Unc' Billy Possum stopped for a few minutes and considered.
Instead of old Granny Fox, there was Unc' Billy Possum grinning at him.
There was a splash in the Smiling Pool, and Unc' Billy Possum was left looking out on nothing but the Smiling Pool and the Big Rock.
So Unc' Billy Possumwent one way, and Jimmy Skunk went another way.
Reddy Fox Has a Visitor Hardly was old Granny Fox out of sight on her way to hunt for the chicken she had left on the hill, when Unc' Billy Possum came strolling along the Lone Little Path.
Unc' Billy Possum Visits the Smiling Pool Joe Otter and Billy Mink were sitting on the Big Rock in the Smiling Pool.
Bowser the Hound will have to be smarter than he is now befo' he can worry me, Ah reckon," said Unc' Billy Possum scornfully.
He didn't see Jimmy Skunk or Unc' Billy Possum or Happy Jack Squirrel or Digger the Badger.
XIX Unc' Billy Possum Gives Warning "What's the matter with you, Unc' Billy?
It got so that Unc' Billy Possum and Jimmy Skunk didn't dare go to the henhouse for eggs any more, for fear that they would get into one of the traps set for Reddy Fox.
Unc' Billy Possum poked his sharp little old face out from under the henhouse and watched them go.
He didn't hear him and he didn't see him when Unc' Billy Possum crept out of the back side of the woodpile and scurried under the henhouse.
I knows some calls 'em the Do-Righters, and some calls 'em the Possum Trotters.
Whut's the reason amongst your people fur callin' that little church down on the river front Possum Trot?
They talked about it a great deal together, and Mr. 'Possum looked over all his stockings to pick out the biggest one he had, and Mr. Crow made himself a new pair on purpose.
Mr. 'Possum said, pretty soon, that when anybody said a thing like that, there ought to be some way to prove it.
Then Mr. 'Coon said that if that was so, Mr. 'Possum had saved at least three menageries by staying right where he was in the Big Deep Woods.
Then they all hurried up stairs, stamping the snow off their feet, and gathered around the nice warm fire in the big parlor which was just below the three big hollow branches where the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow had their rooms.
The Possum thought this a fine plan, so they started off together to the next town.
So the Possum stretched himself out and shut his eyes while the Cricket combed out his tail and wrapped a red string around it to keep it smooth until night.
Then everybody laughed so long that the Possum wondered what they meant.
The Possum said he would come if he could have a special seat, "because I have such a handsome tail that I ought to sit where everybody can see me.
The drummers began to drum and the Possum began to sing, "See my beautiful tail.
He was so much astonished and ashamed that he could not say a word, but rolled over helpless on the ground and grinned, as the Possum does to this day when taken by surprise.
The Possum never got a wife, but he remembers the lesson, and ever since he shuts his eyes and pretends to be dead when the hunter has him in a close corner.
When it was night the Possum went to the townhouse where the dance was to be and found the best seat ready for him, just as the Rabbit had promised.
The Possum waited his chance, and at last managed to throw down a large one (some say a bone which he carried with him), so that it lodged in the wolf's throat as he jumped up at it and choked him to death.
The Rabbit promised to attend to it and to send some one besides to comb and dress the Possum's tail for the dance, so the Possum was very much pleased and agreed to come.
Thus I found myself one morning, tucked up in pillows and a 'possum rug in a long chair on the bridge, eating my breakfast of fried fish and coffee while I gazed at the Tasmanian shore, which we skirted between ports for several hours.
I boasted at breakfast that I had seen a 'possum at last, but I am careful now, when I sleep in that room, not to burn a midnight candle with the window open.
Under the trees around Como we and the dogs enjoyed such 'possum hunts as we never had elsewhere.
On one occasion we were roused by the nurse calling to us that a 'possum had come down the chimney, and was flying round the nursery and smashing everything.
Not a hair--not a sign that a 'possum had ever lived in the land--all those lonely miles!
BLACK-EYED PEAS FOR LUCK One time I went a-huntin', I heared dat 'possum sneeze.
I retch up an' pull him in, Den dat ole 'possum 'gin to grin.
De way I cooked dat 'possum sound, I fust parboiled, den baked him brown.
Possum up de gum stump, Yes, cooney in de holler; A pretty gal down my house Jes as fat as she can waller.
