The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-12-26

STOMACH
 Fly THORNTON W. BURGESS An empty stomach sharpens wit, And courage grows because of it.
 --0Id Man Coyote.
 Old Man Coyote doesn't like win ter. No, sir, he doesn't like winter You see. it is only once In whhs that he is lucky enough to get his stomach really filled. Most of the time he Is hungry, and no one likes being hungry when there Is nothing to eat.
 So now that winter had come with snow and ice. old Man Coyote could think of little but his stomach ana how he was to fill it. When he wal asleep he dreamed about it. Whef he was awake he spent almost every minute hunting for something to eat, And Danny and Nanny Meadow Mouse and Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Grouse and other little people. who are much on the ground, had'to be more watch full than ever. for there was no know ing when and where Old Man Coyote might suddenly appear.
 And all the time that Old Man Coyote was hunting he was thinking.
 
 sharpen wits Old Man Coyotes wits are never dull but now they were sharper than ever. He couldn't af- ford to miss a meal and he didn't in- tend to because of dull wits. So the hungrier he grew the sharper his wits became.
 As long as the snow was not too deep for him to travel easily he got along fairly well. Though he almost never felt that he had. eaten all he could eat, he did get enough to keep from starving. Tn fact, he got enough to keep him in good condition. But when the snow became so deep that he had to wade through it his real troubles began. In the first place he couldn't run, and you know Old Man Coyote depends very much on the swiftness with which he can get about. In the second place, wading through the snow soon tired him. In the third place, he could travel only short distance. and you know he Is a great traveller. That meant that his chances of finding enough to eat were just that much smaller. Lastly, he left tracks wherever he went and that made him nervous.
 So while the snow was soft Old Man most of his time in his home and came out only when his stomach had Coyote seldom went far from his home In the Old Pasture. Tn fact. he spent been empty so long that he simply couldn't stand 1t any longer. Then he ate such berries as he could find on She rose bushes and the junipers, and managed to dig up some frozen aD- ples under wild apple tree. He didn't care much for these things. for you know he is an eater of meat. and meat was what he wanted and needed.
 But as he said to himself: Food Is food, and anything is better than nothing. I'll take what can get and be thankful for 1t. These are hard times. but hard times never last for ever. hungry Coyote who refuses anything he can eat because he doesn't like 1t deserves to starve."
 Between times, as he lay in his home. where he was at least warm. he planned where he would 20 and what he would do when the snow had settled or become crusted over so that he could get about on it. And he dreamed day dreams of a full stomach until his mouth would water. And mostly those day dreams were of certain little people over in the Green Forest-the beautiful twins of Light foot the Deer and Mrs Lightfoot. One of those twins would keep his stom- ach full for several days To catch one would be worth many days of hunger
 T ought to be able to do it if use my wits" thought Old Man Coyote. Tt will be worth trying. anyway" Then he would plan just how to catch one of those lawns. and impatiently h l.
 had yet begun to form over the snow. Copyright, 1921, by T. W. Burges.)
 The next story: ''The Fawns Are Given a Warning"