VHi THE SKUNK, CALMLY CONSIDERED 213 



" It would seem that in the long ago a skunk, 

 a coyote, and a rattlesnake each had a farm on top 

 of the Whitestone. Those were the days before 

 the skunk was as odorous as he is now, but was 

 esteemed a good fellow and pleasant companion by 

 other animals. As in some other small communi- 

 ties, jealousies, dissensions, and intrigues arose in 

 this one. The result was that the coyote and 

 the rattlesnake took a mean advantage of the 

 skunk one night when he was asleep, and 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 medi- 

 cine man and magician. To him the skunk 

 applied, and was fitted out with an apparatus 

 warranted to give immunity from and conquest 

 over all his enemies. Back he journeyed along 

 the river to his old home, where he arrived, much 

 to the surprise of the coyote and rattlesnake, and 

 commenced to make it so pleasant for them with 

 his pungent perfumery apparatus, the gift of the 

 magician, that they soon left him in undisputed 

 possession of his rocky home, which he has main- 

 tained ever since." 



It is not surprising to find that this powerful 

 secretion has a marked effect upon our eyes and 

 air-passages whenever it comes into contact with 

 them. When shot into the eye, as has often hap- 

 pened, intense pain and acute inflammation (con- 



