The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum

by Thornton W. Burgess

  The Bedtime Story-Books

  THE ADVENTURES OF UNC' BILLY POSSUM

  by

  THORNTON W. BURGESS

  Author of _The Adventures of Peter Cottontail_, _Old Mother West Wind_,etc.

  With Illustrations by HARRISON CADY

  BostonLittle, Brown, and Company

  1920

  Reddy Fox sprang up as if some one had stuck a pin intohim. FRONTISPIECE.]

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER

  I. UNC' BILLY POSSUM IS CAUGHT II. REDDY FOX THINKS HE SEES A GHOST III. UNC' BILLY POSSUM SENDS FOR HIS FAMILY IV. BOBBY COON ENTERS THE WRONG HOUSE V. BOBBY COON IS WAKED UP VI. SAMMY JAY LEARNS PETER RABBIT'S SECRET VII. FOUR LITTLE SCAMPS PLAN MISCHIEF VIII. PETER RABBIT SENDS OUT WORD IX. MR. TOAD AND PRICKLY PORKY PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER X. THE RUNAWAY CABBAGE XI. REDDY FOX GOES HUNGRY XII. PRICKLY PORKY MAKES HIMSELF AT HOME XIII. UNC' BILLY POSSUM GROWS HUNGRY XIV. OLD MRS. POSSUM GROWS WORRIED XV. THE FOOLISHNESS OF UNC' BILLY POSSUM XVI. WHY UNC' BILLY POSSUM DIDN'T GO HOME XVII. UNC' BILLY POSSUM LIES LOW XVIII. UNC' BILLY POSSUM IS A PRISONER XIX. WHAT THE SNOW DID XX. UNC' BILLY POSSUM WISHES HE HAD SNOWSHOES XXI. FARMER BROWN'S BOY CHOPS DOWN A TREE XXII. WHERE UNC' BILLY POSSUM WAS XXIII. HAPPY JACK SQUIRREL MAKES AN UNEXPECTED CALL XXIV. HAPPY JACK SQUIRREL HELPS UNC' BILLY POSSUM XXV. HAPPY JACK SQUIRREL'S BRIGHT IDEA

  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

  REDDY FOX SPRANG UP AS IF SOME ONE HAD STUCK A PIN INTO HIM

  MY! MY! MY! SUCH A RUMPUS AS THERE WAS RIGHT AWAY IN THAT HOLLOW TREE!

  "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" EXCLAIMED THE OTHERS ALL TOGETHER

  HE JUST ATE AND ATE AND ATE UNTIL HE COULDN'T EAT ANOTHER ONE

  THERE ALL THE WAY FROM FARMER BROWN'S HEN-HOUSE, WAS A BROAD TRAIL IN THE SMOOTH WHITE SNOW

  "YO' TELL UNC' BILLY POSSUM THAT AH DON' CARE IF HE NEVER COMES BACK"

  I

  UNC' BILLY POSSUM IS CAUGHT

  The Green Meadows were thrown into great excitement late oneafternoon, just as the black shadows came creeping down from thePurple Hills. Reddy Fox brought the news, and when he told it hegrinned as if he enjoyed it and was glad of it.

  "Old Billy Possum is dead. I know it because I saw Farmer Brown's boycarrying him home by the tail," said Reddy. "So you see he wasn't sosmart as you thought he was," he added maliciously.

  No one really believed Reddy Fox, for every one knows that he seldomtells the truth, but when Jimmy Skunk came mournfully down the CrookedLittle Path and said that it was true, they had to believe it. Theneverybody began to talk about Unc' Billy and say nice things about himand tell how much they had enjoyed having him live in the Green Forestsince he came up from "Ol' Virginny." That is, everybody but Reddy Foxsaid so. Reddy said that it served Unc' Billy right, because he was ofno account, anyway. Then everybody began to hoot and hiss at Reddyuntil he was glad enough to slink away.

  And while they were all saying such nice things about him, Unc' BillyPossum was having an exciting adventure. For once he had been toobold. He had gone up to Farmer Brown's hen-house before dark. JimmySkunk had tried to stop him, but he had heeded Jimmy Skunk not atall. He had said that he was hungry and wanted an egg, and he couldn'twait till dark to get it. So off he had started, for Unc' Billy Possumis very headstrong and obstinate.

  He had reached the hen-house and slipped inside without being seen.The nests were full of eggs, and soon Unc' Billy was enjoying hisfeast so that he forgot to keep watch. Suddenly the door opened, andin stepped Farmer Brown's boy to get some eggs for supper. There wasno time to run. Unc' Billy just dropped right down in his tracks as ifhe were dead.

