The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-11-18
Little Bedtime Story By
 Burgess
Danny Gets A Needless Fright


 Y FEE, YOU KNOW, is just one
 thing after another. With Danny
 Meadow Mouse much of the time it is just one escape after another. It is one thrill on top of another thrill even when at home; but since he had started out to see the Great World it seemed to him that there wasn't even a quiet minute between the thrills. It was just one never ending thrill. You know what a thrill is.. Of course. IL is that funny tingling feeling that runs all over you, sometimes hat and some times cold and sometimes both mixed together. You have it when you are excited. Sometimes it is caused by a great pleasure, but mostly that feeling is caused by fear. Then it is usually cold. When it is caused by anger, as it sometimes is, it is hot.
 Ever since he had first discovered Old Man Coyote sniffing at the pile of brush under which he had stopped to rest, Danny Meadow Mouse had had one thrill after another, and they were all the cold kind, the shivery kind. That is, they were thrills If fear. First, they were because he was afraid. Old Man Coyote would catch him. When he escaped from Old Man Coy ote by digging down into the tunnel of Miner the Mole he had more of the same kind of thrill because he was afraid that Miner the Mole would catch him. And when at the end of the tun- ne. he popped out on the ground again just in time to get away from Miner there stood Old Man Coyote two jumps away. Fortunately, his back was to- ward Danny, and Danny managed to slipaway without being seen.
 But as he ran and ran with all his might Danny was about as scared q meadow mouse as ever wished he wa $ SIS big as Buster Bear. You see every thing was new and strange to Danny because he was out in the Great World and had left behind him all those places with which he was familiar. So he didn't know where there were any hid ing places. He simply had to trust to his short legs and luck to find one. So l don't wonder that Danny's nerves were shaky, do you?
 They were very shaky. They were so shaky that he shook all over. You see, he hadn't had time to get over one fright before he got another. So now as he ran not knowing where he was go- ing, he was so scared that his shadow frightened him when he happened to look behind him as he ran across lit tie open place in the moonlight. What dangers might be in front of him he didn't know, but he did know that somewhere behind him was Old Man Coyote, and he looked behind him so much that he didn't watch where he was going, and the result was that he ran right straight into some one with big fur coat. He was too frightened to see who it was. He thought it must be Reddy Fox or Granny Fox.
 With a faint little squeak Danny gave up and dropped right where he was. He was too frightened to move 1t didn't sound so very terrible. If it isn't Danny Meadow Mouse! Why don't you look where you are going Don't you know that isn't polite to bump into folks this way? What are you doing so far from home, anyway"
 Danny gave a little gasp and slow fy opened his eyes. There sat Bobby Coon grinning down at him. He didn't look at all as if he wanted to harm a poor little meadow mouse. There had been times when Danny had had reason to keep out of Bobby Coon's way, times when Bobby had had hard work to get enough to eat. But now Bobby Coon was fat and good-natured. The look m his eyes was friendly and not hungry. Hope returned to Danny Meadow Mouse.
 IT beg your pardon, MT. Coon," said he in his funny squeaky little voice. T didn't mean to do it. didn't see you at all. You frightened me al most to death. I thought you must be