The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-26
BURGESS BED-
 TIME STORIES
BOBBY COON HAS PLEASANT
 DREAMS Tc honest be, yet called thief, Ia mord to bear beyond belief. --Chatterer the Red Squirrel
Ry rHoRNroN wi. puRGEss

Chztterer was finding it so. His big cousin, Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel. had told everybody he met that Chatterer had stolen a lot of little, sweet, brown beechnuts that he, Happy Jack. had hidden In a cer- tain hole between the roots of an old stump. Everybody believed It. That was because Chatterer was known to be thief. But all the time Chatterer hadn't stolen those nuts. To be sure he had intended to steal them, go at heart he really was the thief they called him. But he didn't think of this, and 1t, seemed to him very unjust to be called < thief when actually he hadn't touched one of those little, sweet, brown nuts.
 Happy Jack had chased him through the tree-tops untilboth were out of breath, and had made dreadful threats. Chatterer hadn't minded these because he knew that Happy lack couldn't catch him. But he had inded when some one would cry: Who stole the beechnuts of Happy Jack Squirrel?" and all the little people would shout: 'Chatterer! 8thatterer is a thief"
 Finally Chatterer managed to get way by himself. He hid in an old est of Blacky the Crow and there
 sulked and sulked and sulked and
 that he was the most abused
 in all the Green Forest. And
 wasn't pitying himself he
 who had stolen those nuts.
 sh he scratched his head
 was sore he couldn't think
 Id have taken those nuts.
 sn finally with the coming of
 A.ck Shadows he went home to
 As was no wiser than before.
 w all that day. which had been 44h a miserable day for chatterer, there had been sleeping in certain hollow trees not far away small cousin of Buster Bear, a small cousin who wore black and white rings on his tail and was very proud of them. It was Bobby Coon. All day long he slept, for he had been at the beechnut feast the day before and up most of the night You know Bobby prefers to roam about by night and sleep through the day.
 Very pleasant dreams had Bobby Coon as he slept. You see. when he had crawled into that hollow tree his stomach had been very, very full, for he had stuffed himself as only a Coon can when he Is trying to ret as fat as possible in preparation for the winter. He had remained under the beech-trees long after the others had left, for you know Bobby likes the Black Shadows. So the twink ling little stars had bean looking down on the Green Forest for some time when at last Bobby decided that he would move on.
 Now his way led him past certain old stump, and out of habit he stopped to examine that old stump. Many . tasty mouthful had he found in an old stump or under the roots of it. So just from habit he raksd away the leaves between two roots of the old stump and--there was q 4 hole filled to the brim with little. sweet brown beechnutsl
 they come there. It was enough for him that they were there. He sat down and began to eat and when he had finished there wasn't little sweet, brown nut left in that hole. No. sir, there wasn't one. Bobby sighed happily. I'm glad there are no more. for I couldn't eat another one" he murmured sieepily as he started for his hollow tree. There he dreamed pleasant dreams all day. dreams of old stumps with holes be- tween the roots filled with sweet little nuts.
 And to this day Happy Jack thinks Chatterer stole those nuts. and Chat terer wonders who did get them, and Bobby Coon makes it his business to examine every old stump he comes across.
 Copyright. 1921. by T. W. Burscss)