mproved
him, of course, in some ways; though it certainly made him less homelike
and familiar and seemed to affect his cooking.

Then Mr. 'Possum yawned again and went down-stairs and got the rake, and
went out and began to make a few little piles of leaves, which were
quite wet from the rain, and did not rake very easy, and made him tired.
So pretty soon he called up to Mr. 'Coon, who was sweeping and moving
furniture, and asked him what he should do with the leaves, as they were
too wet to burn, and if he left them there until they were dry the wind
would blow them all about again.

Mr. 'Coon looked out the up-stairs window and told him he'd better fetch
them up and put them in something in Mr. Crow's kitchen, so he could
have them to light his fire with when they got dry. Then pretty soon he
came down and helped Mr. 'Possum, and they carried them up, and saw Mr.
Crow's barrel, and threw them in until it was quite full, then poked
them down and put in some more, and said how glad Mr. Crow would be to
have them, and that now they would go outside and rest a little, until
they saw him coming.

So they went out and sat on a log and smoked, and were wondering what
kept Mr. Crow so long, when Mr. 'Possum said he smelled something
curious, and just then Mr. 'Coon happened to look up at the window, and
said:

[Illustration: "GOOD GRACIOUS ALIVE! IF THE HOLLOW TREE ISN'T ON FIRE!"]

"Goodness gracious alive, if the Hollow Tree isn't on fire!"

Then Mr. 'Possum looked up, too, and said, "As sure as you're born, and
we shall lose everything!"

And just then they saw Mr. Crow coming, on the run, for he had seen it
even before they had--Mr. Crow being always a great hand to see things.

[Illustration: MR. 'COON RODE DOWN ON IT LIKE A SLED]

"Hurry up, and get out our things," he said; and didn't stop, but ran
right to the door and up the stairs, with Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum
after him, though there was a good deal of smelly smoke there, and they
expected the flames to break out any minute. Mr. Crow said the fire
seemed to be in the kitchen, and commenced to grab the parlor furniture
and hand it to them, and Mr. 'Possum called to him to get his best suit
out of his room, if possible, as he never expected to be able to afford
another. Mr. 'Coon ran through to his room, and brought out some
pictures he thought a good deal of, and came dragging his trunk with his
free hand, and slipped when he got it to the stairs, and rod