The Hollow Tree Snowed-in Book Part 12

Now, one morning near Christmas when holly grows green, And the best of good things in the markets are seen, He went out for a smoke in the crisp morning air, And to think of some holiday dish to prepare.

Mr. Rabbit had spices to sell at his store, Mr. Reynard had tender young chicks by the score, And the old raven thought, as he stood there alone, Of the tastiest pastry that ever was known.

Then away to the market he hurried full soon, Dropping in for a chat with the 'possum and 'c.o.o.n Just to tell them his plans, which they heard with delight, And to ask them to call for a moment that night

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE TASTIEST PASTRY THAT EVER WAS KNOWN]

For a look and a taste of his pastry so fine, And he hinted he might even ask them to dine.

Then he hurried away, and the rest of the day Messrs. 'Possum and 'c.o.o.n were expectant and gay.

Oh, he hurried away and to market he went, And his money for spices and poultry he spent, While behind in the market were many, he knew, Who would talk of the marvellous things he would do; So with joy in his heart and with twinkling eye He returned to his home his new project to try, Then to stir and to bake he began right away, And his dish was complete at the end of the day.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THEN TO STIR AND TO BAKE HE BEGAN RIGHT AWAY]

Aye, the marvel was done--'twas a rich golden hue, And its smell was delicious--the old raven knew That he never had made such a pastry before, And a look of deep trouble his countenance wore; "For," thought he, "I am certain the 'possum and 'c.o.o.n That I talked with to-day will be coming here soon, And expect me to ask them to dine, when, you see, There is just a good feast in this dainty for me."

Now, behold, he'd scarce uttered his thoughts when he heard At the cas.e.m.e.nt a tapping--this greedy old bird-- And the latch was uplifted, and gayly strode in Both the 'c.o.o.n and the 'possum with faces agrin.

They were barbered and brushed and arrayed in their best, In the holiday fashion their figures were dressed, While a look in each face, to the raven at least, Said, "We've come here to-night, sir, prepared for a feast."

And the raven he smiled as he said, "Howdy-do?"

For he'd thought of a plan to get rid of the two; And quoth he, "My dear friends, I am sorry to say That the wonderful pastry I mentioned to-day When it came to be baked was a failure complete, Disappointing to taste and disturbing to eat.

I am sorry, dear friends, for I thought 'twould be fine; I am sorry I cannot invite you to dine."

And the 'c.o.o.n and the 'possum were both sorry, too, And suspicious, somewhat, for the raven they knew.

They declared 'twas too bad all that pudding to waste, And they begged him to give them at least just a taste, But he firmly refused and at last they departed, While the greedy old crow for the dining-room started, And the pie so delicious he piled on his plate, And he ate, and he ate, and he ate, and he ate!

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE GREEDY OLD RAVEN, BUT GREEDY NO MORE]

Well, next morn when the 'possum and 'c.o.o.n pa.s.sed along They could see at the raven's that something was wrong, For no blue curling smoke from the chimney-top came; So they opened his door and they called out his name, And they entered inside, and behold! on the floor Was the greedy old raven, but greedy no more: For his heart it was still--not a flutter was there-- And his toes were turned up and the table was bare; Now his epitaph tells to the whole country-side How he ate, and he ate, and he ate till he died.

When Mr. Crow finished, Mr. Rabbit said it was certainly an interesting poem, and if he just had a chance now to eat till he died he'd take it, and Mr. 'c.o.o.n said he'd give anything to know how that pie had tasted, and he didn't see how any _one_ pie could be big enough to kill anybody that felt as hungry as _he_ did now. And Mr. 'Possum didn't say much of anything, but only seemed drowsy and peaceful-like, which was curious for _him_ as things were.

Well, all that day, and the next day, and the next, there wasn't anything to eat, and they sat as close as they could around the little fire and wished they'd saved some of the big logs and some of the food, too, that they had used up so fast when they thought the big snow would go away. And the bark of Old Hungry-Wolf got louder and louder, and he began to gnaw, too, and they all heard it, day and night--all except Mr.

'Possum, who said he didn't know why, but that for some reason he couldn't hear a sound like that at all, which was _very_ strange, indeed.

But there was something else about Mr. 'Possum that was strange. He didn't get any thinner. All the others began to show the change right away, but Mr. 'Possum still looked the same, and still kept cheerful, and stepped around as lively as ever, and that was _very strange_.

