58 THE ROMANCE OF EVERIFARM 



when one of the boys from up the creek comes down 

 here and digs up some of my roots to make tea," 

 commented Sassafras. "This is about the season, 

 too. Last year they woke me up with their digging 

 and cutting, but so far no one has been along. Why! 

 look at White Elm! He has had an accident — lost 

 one of his best limbs. I wonder what was the cause," 

 Sassafras went on. 



"Well, you see it was like this," began Peter Rab- 

 bit, sitting under Prairie Rose. "Bobby Coon had 

 his home in that big limb, and one dark night he 

 came rushing home, and just at his heels was a pack 

 of hounds and some men from up the creek. Bobby 

 ran up to his home in a hurry, but the men, with the 

 aid of a ladder and ropes, climbed up White Elm 

 and cut off the limb. Bobby came crashing to the 

 ground, and the fall broke Judas Tree, Gooseberry 

 Bush, and Young Hickory, and in the confusion 

 Bobby made a hurried escape and got to his old 

 friend Big Oak, which was too big for the men to cut 

 down or to climb, so they left Bobby alone. It was 

 a terrible night, and every time we hear a dog howl 

 or a hound bark, we all think of Bobby and his nar- 

 row escape. It has shortened the life of White Ehn 

 to lose his limb and he is feeling terribly over it." 