  When Farmer Brown's boy saw him, he didn't know what to make of him,for he had never seen Unc' Billy before.

  "Well, well, I wonder what happened to this fellow," said FarmerBrown's boy, turning Unc' Billy over with the toe of one foot. "Hecertainly is dead enough, whatever killed him. I wonder what he wasdoing in here."

  Then he saw some egg on Unc' Billy's lips. "Ho! ho!" shouted FarmerBrown's boy. "So you are the thief who has been getting my eggs!" Andpicking up Unc' Billy by the tail, he started with him for the house.

  As they passed the woodpile, he tossed Unc' Billy on thechopping-block while he gathered an armful of kindlings to take to thehouse. When he turned to pick up Unc' Billy again, Unc' Billy wasn'tthere.

  Farmer Brown's boy dropped his wood and hunted everywhere, but not atrace of Unc' Billy could he find.

  II

  REDDY FOX THINKS HE SEES A GHOST

  Reddy Fox came down the Lone Little Path through the Green Forest onhis way to the Green Meadows. He had brushed his red coat until itshone. His white waistcoat was spotless, and he carried his big tailhigh in the air, that it might not become soiled. Reddy was feeling asfine as he looked. He would have liked to sing, but every time hetried his voice cracked, and he was afraid that some one would hearhim and laugh at him. If there is one thing that Reddy Fox dislikesmore than another, it is being laughed at.

  Reddy chuckled at his thoughts, and what do you think he was thinkingabout? Why, about how he had seen Farmer Brown's boy carrying offUnc' Billy Possum by the tail the afternoon before. He knew how FarmerBrown's boy had caught Unc' Billy in the hen-house, and with his owneyes he had seen Unc' Billy carried off. Of course Unc' Billy wasdead. There could be no doubt about it. And Reddy was glad of it. Yes,Sir, Reddy was glad of it. Unc' Billy Possum had made altogether toomany friends in the Green Forest and on the Green Meadows, and he hadmade Reddy the laughing-stock of them all by the way he had daredReddy to meet Bowser the Hound, and actually had waited for Bowserwhile Reddy ran away.

  Reddy remembered that Unc' Billy's hollow tree was not far away. Hewould go over that way, just to have another look at it. So over hewent. There stood the old hollow tree, and half way up was the doorout of which Unc' Billy used to look down on him and grin. It wasReddy's turn to grin now. Presently he sat down with his back againstthe foot of the tree, crossed his legs, looked this way and that wayto make sure that no one was about, and then in a dreadfully crackedvoice he began to sing:

  "Ol' Bill Possum, he's gone before! Ol' Bill Possum, he is no more! Bill was a scamp, Sir; Bill was a thief! Bill stole an egg, Sir; Bill came to grief. Ol' Bill Possum, it served him right; And he is no more, for he died last night."

  "Very good, Sah, very good. Ah cert'nly am obliged to yo'all for yo'serenade," said a voice that seemed to come out of the tree at Reddy'sback.

  Reddy Fox sprang up as if some one had stuck a pin into him. Everyhair stood on end, as he looked up at Unc' Billy's doorway. Then histeeth began to chatter with fright. Looking out of Unc' Billy'sdoorway and grinning down at him was something that looked for all theworld like Unc' Billy himself.

  "It must be his ghost!" said Reddy, and tucking his tail between hislegs, he started up the Crooked Little Path as fast as his legs couldtake him.

  Reddy never once looked back. If he had, he might have seen Unc' BillyPossum climb down from the hollow tree and shake hands with JimmySkunk, who had just come along.

  "How did Ah do it? Why, Ah just pretended Ah was daid, when FarmerBrown's boy caught me," explained Unc' Billy. "Of course he' wouldn'tkill a daid Possum. So when he tossed me down on the chopping-blockand turned his back, Ah just naturally came to life again, and hereAh am."

  Unc' Billy Possum grinned broader than ever, and Jimmy Skunk grinned,too.

  III

  UNC' BILLY POSSUM SENDS FOR HIS FAMILY

  The news that Unc' Billy Possum wasn't dead at all but was back in hishollow tree in the Green Forest soon spread through all the Gre
enForest and over the Green Meadows. Everybody hastened to pay theirrespects, that is everybody but Reddy Fox. Unc' Billy and his partner,Jimmy Skunk, told every one who called how Reddy Fox had thought thatUnc' Billy was a ghost and had been frightened almost to death, sothat he ran away as fast as his legs could take him. Unc' Billygrinned as he told how Reddy had sat under the hollow tree and triedto sing because he was so glad that Unc' Billy was dead, and all thelittle people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows laughed untiltheir sides ached when in a funny, cracked voice Unc' Billy sang thesong for them.

