" So the little Black Cats combed him down,
and parted his hair, and brushed his tail, and while they were doing this
he fell asleep; and they, being very hungry, took the fresh bear-skin
mitts, and scraped them all up, and cooked and ate them. Then the Coon,
waking up, looked very angry at them, and said in an awful voice,
"Where are my bear-skin mitts?" And they, in great fear, replied,
"Please, sir, we cooked and ate them." Then the Coon flew at them and
strangled them every one, all except the youngest, who, since he could
not speak as yet, the Raccoon, or Lox, thought could not tell of him.
Then, for a great joke, he took all the little dead creatures and set
them up by the road-side in a row; as it was a cold day they all froze
stiff, and then he put a stick across their jaws, so that the little
Black Cats looked as if they were laughing for joy. Then he made off at
full speed.
Soon the father, the old Black Cat, came home, and, seeing his children
all grinning at him, he said, "How glad the dear little things are to
see me." But as none moved he saw that something was wrong, and his joy
soon changed to sorrow. [Footnote: This trick is so precisely in the
style of Lox that it seems a gross mistake to attribute it to the
Raccoon. Those who have seen a wild cat grin will appreciate the humor
of Lox on this occasion.]
Then the youngest Black Cat, the baby, came out of some hole where he
had hid himself.
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