Way-Atcha, the Coon-Raccoon 
see him, and the tree could not be climbed by man. 
The night came down and Pete with his yapping 
dog went home defeated. 
THE BLESSED HOLLOW TREE 
2 So luck was with Way-atcha, luck and the in- 
fluence of his early days, that built in with his 
, nature the secret of his race: this is their true 
abiding place—the hollow tree. The slender 
if tee ay second growth most often near is a temptation 
) anda snare, but the huge hollow trunk is a strong 
fortress and a sure salvation. 
Rested and keen was he, when the blackest 
hours came with a blessed silence; so forth he 
went and after many a “‘hark” and “‘spy”’ he swung 
himself to the ground in the big woods and gal- 
J loped away and away, nor stopped to feed till 
Ay, u he found himself far in the wide swamplands of 
we Pad Cone Kilder Creek, in the home of his early days and 
—! 
NY 3 Ss the land of his kindred. 
—= =a a: A Coon coming back after months away is a 
=>, is, stranger to his people. His form is forgotten or 
< 2 changed, his place is filled. Only one thing holds 
oe among this folk of smells, that is his smell, that was 
his passport, the proof that he was theirs, and 
slowly he ‘‘came back,” not as the young of such a 
one, but as a tribal member in good standing, and 
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