  Thereafter whenever one of them caught sight of Reddy Fox at a safedistance, he would shout:

  "Ol' Bill Possum, he's gone before! Ol' Bill Possum, he is no more!"

  It got so that Reddy never came down on the Green Meadows in thedaytime, and at night he avoided meeting any one if possible, even hisold friend, Bobby Coon. And of course Reddy Fox hated Unc' BillyPossum more than ever.

  But Unc' Billy didn't care, not he! He knew that all the rest of thelittle people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows thought himthe smartest of them all, because of the way in which he had fooledBowser the Hound and Farmer Brown's boy. He liked his neighbors, heliked the Green Forest, and so he made up his mind that this was theplace for him to stay.

  But in spite of all his friends, Unc' Billy was lonesome. The longerhe stayed, the more lonesome he grew, Unc' Billy wanted his family,whom he had left way down in "Ol' Virginny." Finally he told JimmySkunk all about it, and for once Unc' Billy had forgotten how to grin.Yes, Sir, Unc' Billy had forgotten how to grin. Instead he just wept,wept great big tears of lonesomeness.

  "Ah reckon Ah'll have to go back to Ol' Virginny, Ah cert'nly do,"said Unc' Billy Possum.

  Jimmy Skunk grew very thoughtful. Since he and Unc' Billy Possum hadbeen in partnership, Jimmy had had more eggs to eat than ever beforein his whole life. Now Unc' Billy was talking about going away. Jimmythought very hard. Then he had a bright idea.

  "Why not send for your family to come here and live in the GreenForest, Uncle Billy?" he asked.

  Unc' Billy stopped crying. His two little eyes looked up sharply. "Howdo yo'all reckon Ah can send word?" he asked.

  Jimmy scratched his head. "There's Mr. Skimmer the Swallow; he'sfixing to go South. Perhaps he'll take the message to your family,"said he.

  "The very thing!" cried Unc' Billy Possum, wiping his eyes. "Ah thanksyo', Sah. Ah does, indeed. Ah'll see Mistah Skimmer at once."

  And without another word Unc' Billy Possum started down the CrookedLittle Path for the Green Meadows to look for Skimmer the Swallow.

  IV

  BOBBY COON ENTERS THE WRONG HOUSE

  After Unc' Billy Possum had arranged with Skimmer the Swallow, who wasgoing South, to take a message to his family in "Ol' Virginny,"telling them to come and join him in the Green Forest, he at oncebegan to make preparations to receive them. Unc' Billy isn't any toofond of work. He had a lot rather that some one else should do thework for him, and he is smart enough to fix it so that usually someone else does.

  But getting ready to receive his family was different. No one elsecould arrange things to suit him. This was Unc' Billy's own job, andhe tended right to it every minute of the day. First of all he had toclean house. He had been keeping bachelor's hall so long in the bighollow tree that things were not very tidy. So Unc' Billy cleanedhouse, and while he worked he whistled and sang. Peter Rabbit, passingthat way, overheard Unc' Billy singing:

  "Mah ol' woman is away down Souf-- Come along! Come along! Ain't nothin' sharper than the tongue in her mouf-- Come along! Come along! She once was pretty, but she ain't no mo', But she cooks mah meals an' she sweeps mah flo'; She darns mah stockings an' she mends mah coat, An' she knows jes' how mah chillun fer to tote-- Come along! Come along!

  "Mah pickaninnies am a-headin' dis way-- Come along! Come along! Daddy am a-watchin' fo' 'em day by day-- Come along! Come along! Mah ol' haid aches when Ah thinks ob de noise De's boun' to be wid dem gals an' boys, But Ah doan care if it busts in two If de good Lord brings dem chillun troo-- Come along! Come along!"

  Every little while Unc' Billy Possum would sit down to rest, for hewasn't used to so much real work. But finally he got his house cleanand made as comfortable as possible, and about that time be began tothink how good an egg would taste. The more he thought about it, themore he wanted that egg.

  "It's no use talking, Ah just naturally has to have that egg," saidUnc' Billy to himself, and off he started for Farmer Brown's.

  Now Unc' Billy was hardly out of sight when along came Bobby Coon.Bobby Coon was absent-minded, or else he was so sleepy that he didn'tknow what he was doing, for Bobby Coon had been out all night. Anyway,when he reached Unc' Billy Possum's hollow tree, he began to climb upit just as if it were his own. He looked in at Unc' Billy's door.There was the most comfortable bed that he had seen for a long time.He looked this way and he looked that way. Nobody was in sight. Thenhe looked in at Unc' Billy's door once more. That bed certainly didlook soft and comfortable. Bobby Coon chuckled to himself.