He had seen Murri, wrapped in his possum rug, lying by the side of a huge fire, and groaning and writhing with pain.
The coon and possumwere skinned at once and roasted on sticks over the coals.
There was a coon, or possum under this log until he came along and made his supper.
He pointed above them and a little to the right, to a veteran whose side had been cut by hunters for the discomfiture of a 'coon or 'possum that had taken refuge within.
The next 'possum which they discovered, more fortunate than his brother, who had been sighted on the ground where locomotion is slow and awkward for his kind, was aloft in the branches when the dogs spied him.
Mr. 'Possum said he thought fish would bite well on such a morning, and that he'd like to go first rate.
Then the 'Coon and the 'Possum pulled and pulled and up he came, and as soon as he was safe they let down the rope and caught the hook in the trunk handle.
All the time he was doing this the 'Possum was motioning to Jack Rabbit to slip up easy-like with his trunk.
Then Jack Rabbit laughed and said he should think Mr. 'Possum was just the kind of a man for a big family, being fond of good things to eat and not very fond of getting them for himself, and mostly fat and sleepy like.
So Mr. Rabbit slipped up softly on the other side of the house from Mr. Dog and set his trunk down, and the 'Possum let out a long rope with a hook on it.
But one thing I do know: I'll cut the throat of the next 'possum I get hold of.
See what a splendid 'possum I've shot, Uncle Toby.
The fire had been lighted, but, excepting a 'possum and a few small eggs, and a little damper, they had nothing to eat.
Here's a bit of damper to stay your appetite until we can catch a 'possum or a laughing jackass for dinner;" and Harry produced one of the dampers which he had stowed away in his pocket.
Bendigo, faithful to his promise, again left them, and soon returned, bringing a 'possum and several combs of honey.
Bendigo trapped several creatures, now and then catching a 'possum in its hole, or an iguana.
If a possum thinks he kant reach hiz hole, in the hollo ov the tree, tew eskape a wandering dog or a stray nigger, he lays himself down level on the opposite side ov hiz belly, and dies az ded az a two dollar watch.
The muskrat and the possum hav similar tales, but the muskrat steers himself with hiz while bathing, but the possum never bathes in ennything but chicken blood.
The possum iz a lonesum and joyless vagabond, living just near enuff to the smoke ov a chimbly tew pick up a transient goslin or a ten dollar bill, or ennything else that aint stuck fast.
The possum iz a fello ov the Southern and Western States.
Possum grease and hoe kake, in equal parts, will phatt a nigger in 60 days, and make hiz face glisten like a piece ov pattent leather.
If thepossum only had hare on the tail i could account for him fully, but this lack ov the hirsute attachment bothers me.
Many a possum haz saved hiz life, and hiz phatt, bi thus loozeing it.
Why, I couldn't no more help reaching my fist to the point of a scab's jaw than could Possum from snappin' at you.
Even more compelling was the menacing threat that Possum growled, his jaws close-guarding the bone, eyes blazing insanely, the hair rising stiffly on his neck.
And so Billy expounded the why of like in terms of realism, in the camp by the Umpqua River, while Possum expounded it, in similar terms of fang and appetite, on the rib of deer.
Possum sat on the seat between them, his rosy mouth agape with excitement.
Hazel and Hattie soon grew used to them thoughPossum never ceased being made frantic.
The squirrel chattered garrulous remarks that drove Possum into a mad attempt to climb the tree.
So young was he that he quickly became footsore, and she carried him until Billy perched him on top of his pack and grumbled that Possum was chewing his back hair to a frazzle.
A sharp barking told where Possum still waged hysterical and baffled war on the Douglass squirrels.
There was possum and rabbit and we cooked them different to now.
De eats we have was jes' good eats, lots of meats and vegetables and de like; 'possum and coon and beef and pork all cooked good.
You parboil the possum about half done and put him in a skewer pan and put him in a hot oven and just 'fore he is done you puts the yams in the pan and sugar on 'em.
We had lots of fish and rabbits, more den we had 'possum but we sho' likes dat 'possum when we could git it.
Us has lots of meat, deer meat and possum and coon and sich, and us sets traps for birds.
Mr. 'Possum said he always liked to look at the stars when he had anything on his mind, because they seemed so far away from all his troubles, and if he looked at them long enough his troubles seemed to get far away, too.
