100 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



been engaged as a farm-hand, and had been left on the 

 place while the farmer and his sons had gone to the 

 polls to vote, for the day was election day hence the 

 quietness of the farm which had inveigled our two 

 marsupials from their retreats. 



"Now when Dennis O'Connor saw the two strange 

 beasts, his surprise was very great, and after uttering a 

 few remarks that are best left out of print for after 

 all they have nothing to do with the story he turned, 

 brave man though he was, and made straight for the 

 house. He remembered having noticed a gun standing 

 against the wall near the chimney-corner. With such a 

 weapon he feared no animal under the size of a dog, and 

 he hurried out 

 to do battle 

 against the 

 small silver- 

 haired animals. 

 These same 

 animals had 

 been making 

 the most of 

 their time. No 

 sooner ' was 

 Dennis out of 

 their sight than 

 they scurried 

 along as fast 

 as their short 

 legs could car- 

 ry them to the 

 apple orchard. 

 Once there, 

 each proceeded 

 to climb an 

 apple tree. 

 'Possum One, 

 in his hurry, 

 selected a tree 

 so small that it 

 afforded h i m 

 no hiding place, 

 so he must 

 perforce come 

 down again, 

 and that he did in the quickest possible time, clinging to 

 the tree with his naked, prehensile tail, as he partly slid, 

 partly climbed down. Once on the ground, he made 

 directly for the nearest tree, which chanced to be the 

 one that 'Possum Two had chosen. Here was still an- 

 other to add to the growing list of mistakes ; and, like 

 the proverbial drop that overflowed the equally pro- 

 verbial bucket, it proved the undoing of their otherwise 

 successful retreat. 



"One 'possum might hide in an apple tree and remain 

 undiscovered because of his color, which matches the 

 silver-gray bark of the tree very closely; but two 'pos- 

 sums could scarcely hope to find places of concealment 

 in the same tree. He heard the scratching sounds of 



AN OLD VIRGINIA OPOSSUM AND HER SIX YOUNG ONES. PHOTO FROM LIFE BY ERNEST 



HAROLD BAYNES 



Fig. 8. Any one of these young ones is somewhat older than the specimen shown in Figure 2; it is not 

 altogether an easy matter to pack them about hence the expression of responsibility on their mother's face. 



'Possum One as he climbed the tree. Nearer and nearer 

 he came, until his nose was visible over the edge of the 

 large knob. What might have happened is not known. 

 'Possum Two's vigorous protest against his friend's 

 arrival was cut short by a loud report and a scattering 

 of small pieces of bark where the shot had struck the 

 tree just above the 'possums' heads. Scarcely had the 

 echoes of the report died away, when Dennis saw two 

 'possums fall to the ground, and he congratulated himself 

 on the 'foine shot' he had made, marching forthwith up 

 to the seemingly dead animals. 'Shure but they're dead 

 as nails,' he exclaimed, as he picked up one in a most 

 gingerly way, quickly dropping it again. Yet there was 



no blood visi- 

 ble ; but in his 

 excitement he 

 had not noticed 

 a detail so 

 trivial. Enough 

 for him that 

 the two ani- 

 tn a 1 s were 

 dead, and he 

 himself was re- 

 sponsible for 

 their slaughter ; 

 and he turned 

 to lay down the 

 gun that he 

 might light his 

 pipe prepara- 

 tory to carry- 

 ing the animals 

 to the house. 

 As he stood 

 still, trying to 

 light his short 

 clay pipe, his 

 back was to- 

 wards the 'pos- 

 sums. Every- 

 thing was so 

 quiet that 

 'Possum Two 

 decided to have 

 a look, and, without changing his position, he opened his 

 small, dark eyes, closing them instantly when he dis- 

 covered the broad back of his enemy between him and 

 the sky. 



"It was a close shave, for at that very moment Dennis, 

 his pipe lighted, picked up the gun, and, catching hold 

 of the two 'possums by their rat-like tails, took his way 

 to the house. Once there, he threw the two 'dead' ani- 

 mals on the steps, and, leaving them, he turned and 

 walked toward the gate, for he heard sounds of the 

 farmer returning. Round a bend in the lane came a two- 

 seated buckboard, mud-bespattered and rickety, and in 

 it sat the farmer and his boys. Dennis O'Connor, all 

 excitement and pride, rushed up to them and told the 



