Evening star., 1942-03-11
Bedtime Stories
BY THORNTON w. BURGESS.

Buster Bear had told Old Man
Coyote and Reddy Fox and Granny
Fox and Hooty the Owl that if. they
wanted to catch whoever was hiding
under the pile of brush in the Green
Forest which they had been watch
ing so long he would pull it to pieces
for them, but they would have to
come up very close, so that who
ever was hiding there couldn't get
away So little by little, each watch
ing the other sharply, Old Man
Coyote, Reddy Fox and Granny
Fox had crept in nearer and nearer
to the pile of brush until they
were close to it. Reddy had chased
Peter Rabbit under there early in
the day, so he must be there now,
for there hadn't been an instant all
that day that they hadn't kept
sharp watch for him to come out
and not sign had they seen of
him
Only Hooty the Owl did not come
in close. Hooty remained right
where he was in tall pine tree,
where he could see all that went
on and could Swoop down when the
time came. Buster kept chuckling
to himself as he waited for the
others to get close enough. Old
Man Coyote looked at him Sus-
piciously and Buster stopped laugh
ing and urged the others to come
just little nearer.
Its lot of work to pull over
that pile of brush" said he, land
/ don't want to do it for nothing.
You must be near enough so that
when Peter Rabbit runs out he will
have no time to dodge before one
Of you has him.
At last the others were near
enough to suit Buster Bear. He
looked up at Hooty the Owl and
winked one eye. Hooty didn't know
what 1t meant but he began to Sus-
pect that there was some joke and
he leaned forward to watch more
closely.
Are you ready?" asked Butter
Bear.
Ready" replied Old Man Coyote,
and set his feet to spring swiftly.
Ready" replied Reddy Fox and
Granny Fox, and they, too, prepared
to Jump at the first sign of Peter.
Watch out, them" cried Buster
Bear and straightaway made the
brush fly in every direction. The
air was full of sticks.
OH" yelped Reddy Fox as one
hit him sharply across the face.
Hi yelled Old Man Coyote as
big stick hit him in the ribs.
Look out what you are doing!"
cried Granny Fox as she tried in
vain to back away in time not to
get hit.
But Buster Bear didn't seem to
hear And he didn't seem to no.
tlce how the flying sticks were
making the others dance and duck
and dodge. He just worked faster
than ever and threw sticks this
way and threw sticks that way un-
I'll the air was so full of sticks that
Old Man Coyote and Reddy Fox
and Granny Fox just had to shut
their eyes while they tried to get
away and Peter Rabbit might have
run right under their noses with
out them knowing it. Only Hooty
the Owl, who you know kept his
watch from high up in a tall pine
tree, was able to see whether or
not Peter ran out, and even Hooty
had hard time to make sure. You
see 1t was so funny to see Old Man
Coyote and Reddy and Granny Fox
jumping this way and leaping that
way and lodging the other way to
keep from being hit by those flying
sticks that for the first time since
any one could remember Hooty the
Owl actually laughed He laughed
until he almost lost his breath. He
understood now the SLY wink Buster
Bear had given him.
But though he laughed so hard
he still kept sharp watch for
Peter Rabbit. To Hooty's way of
thinking there is no pleasure so
great as the eating of a good dinner
and he is not one to let his en-
joyment of joke cheat him out of
a good meal. So while he laughed
and laughed and laughed he kept
sharp watch. too and he was sure
that Peter had not run out.
At last Buster sent flying the last
bit of brush under which Peter
could possibly hide and there was
nobody! Yes. sir, Buster Bear had
scattered that whole pile of brush
and there wasn't a sign of Peter
Rabbit or of anybody else. Buster
Bear looked up at Hooty the Owl
and winked again, and then he sat
up and laughed and laughed until
he had to hold his sides.