Part 5 (1/2)

There is nothing in the world more true than that Old Man Coyote has the craftiest brain of all the little people of the Green Forest or the Green Meadows Sharp as are the wits of old Granny Fox, they are not quite as sharp as the wits of Old Man Coyote If you want to fool hi, and then it is more than likely that you will be the one fooled, not he There is very little going on around hi escapes hi of Paddy the Beaver to the Green Forest was one of these things He didn't know a thing about Paddy until Paddy had finished his da his supply of food for the winter

You see, it was this way: When the Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West Wind first heard as going on in the Green Forest and hurried around over the Green Meadows and through the Green Forest to spread the news, as is their way, they took the greatest pains not to even hint it to Old Man Coyote because they were afraid that he would make trouble and perhaps drive Paddy away The place that Paddy had chosen to build his dam was so deep in the Green Forest that Old Man Coyote seldo about Paddy, and Paddy knew nothing about him for some time

But after a while Old Man Coyote noticed that the little people of the Green Meadoere not about as much as usual They seemed to have a secret of soer the Badger

Digger had been so intent on his own affairs that he hadn't noticed anything unusual, but when Old Man Coyote mentioned the ht for the Green Forest everyin the saet sorinned ”That's all I need to know, friend Digger,”

said he ”When Blacky the Crow and Sa is going on there I think I'll take a stroll up through the Green Forest and have a look around”

With that, off Old Man Coyote started But he was too sly and crafty to go straight to the Green Forest He pretended to hunt around over the Green Meadows just as he usually did, all the ti nearer and nearer to the Green Forest When he reached the edge of it, he slipped in a the trees, and when he felt sure that no one was likely to see hian to run this way and that ith his nose to the ground

”Ha!” he exclaimed presently, ”Reddy Fox has been this way lately”

Pretty soon he found another trail ”So,” said he, ”Peter Rabbit has been over here a good deal of late, and his trail goes in the sauess all I have to do now is to follow Peter's trail, and it will lead me to what I want to find out”

So Old Man Coyote followed Peter's trail, and he presently came to the pond of Paddy the Beaver ”Ha!” said he, as he looked out and saw Paddy's new house ”So there is a newcomer to the Green Forest! I have always heard that Beaver is very good eating My stoan to water, and a fierce, hungry look shone in his yellow eyes

It was just then that Sas so that Paddy the Beaver over in his house heard hier with Sammy Jay about, so he took a hasty look at the pond and found where Paddy ca his fist at Saht back for the Green Meadows ”I'll just pay a visit here in the night,” said he, ”and give Mr Beaver a surprise while he is at work”

But with all his craft, Old Man Coyote didn't notice that he had left a footprint in the mud

[Illustration]

XVII

OLD MAN COYOTE IS DISAPPOINTED

Old Man Coyote lay stretched out in his favorite napping place on the Green Meadows He was thinking of what he had found out up in the Green Forest thatthere Old Man Coyote's thoughts seeh really they were very dreadful thoughts You see, he was thinking how easy it was going to be to catch Paddy the Beaver, and what a splendid ht

”He doesn't know I know he's here,” thought Old Man Coyote ”In fact, I don't believe he even knows that I a for ht, so all I will have to do is to hide right close by where he is at work, and he'll walk right into , but Saive the alarood that Beaver will taste!” He licked his chops once more, then yawned and closed his eyes for a nap

Old Man Coyote waited until jolly, round, red Mr Sun had gone to bed behind the Purple Hills, and the Black Shadows had crept out across the Green Meadows Then, keeping in the blackest of the very much like a shadow himself, he slipped into the Green Forest It was dark in there, and heswiftly withouta sound When he was near the aspen-trees which he knew Paddy was planning to cut, he crept forward very slowly and carefully Everything was still as still could be

”Good!” thought Old Man Coyote ”I am here first, and now all I need do is to hide and wait for Paddy to come ashore”

So he stretched himself flat behind some brush close beside the little path Paddy had e of the water and waited It was very still, so still that it seemed almost as if he could hear his heart beat He could see the little stars twinkling in the sky and their own reflections twinkling back at them from the water of Paddy's pond Old Man Coyote waited and waited He is very patient when there is soain by it For such a splendid dinner as Paddy the Beaver would make he felt that he could well afford to be patient So he waited and waited, and everything was as still as if no living thing but the trees were there Even the trees see time, he heard just the faintest splash He pricked up his ears and peeped out on the pond with the hungriest look in his yellow eyes There was a little line of silver coht towards hi

Nearer and nearer it drew Old Man Coyote chuckled way down deep inside, withouta sound He could see Paddy's head now, and Paddy was coht in, as if he hadn't a fear in the world

Ale of the pond swaain, but this time it was back in the direction of his house, and he see It was one of the little food logs he had cut that day, and he was taking it out to his storehouse Then back he ca ashore Old Man Coyote waited until Paddy had carried the last log to his storehouse and then, with a loud whack on the water with his broad tail, had dived and disappeared in his house

Then Old Man Coyote arose and started elsewhere to look for his dinner, and in his heart was bitter disappointment