-cake and gravy wouldn't last through; and Mr. Crow
mentioned something of the kind once himself, though he seemed to forget
it right away again, for he went on giving us just as much as ever. But
I didn't forget about it, and right away I began laying aside in a quiet
place some of the things that would keep pretty well, and that we would
be glad to have when Old Hungry-Wolf should really come along and we had
learned to live on lighter meals and could make things last."

Mr. 'Possum was going right on, but Mr. 'Coon interrupted him, and said
that Mr. 'Possum could call it living on lighter meals if he wanted to
but that he hadn't eaten any meal at all for three days, and that if Mr.
'Possum had put away anything for a hungry time he wished he'd get it
out right now, without any more explaining, for it was food that he
wanted and not explanations, and all the others said so too.

Then Mr. 'Possum said he was just coming to that, but he only wished to
say a few words about it because they had seemed to think that he was
doing something that he shouldn't, when he was really trying to save
them from Old Hungry-Wolf, and he said he had kept his surprise as long
as he could, so it would last longer, and that he had been pretending
not to hear Old Hungry's bark just to keep their spirits up, and he
supposed one of the reasons why he hadn't got any thinner was because he
hadn't been so worried, and had kept happy in the nice surprise he had
all the time, just saving it for when they would begin to need it most.
As to what he had been chewing and swallowing when he came up-stairs,
Mr. 'Possum said that he had been taking just the least little taste of
some of the things to see if they were keeping well--some nice cooked
chickens, for instance, from a lot that Mr. Crow had on hand and didn't
remember about, and a young turkey or two, and a few ducks, and a bushel
or so of apples, and a half a barrel of doughnuts, and--

But Mr. 'Possum didn't get any further, for all the Deep Woods People
made a wild scramble for the stairs, with Mr. 'Possum after them, and
when they got down in the store-room he took them behind one of the big
roots of the Hollow Tree, and there was a passageway that none of them
had ever suspected, and Mr. 'Possum lit a candle and led them through it
and out into a sort of cave, and there, sure enough, were all the things
he had told them about and some mince-pies besides. And there was even
some wood, for M