˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼ

O. POSSUM GETS SICK

��������������� ˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼWhile Tom Wildcat walked round and round Stubby Woodchuck, looking at him and getting more and more scared every minute, Stubby went right on talking. “Yes,” he said very weakly, “Doctor Rabbit gave me the wrong kind of pills. His calomel pills and his strychnine pills all being white, he made a mistake, and gave me strychnine; and he did not find out until it was too late. Oh, dear me! I can’t last long now. The poison is paining me terribly. Do eat me up quick, I beg of you! Eat me up quick! Yes, I can feel the poison working out through my skin; it is all through me and all over me!”˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼThe farther Tom Wildcat ran the more frightened he became, and after a while[Pg 91] he was going through those woods like a streak. Yes, sir, Tom Wildcat was terribly frightened; and he had his mind made up that he knew mighty well what he was going to do if he ever got out of those woods alive!˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼ

˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼ˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼIn fact, he came slipping in the back way, and so did not see any of the signs on the front doors until he slipped around in front of the Woodchucks’ house.˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼ

When Tom Wildcat began running around with his smarting eye, Stubby looked up mighty quick to see whether there was any chance of his running away. You see, he had to be very, very careful now about trying to get away, because he probably would be safe if he lay there long enough.My! how frightened little Chatty was, and how he did run for his tree! As he went up the trunk Tom Wildcat sprang after him; but Chatty Red got away, and ran into his hole, high up in the tree. Tom Wildcat could not squeeze in there, he knew, so he didn’t try. He was terribly angry, and, seeing Doctor Rabbit, who had stopped to see if Chatty Squirrel had escaped, started for him with a wild bound. Well, sir, Tom Wildcat ran so fast that before Doctor Rabbit could get away he felt a little of his tail pulled out. Then for a time there was an exciting race. It seemed as if Tom Wildcat ran twice as fast as usual, and Doctor Rabbit was kept dodging so often he couldn’t get a start. But presently, when Doctor Rabbit made a[Pg 73] sudden jump to one side, Tom couldn’t quite stop in time, and he butted his head square against a tree.˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼBut he was not one bit deceived about anything else, for he remembered his recent experience in the hole.˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼ

˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼ˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼ

Doctor Rabbit said softly, “Sh! Good morning, Blue Jay. But not so loud! Tom Wildcat might—”�IJ��� ˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼ˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼWhen Tom Wildcat reached the ground he was pretty mad. Doctor Rabbit opened his window again and called down to him. “That salve is pretty hot, I’m afraid, but I’m quite sure it’ll cure your foot. Yes, sir, it’s pretty hot, but it’s just the right kind of salve for a wildcat!”

˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼPresently he met Blue Jay.After thinking it over Tom had decided that perhaps he could put his foot through the hole and at the same time look through the window and see what[Pg 5] Doctor Rabbit was doing. But there was no way he could do this. So he turned round with his head down and held on to the bark of the tree while he put his foot through the hole under the window.

˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼWhen Doctor Rabbit heard Tom Wildcat say he was going to have his friend Jack Rabbit for dinner, he listened with all his ears to hear, if possible, how Tom expected to catch poor innocent Jack Rabbit. The wily Tom, thinking Doctor Rabbit was asleep, kept right on talking.˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼ“He’ll be over again; don’t you ever think he will not,” Doctor Rabbit told[Pg 84] his friends, and continued, “He’s just taking his meals somewhere else to fool us. Likely enough he’s been paying some more visits to the farmer’s chicken roosts; and about the time he thinks we have forgotten all about him, he’ll be over here. You just watch and see!”˫ɫ�������Ƚ�100������ͼ