  "I believe I'll just see if that bed is as comfortable as it looks,"said he.

  And two minutes later Bobby Coon was curled up fast asleep in Unc'Billy Possum's bed.

  V

  BOBBY COON IS WAKED UP

  "Dey's a-coming, dey's a-coming, dey's a-coming mighty soon. But dey can't come soon enuff fo' me! Dey's a-coming, dey's a-coming at de turning ob de moon, Whar Ah waits in mah ol' holler tree!"

  Unc' Billy Possum was singing to himself, as he slowly trudged homefrom Farmer Brown's hen-house. He was feeling very good, very goodindeed, was Unc' Billy Possum. No one appreciates strictly fresh eggsmore than Unc' Billy does, and he had found more than he could eatwaiting for him in Farmer Brown's hen-house. Now his stomach was full,his house had been cleaned and put to rights, ready for his familywhen they should arrive from "Ol' Virginny," and he had nothing to dobut wait for them. So he trudged along and sang in a funny, crackedvoice.

  Presently he came to his big hollow tree and started to climb up tothe door of his house. Half way up he broke off short in the middle ofhis song and sat down on a convenient branch. He put one ear againstthe trunk of the tree and listened. Then he put the other ear againstthe tree and listened. There certainly was a funny noise, and itseemed to come from right inside his hollow tree. Unc' Billy turnedand looked up at his doorway, scratching his head thoughtfully withone hand.

  "Mah goodness!" said Unc' Billy, "it cert'nly sounds like there wassomebody in mah house!"

  Then very softly Unc' Billy crept up to his doorway and peeped in. Itwas dark inside, so that Unc' Billy could see little else than thathis nice, freshly made, comfortable bed was all mussed up. But if hecouldn't see, he could hear. Oh, yes, indeed, Unc' Billy could hearperfectly well, and what he heard was a snore! There was some one inUnc' Billy's house, and more than that, they were fast asleep in Unc'Billy's bed.

  "Mah goodness! Mah goodness!" exclaimed Unc' Billy Possum, and his twosharp little eyes began to snap. Then he stuck his head in at the doorand shouted:

  "Hi, yo'all! What yo' doing in mah house?"

  The only answer was another snore. Unc' Billy waited a minute. Then heput his head in once more.

  "Yo' better come out of mah house, Mr. Who-ever-yo'-are, before Ahcomes in and puts yo' out!" shouted Unc' Billy.

  The only answer was a snore louder than before. Then Unc' Billy quitelost his temper. Some one who had no business there was in his house!He didn't know who it was, and he didn't care. They were going to comeout or he would know why not. Unc' Billy gritted his teeth and in hewent.

  My! my! my! such a rumpus as there was right away in that hollow tree!Peter Rabbit happened to be coming along that way and heard it. Peterstopped and gazed at the hollow tree with eyes and mouth wide open.Such a snarling and growling! Then out of the doorway began to flyleaves and moss. T
hey were part of Unc' Billy's bed. Then Peter saw abig ringed tail hanging out of the doorway. Peter recognized it rightaway. No one possessed a tail like that but Bobby Coon.

  In a minute Bobby followed his tail, hastily backing down the tree.Then Unc' Billy's sharp little old face appeared at the doorway. Unc'Billy looked down at Peter Rabbit and grinned.

  "Ah guess Mistah Coon done make a mistake when he went to bed in mahhouse," said he.

  And Bobby Coon sheepishly admitted that he did.

  VI

  SAMMY JAY LEARNS PETER RABBIT'S SECRET

  "I'm Mr. Jaybird, tee-hee-hee! I'm Mr. Jaybird; you watch me! You've got to rise 'fore break of day If you want to fool old Mr. Jay."

  Over and over Sammy Jay hummed this, as he brushed his handsome blueand white coat. Then he laughed as he remarked to no one inparticular, for no one was near enough to hear: "Peter Rabbit's got asecret. When Peter goes about whispering, it's a sure sign that he'sgot a secret. He thinks that he can keep it from me, but he can't. Oh,my, no! I never knew of a secret that could be kept by more than twopeople, and already I've seen Peter whisper to five. I'll just seewhat Reddy Fox knows about it."

  With a flirt of his tail Sammy Jay started for the Green Meadows,where Reddy Fox was busy hunting for his breakfast.

  "It's a fine morning, Reddy Fox," said Sammy Jay.

  "It would be finer, if I could fill my stomach faster," replied Reddy.

  "That's a pretty good secret of Peter Rabbit's, isn't it?" askedSammy, pretending to look very wise.