24 The Skunk 



"In the long ago, a skunk, a coyote, and a rattle- 

 snake each had a farm on the top of the Whitestone. 

 Those were the days before the skunk 'was as odoros 

 as he is now, and he was esteemed a good fellow and 

 pleasant companion by the other animals. As in 

 other small communities, jealousies, dissensions, and 

 intrigues arose. The result was that the coyote and 

 the rattlesnake took a mean advantage of the skunk, 

 and one night, when he was asleep, threw him off the 

 rock, away down into the river. He was not drowned 

 however, but floated on and on, far away to the south 

 and west, until he came to the mouth of the river 

 where lived a great medicine-man and magician. 

 To him the skunk applied for means of revenge, and 

 was fitted out with an apparatus warranted to give 

 him immunity from, and conquest over, his enemies. 

 Back he journeyed along the river to his old home, 

 where he arrived safely, nnich to the surprise of the 

 coyote and the rattlesnake. So unpleasant did he 

 make it for them, with the pungent burning liquid, 

 the gift of the magician, that they soon left him in 

 undisturbed possession of his rocky home." 



The self-confidence of the skunk sometimes causes 

 him to become quite aggressive upon a slight pretext. 

 John Burroughs, the naturalist, told me of an incident 

 of this kind which happened to him a few years ago 



