THE SEVEN SLEEPERS 189 



known brook on the continent. Four separate times 

 I had been persuaded by false and flattering words 

 to climb slippery trees after imaginary coons, with a 

 lantern fastened round my neck. 



This time my friends assured me there could be no 

 mistake. Both Grip and Gyp, the experts of the 

 pack, had their fore-paws against an enormous 

 tulip tree which stood apart from all others. In order 

 that there might be no possible mistake, black Uncle 

 Zeke, the leader of the hunt, who knew most of the 

 coons in those woods by their first names, agreed to 

 "shine" this particular coon. Lighting a lantern, he 

 held it behind his head, staring fixedly up into the 

 tree as he did so. Sure enough, in a minute, far up 

 along the branches gleamed two green spots. Those 

 were the eyes of the coon, staring down at the light. 

 It was impossible to climb this tree, so we built a fire 

 and waited for daylight. 



Dawn found us regarding a monster coon crouched 

 in the branches some forty or fifty feet up. Uncle 

 Zeke produced a cherished shot-gun. The barrel had 

 once burst, by reason of the muzzle being accident- 

 ally plugged with mud, and had been thereafter cut 

 down, so that it was less than a foot in length. In 

 spite of its misfortune, Uncle Zeke assured us that 

 it was still a wonderful shooter. We scattered and 

 gave him a free field. In a properly conducted coon- 

 hunt, a coon, like a fox, must be killed by dogs or 

 not at all. Uncle Zeke told us that this one, as soon 

 as he heard the shot, although uninjured, would 

 come down, like Davy Crockett's coon. 



