MAN COYOTE'S SMARTNESS

XVII. GRANNY FOX IS FOUND OUT

XVIII. THE CUNNING OF OLD GRANNY FOX

XIX. BOWSER THE HOUND HAS A VISITOR

XX. THE CLEVER PLAN OF GRANNY FOX

XXI. HOW PETER RABBIT HELPED OLD MAN COYOTE

XXII. WHY THE CLEVER PLAN OF GRANNY FOX FAILED

XXIII. OLD MAN COYOTE GETS A GOOD DINNER

ADVENTURES OF OLD MAN COYOTE

I. THE STRANGE VOICE

LISTEN!" It was Jimmy Skunk speaking. He had just met Peter Rabbit halfway down the Crooked Little Path just where the moonlight was brightest. But he did not need to tell Peter to listen. Peter was listening,-listening with all his might. He was sitting up very straight, and his long ears were turned in the direction of the strange sound. Just then it came again, a sound such as neither Peter Rabbit nor Jimmy Skunk had ever heard before. Peter's teeth began to chatter.

"Wha—wha—what is it?" he whispered.

"I don't know, unless it is Hooty the Owl gone crazy," replied Jimmy.

"No," said Peter, "it isn't Hooty the Owl. Hooty never could make such a noise as that."

"Maybe it's Dippy the Loon. I've heard him on the Big River, and he sounds just as if he had gone crazy," replied Jimmy.

"No," said Peter, looking behind him nervously. "No, it isn't Dippy the Loon, for Dippy never leaves the water, and that voice came from the Green Meadows. I wouldn't be surprised—" Peter didn't finish, for just then the strange voice sounded again, and it was nearer than before. Never had the Green Meadows or the Green Forest heard anything like it. It sounded something like Hooty the Owl, and Dippy the Loon, and two or three little dogs howling all together, and there was something in the sound that made cold chills run up and down Peter Rabbit's backbone. He crept a little closer to Jimmy Skunk.

"I believe it is Farmer Brown's boy and some of his friends laughing and shouting together," said Jimmy.

"No, it isn't! Farmer Brown's boy and his friends can make some dreadful noises but nothing so dreadful as that. It makes me afraid, Jimmy Skunk," said Peter.

"Pooh! You're afraid of your own shadow!" replied Jimmy Skunk, who isn't afraid of much of anything. "Let's go down there and find out what it is."

Peter's big eyes grew rounder than ever with fright at the very thought. "D-d-don't you think of such a thing, Jimmy Skunk I D-d-don't y-y-you think of such a thing!" he chattered. "I