out in it, and waving, and
sometimes rolling in the leaves, and mopping his face as if he liked it
better than anything; and by and by, when the rain was over and he came
in, there was no more whitewash, and he was the blackest, shiniest Old
Black Crow that ever was.

Then Mr. 'Coon said that, after all, there was nothing like a natural
complexion.

And Mr. Crow said: "The trouble about whitewash is that it's too hard to
keep it on."

Mr. 'Possum, who was resting in a big chair, after his hard morning's
work, opened his eyes just long enough to say, "It's too hard to live up
to"; and went sound asleep.

MR. 'COON'S STAR STORY

MR. 'COON EXPLAINS THE STARS
AND HOW THEY ARE MADE

One very pleasant June night the Hollow Tree people and Jack Rabbit
walked over to the edge of the world and sat down to talk and smoke and
look at the stars.

Mr. 'Possum said he always liked to look at the stars when he had
anything on his mind, because they seemed so far away from all his
troubles, and if he looked at them long enough his troubles seemed to
get far away, too. He said he supposed the stars were fully two miles
away, some of them, though the little ones would have to be closer or
one would not be able to see them. Very likely the moon, being so big,
might be farther away than any, and if it was really another world, as
Mr. Rabbit had once explained to them,[6] it must be still a good deal
bigger than it looks, and very far away, indeed, probably as much as
seven miles, though no one would think so to see it coming up full on a
clear night behind the Blackberry-patch. Mr. 'Possum said that once,
when he was quite young, he had tried to get over there to catch it, but
had not been able to arrive in time.

Then all the Hollow Tree people and Jack Rabbit looked up at the sky--at
the different kinds of stars, and the patterns they made, such as the
Big Dipper, and the Seven Sisters, and at the Milky Way, that seemed
broader and milkier than usual; and nobody said anything, until Mr.
'Coon happened to remark:

"I saw Mr. Man _making_ the stars, once. It was very interesting, though
dangerous; I nearly got hit by one."

Then Mr. Rabbit and the others were very much interested, and Mr. Rabbit
said:

"What a curious idea! How is it you never told us about that before?"

"Well," said Mr. 'Coon, "it was a good while ago, and the only people I
told about it then didn't believe it. I haven't thought of it for a l