By-and-by, when Mr. 'Possum had gone down-stairs for some barrel staves to burn, for the wood was all gone, Mr. Rabbit spoke of it, and said he couldn't understand it; and then Mr. 'c.o.o.n, who had been thinking about it too, said he wondered why it sometimes took Mr. 'Possum so long to get a little bit of wood. Then they all remembered how Mr. 'Possum had stayed so long down-stairs whenever he went, even before Old Hungry-Wolf came to the Hollow Tree, and they couldn't understand it _at all_.

And just then Mr. 'Possum came up with two little barrel staves which he had been a long time getting, and they all turned and looked at him very closely, which was a thing they had never done until that time. And before Mr. 'Possum noticed it, they saw him chew--a kind of last, finishing chew--and then give a little swallow--a sort of last, finishing swallow--and just then he noticed them watching him, and he stopped right in his tracks and dropped the two little barrel staves and looked very scared and guilty, which was strange, when he had always been so willing about the wood.

Then they all got up out of their chairs and looked straight at Mr.

'Possum, and said:

"What was that you were chewing just now?"

And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LOOKED STRAIGHT AT MR. 'POSSUM AND SAID, "WHAT WAS THAT YOU WERE CHEWING JUST NOW?"]

Then they all said:

"What was that you were swallowing just now?"

And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.

Then they all said:

"Why do you always stay so long when you go for wood?"

And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.

Then they all said:

"Why is it that you don't get thin, like the rest of us?"

And Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.

Then they all said:

"Why is it you never hear the bark of Old Hungry-Wolf?"

And Mr. 'Possum said, very weakly:

"I did think I heard it a little while ago."

Then they all said:

"And was that why you went down after wood?"

And once more Mr. 'Possum couldn't say a word.

Then they all said:

"What have you got _down there_ to eat? And _where_ do you keep it?"

Then Mr. 'Possum seemed to think of something, and picked up the two little barrel staves and brought them over to the fire and put them on, and looked very friendly, and sat down and lit his pipe and smoked a minute, and said that climbing the stairs had overcome him a little, and that he wasn't feeling very well, but if they'd let him breathe a minute he'd tell them all about it, and how he had been preparing a nice surprise for them, for just such a time as this; but when he saw they had found out something, it all came on him so sudden that, what with climbing the stairs and all, he couldn't quite gather himself, but that he was all right now, and the surprise was ready.

"Of course you know," Mr. 'Possum said, "that I have travelled a good deal, and have seen a good many kinds of things happen, and know about what to expect. And when I saw how fast we were using up the food, and how deep the snow was, I knew we might expect a famine that even Mr.

Crow's johnny-cake and gravy wouldn't last through; and Mr. Crow mentioned something of the kind once himself, though he seemed to forget it right away again, for he went on giving us just as much as ever. But I didn't forget about it, and right away I began laying aside in a quiet place some of the things that would keep pretty well, and that we would be glad to have when Old Hungry-Wolf should really come along and we had learned to live on lighter meals and could make things last."

Mr. 'Possum was going right on, but Mr. 'c.o.o.n interrupted him, and said that Mr. 'Possum could call it living on lighter meals if he wanted to but that he hadn't eaten any meal at all for three days, and that if Mr.

'Possum had put away anything for a hungry time he wished he'd get it out right now, without any more explaining, for it was food that he wanted and not explanations, and all the others said so too.

Then Mr. 'Possum said he was just coming to that, but he only wished to say a few words about it because they had seemed to think that he was doing something that he shouldn't, when he was really trying to save them from Old Hungry-Wolf, and he said he had kept his surprise as long as he could, so it would last longer, and that he had been pretending not to hear Old Hungry's bark just to keep their spirits up, and he supposed one of the reasons why he hadn't got any thinner was because he hadn't been so worried, and had kept happy in the nice surprise he had all the time, just saving it for when they would begin to need it most.

As to what he had been chewing and swallowing when he came up-stairs, Mr. 'Possum said that he had been taking just the least little taste of some of the things to see if they were keeping well--some nice cooked chickens, for instance, from a lot that Mr. Crow had on hand and didn't remember about, and a young turkey or two, and a few ducks, and a bushel or so of apples, and a half a barrel of doughnuts, and--

But Mr. 'Possum didn't get any further, for all the Deep Woods People made a wild scramble for the stairs, with Mr. 'Possum after them, and when they got down in the store-room he took them behind one of the big roots of the Hollow Tree, and there was a pa.s.sageway that none of them had ever suspected, and Mr. 'Possum lit a candle and led them through it and out into a sort of cave, and there, sure enough, were all the things he had told them about and some mince-pies besides. And there was even some wood, for Mr. 'Possum had worked hard to lay away a supply of things for a long snowed-in time.