Now the baby was too young to speak, but he was very
clever, and, picking up a piece of charcoal, he made a mark from the
end of his mouth around his cheek. [Footnote: The reader cannot fail to
recall the peculiar mustache of the Raccoon so well indicated by the
infant artist.] Then the father cried, "Ah, _now_ I know who it
was,--the Raccoon, as sure as I live!" And he started after him in hot
pursuit.
Soon the Raccoon saw the fierce Black Cat, as an Indian, coming after
him with a club. And, looking at him, he said, "No club can kill me;
nothing but a bulrush or cat-tail can take my life." Then the Black
Cat, who knew where to get one, galloped off to a swamp, and, having
got a large cat-tail, came to the Coon and hit him hard with it. It
burst and spread all over the Raccoon's head, and, being wet, the fuzz
stuck to him. And the Black Cat, thinking it was the Coon's brains and
all out, went his way.
The Raccoon lay quite still till his foe was gone, and then went on his
travels. Now he was a great magician, though little to other folks'
good. And he came to a place where there were many women nursing their
babes, and said, "This is but a slow way you have of raising children."
To which the good women replied, "How else should we raise them?" Then
he answered, "I will show you how we do in our country. When we want
them to grow fast, we dip them into cold water over night.
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