Bannertail 



to fluff his tail. He noticed that it was 

 soiled with gum. Nothing can dethrone 

 that needful basic instinct to keep in 

 order and perfect the tail. He set to 

 work and combed and licked each long 

 and silvered hair; he fluffed it out and 

 tried its billowy beauty, and having made 

 sure of its perfect trim he kept on, cleaned 

 his coat, combed it, went to the brook - 

 side and washed his face and paws clean 

 of every trace of that unspeakable stuff, 

 and in the very cleansing gave himself 

 new strength. Sleek and once more 

 somewhat like himself he was, when on 

 he went, bounding homeward with not 

 short bounds, but using every little look- 

 out on the way to peer around and fluff 

 and jerk his tail. 



Back at the home tree at last, nearly 

 seven suns had come and gone since the 

 family had seen him. 



The first impulse of the little mother 

 [202] 



