Making Up with Mr. Dog by Albert Bigelow Paine

  WHAT HAPPENS TO MR. DOG

  NOW, when Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon heard that their hair stood upstraight, for they knew very well that there'd be two vacant roomsanyway if Mr. Dog ever got inside, and two if he stayed where he was,for they happened to think that Mr. Rabbit would be coming alongpresently, and Mr. Squirrel wouldn't be far behind. So they hurried tothe back window and looked out, and sure enough, there was Mr. Rabbitcoming with his trunk on his shoulder and almost there. At first theywere frightened 'most to death for Mr. Rabbit, and then the 'Coonslipped over and whispered to the Crow to keep Mr. Dog talking as hardas he could, so he wouldn't notice anything. All the time he was doingthis the 'Possum was motioning to Jack Rabbit to slip up easy-like withhis trunk.

  So Mr. Rabbit slipped up softly on the other side of the house from Mr.Dog and set his trunk down, and the 'Possum let out a long rope with ahook on it. Jack Rabbit stood up on his trunk and grabbed the hook assoon as he could reach it and hooked it under his arms. Then the 'Coonand the 'Possum pulled and pulled and up he came, and as soon as he wassafe they let down the rope and caught the hook in the trunk handle.That was a load for all three of them, and even then they couldn't getit up, and called across to the Crow to come quick and help. So he hadto leave Mr. Dog a minute, and when he did that Mr. Dog walked aroundthe tree, and there was the trunk just a few feet from the ground, goingup very slowly. That was enough for Mr. Dog. He knew then he'd beenfooled, and he was so mad he didn't know what to do.

  THERE WAS MR. RABBIT COMING WITH HIS TRUNK]

  He took one look at that trunk and made up his mind he wouldn't standit. So he stepped back a little and made a short run and gave a jump forthe trunk, just as high as ever he could.

  But Mr. Dog wasn't very lucky, for instead of landing on the trunk helanded his nose right against one corner of it, and that made him madderthan ever. He ran and jumped again harder than before, but this time thetrunk was a little higher and Mr. Dog didn't quite hit it. There was astrap hanging down, though, and he caught it as he went by. He caught itwith his teeth, and two of his teeth went right through two of the holeswhere the buckle catches, and there they stayed. He had the trunk allright enough, but the trunk had him, too.

  AND UP HE CAME]

  There he was. His feet didn't quite touch the ground, and he couldn'tget up any higher either. Then all at once the people up stairs saw howit was, and they commenced to laugh in spite of themselves, and hitchedthe rope around a peg under the sill so they could rest a minute. Thatwas fun for them, but it wasn't for Mr. Dog, by a good deal. He couldn'tlaugh, and he couldn't rest, either. And just then Mr. Squirrel camewith his trunk, and Mr. Robin with his satchel and a hand bag, and Mr.Turtle with his things in a big sack. Mr. 'Coon ran down and let themall in and locked the door. Then he ran back to the window where Mr. Dogwas.

  "If we'll let you down will you go home and not come around this hotelinterfering with our business?" says Mr. 'Possum.

  "Yes; will you promise not to try to get any of our guests away fromus?" says Mr. 'Coon.

  HE CAUGHT IT AS HE WENT BY]

  Mr. Dog couldn't talk much in the fix he was in, but he did the best hecould, and promised yes to everything, so pretty soon they let the trunkdown till his feet touched the ground and he could get his teeth out ofthe strap. Then he put out for home just about as fast as he could go,without so much as thanking them for letting him down, and up went Mr.Rabbit's trunk pretty quick, now that there were plenty to help.

  Then the guests all hurried to their rooms to unpack, and Mr. Crowbustled around to get supper with what he had in the house, for Mr.'Possum and Mr. 'Coon hadn't time yet to bring in anything. It was apretty good supper, though, and all the guests said so, and said theyknew what a good cook Mr. Crow was if he had things to work with, andthe Crow said he guessed he could do his part if the 'Coon and 'Possumwould do theirs.

  Well, it makes a good deal of difference whether you're company at ahouse or a boarder. They all felt a good deal like company at first, butby the next evening at supper time they felt different. Mr. 'Coon andMr. 'Possum had been out all day bringing in things, too, and Mr. Crowhad been cooking harder than ever. Mr. Robin was first to make remarks.He said the cherries were canned, and not very good at that.

  THE ARRIVAL OF THE OTHER GUESTS]

  "That's what I said," put in Mr. 'Coon, "but Mr. 'Possum said youwouldn't know the difference."

  "Oh, he did, did he?" says Mr. Robin. "Well, I've got better cherriesthan these at home," and he got up from the table with a disgusted air.

  Then Mr. Squirrel picked up some roasted nuts that the Crow had justbrought in.

  "Where'd you get these nuts?" he says, after he'd cracked one or two ofthem.

  "Down on the slope of Green Bushes," says Mr. 'Coon. "Why, aren't theygood ones?"

  "I suppose they were once," says Mr. Squirrel--"two or three years ago.Nuts have to be fresh to be good."

  "That's what I told him," says Mr. 'Possum, "but he said you wouldn'tknow the difference."

  "Oh, he did, did he?" says Mr. Squirrel. "Well, I've got better nutsthan these at home," and Mr. Squirrel _he_ got up and left the table.

  Then Jack Rabbit began.

  "Where'd you get this salad?" he says, turning up his nose.

  "Out by Mr. Man's back gate," says Mr. 'Possum. "Why, isn't it good?"

  "Might have been once," says Mr. Rabbit. "I s'pose it's some Mr. Manthrew out because it was wilted."

  "That's what I told him," says Mr. 'Coon, "but he said you wouldn't knowthe difference."

  "Oh, he did, did he? Well, I've got better salad than this at home," andJack Rabbit _he_ got up and he left the table.

  And then, pretty soon, Mr. Turtle made a face over the fish because theywere salt mackerel and not nice fresh fish, such as he was used to athome. So he got up and left the table, too, and there sat the 'Coon and'Possum and the Old Black Crow all by themselves and looking cheapenough to fall through the floor. Mr. Crow said it wasn't his fault, andthen Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum commenced to blame it on each other, andnearly got into a fight. They were just about to fight when Mr. Crowhappened to think of something. Mr. Crow always did think of things.

  "I'll tell you!" he says. "We'll just rent rooms."

  "Do what?" says Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon together.

  "Why, just rent each of our guests his room and let him take his mealsout. Then we won't have any work."

  "Whoop-ee!" says Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon both together, as loud asever they could. That made all the guests come running back, and whenthey heard the new plan they all said it was just the thing.

  So then Mr. 'Possum went down and got the sign and brought it up andchanged it to read:--

  THE HOLLOW TREE INN. FURNISHED ROOMS ONLY.

  And that was how business began at last in the Hollow Tree.