Evening star., 1937-12-14
Bedtime Stories
BY THORNTON w. BURGESS.

BY THORNTON w. BURGESS.
This statement none will e'er refute:
There's two 1t least in 3 dispute.
Old Mother Nature.
THERE must be more than one par
ty to dispute. There may be
| several on one side and only one on
the other, but there must be two sides
| or there is no dispute.
There was every indication that
| there was about to be dispute in
the Woodhouse Night Club, and to
Tommy, Sue and Sammy, looking on,
1t promised to be serious dispute.
Indeed, Sue and Sammy were grow
ing more and more uneasy and won-
dering If 1t would not be an act of
| wisdom and discretion to retreat be-
fore the dispute took violent form.
However, the hostess o. the club, sit
ting in the midst Of the disputants,
seemed not at all disturbed, and so
Sue and Sammy decided to remain.
In the lap of their hostess was
| one wearing stripes. Glaring up at
him were four wearing black masks.
The one was, of course, Jimmy
Skunk. The others were Mother
Coon and three Of her children, big,
sturdy children. more than two-thirds
the size of their mother. So it was
four to one.
Jimmy deliberately climbed down
| to the floor. Mother Coon growled
and showed her sharp teeth. 1t was
threat. The three children growled
and showed their teeth Here were
more threats. Jimmy did not ap-
pear in the least disturbed by these
threats. He simply raised his great
tail a little higher, so that it was
almost straight up. This was both a
warning and a counter threat.
Mrs. Coon's growl became a snarl.
The growls Of the three young Coons
became snarls. There were more
threats. They had an ugly sound
| especially to Sue and Sammy. jim
my didn't retreat step. Instead,
he advanced a step. Then, with a
suddenneSs that was startling, he
stamped. He slapped the board floor
with his front feet so hard that the
sound could be heard at the back of
| the kitchen. 1t was counter
threat, and the four Coons hastily
backed step. AS for Sue, she was
SO startled that she exclaimed right
| out and at the same time moved.
-Four Coons lunged together for
that cat hole which was their pri-
vate entrance. But Jimmy Skunk
didn't even glance toward the kitchen
door. He didn't bat an eye," de-
clared Sammy. He merely stood
looking toward the cat hole where
Mother Coon's inquiring face had ap-
peared almost instantly. Then he
turned and climbed back in the hos
pitable lap of Aunt Sally. He re-
sumed his meal as If nothing had
happened. She looked up.
He hasn't any nerves." said she,
| and stroked him.
Il guess it is a good thing" said
Tommy IF he was at all nervous
he might use that scent of his when
1t wasn't really necessary"
Il think those Coons are towards,
If you ask me-" said Sammy. They
| were four to one, all as big or big
ger than Jimmy, yet they ran away
from him. They were afraid of him"
Tommy shook his head. Not ex-
actly afraid, but they respected his
ability, and that's different. Don't
forget how two Coons made Bowser
the Hound and Flip the Terrier quit
| last night"
That's So" admitted Sammy.
But if that bunch wasn't afraid,
why did they all run away from
| Jimmy just now?"
They didn't He didn't have any
thing to do with making them run.
It was Sue who frightened them.