| Show 1 Ii I MRS l COYOTE IS JS HURRIED By Thornton ton W. W Burgess Burress We very sery seldom count the cost Until we know a thing Is lost Mrs Coyote Mrs Coyote lay hidden in Iii the tall grass rass back of Polly Poliy Chucks Chuck's home Polly oily Chuck had run over to rub noses no es with Johnny Chuck who was living In n another house nearby for the time being The four young Chucks had scattered in search of sweet clover It II was very ery clear that they didn't sus sus- suspect suspect us- us danger at all Because they could see Old Man Coyote COote far out on the Green Meadows they were ere unafraid Johnny Chuck and Polly PoUy Chuck were both watching them They had for for- forgotten forgotten gotten all about Mrs Coyote If It John John- Johnny Johnny Johnny ny Chuck had hod been asked about Mrs Coyote he would have said that she was over in the Green Forest for that thatis is the direction In which she had gone when she parted with ith Old Man Coyote before fore he had come over to scare all the Chuck family f into their under under- underground underground underground ground houses Mrs Coyote COote could feel her mouth water as she kept her eyes ees fixed on onee he the fattest of the four Chucks h y-rj y y ee S Urs She felt sure e that sl 51 was near r enough now to catch him before he could get to the safety safely of his home But she wanted two one for herself and one for Old Man Coyote COote So she waited hoping that two would after a while feed together Now all this time Sammy Jay had known cnown nothing of what was going on He fie had seen se m Farmer Browns Brown's Boy and Bowser the Uw Hound go down the Long Lane out onto the Green Meadows He had iad seen this from tIe the Old Orchard Now Sammy is always alwa s interested in whatever Farmer Browns Brown's Boy docs does so soie he ie took to his blue wings and started for or a certain young youn tree that grows in inthe Inthe Inthe the dear Old Briar From that lie lle could look out over the Green GreenMeadows GreenMeadows GreenMeadows Meadows and see sec all that went on The Tho way to the dear Old patch Briar-patch is almost directly over Polly Folly Chucks Chuck's home As Sammy was right over It he looked down What he saw 1 l him so that he almost forgot to keep his wings moving Yes sir he did so He lIe was looking right down on Mrs Coyote and on those four young Chucks who vho hadn't the slightest idea that Mrs Coyote COote was anywhere near His mouth flew open but for a moment no sound came forth You see sec Sammy was so sur stir surprised surprised prized that he had lost his voice But it was for a moment only Then he I found it My you ou should have heard i him scream I Thief thief thief thief he screamed as only Sammy can ean scream cream Mrs Coyote COote didn't know Sammy was anywhere neat near Without thinking she looked up and such uch an angry look as she gave Sammy Of course the poor little Chucks looked lo ked up too and so did Johnny Chuck and Poll Polly Chuck They knew well enough what wha that cry meant At the same Bowser the Hound caught a faint whiff of Old Man Coyotes Coyote's scent and lifting lilting his nose he sent his grea great voice rolling roiling across the Green Mead Mead- Meadows Meadows Meadows Mrs Coyote COote knew It was as now or never The four little Chucks started to scramble for their home Mrs Coy Coy- Coyote Coyote Coyote ote sprang for the one but bu Just as she sprang Bowser the Hound bayed bared again Now it isn't often that tha Old Man Coyote COote misses when he Jumps for anybody Probably if he had been in Mrs Coyotes Coyote's place he would have caught that fat Chuck But you ou know Mrs Coyote had been beena a prisoner most of her life and sh she a A Mrs hIts Coyote knew It was now o or hadn't had bad the experience to make her the best of hunters Besides the screaming of Sammy Jay and the bayIng ying of Bowser the Hound hurried her She was so hurried that she failed to see that the fat little Chuck was Just ready to dodge And so in inthe Inthe inthe the first Jump she missed him hires That ThatIs Is Is s. s she bhe missed d all but his funny little tail all One of her paws landed on that funny little taU tall For Just a second It held that young youns oun Chuck there but before she could make another move o that tall tail slipped from under her paws and one of the worst frightened little Chucks that ever lived was scrambling for the doorway of his home Copyright 1927 by T. T W. W Burgess The next story The Chuck Who Remembered |
