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Show jAu Thornton "W Burtfess jumped against it. I pushed at it. At last the fastening slipped a little. I kept at it harder than ever. It slipped a wee bit more. Then, quite suddenly, the door flew wide,open." Old Man Coyote paused, and In his eyes, usually so fierce looking, was a great light of joy. It was plain to see that he was living over again in his mind that wonderful wonder-ful moment, when he once more saw freedom before him. He was still HOW MR. COYOTE CAME TO THE GREEN MEADOWS SAMMY JAY couldn't remember ever having heard a more interesting inter-esting story than that of Old Man Coyote. It was especially interesting interest-ing because it was a true story. You know, a true story is always more interesting than a make-believe make-believe one. Old Man Coyote had told about his old home In the great, wide, wonderful west, and how he had been trapped there and made a prisoner and after that put in a cage and carried on the steam cars far, far from his old home to spend his life in a cage for people to stare xat. He had told just how terribly homesick he had been and how aw- ful it was to look out between the bars and long and long for freedom, free-dom, until Sammy had felt as if it would almost be better to be killed than to be made a prisoner. When Old Man Coyote stopped as if he had reached the end of the story Sammy just had to ask another an-other question. You see, Old Man Coyote's story had ended with him still a prisoner, and yet, here he was on the Green Meadows, as free as ever he had been. Sammy just knew that there must be more to that story. "Did they let you go finally?" he asked. "Not so that you would notice It," replied Old Man Coyote with a grin. "Some one was careless. Funny how carelessness gets some people into trouble and others out of trouble, trou-ble, isn't it? There was a little sliding slid-ing door in that cage, and every day a man used to open it to put in food and water for me. Then he would close it and fasten it. He didn't know it, but I used to study and study the way he fastened that door. You see, I hoped that some day he might forget and not fasten it I had almost given up hope when one day he came in a great hurry. He didn't forget to fasten the door, but he was in such a hurry that he was careless and he didn't half fasten it. I waited until there was no one around and then I went to work on that door. I poked at it I "It's Farmer Brown's Boy coming com-ing to look at those traps!" exclaimed ex-claimed Sammy Jay in great excitement. ex-citement. so long that at last Sammy gently reminded him of his presence. "What did you do then?" he asked. "Just what you would have done," replied Old Man Coyote. "I didn't even stop to say good-by to my neighbors. I was out of that prison quicker than you could say, scat. Somebody saw me, for I heard a man shout How I ran! By and by I heard dogs and I knew that they were on my track and that I was being hunted. I didn't care. I knew that never again would I be caught. I laughed. I wanted to yell for pure joy, but I knew better than to do that The first thing I had to do was to mix my trail up so that the dogs couldn't follow it. Then I found an old hollow log and crawled into that and stayed there until night As soon as it was dark I started on and all night long I ran until I was ready to drop because be-cause I was so tired. When morning morn-ing came I hid. "So I traveled every night and hid every day until at last I came to this place. When I saw the Green Meadows, the Green Forest and the Smiling Pool I made up my mind that this was the place for me, and here I am. Hello! Who's that coming?" com-ing?" "It's Farmer Brown's Boy coming to look at those traps!" exclaimed Sammy Jay, in great excitement (Associated Newspapers WNU Service.) |