-shells left by Unc'
Billy. Farmer Brown's boy was angry. Yes, indeed, he was very, very
angry. Unc' Billy shivered as he listened. Then he snuggled down out
of sight under the hay of the nest.

XVII

UNC' BILLY POSSUM LIES LOW

Farmer Brown's boy was angry. Yes, Sir, he was angry. There was no
doubt about that. He had found the empty shells of the eggs which Unc'
Billy had eaten in the night, and Unc' Billy knew by the sound of his
voice that Farmer Brown's boy meant to find the thief.

It was a terrible position to be in, right there in the hen-house,
with no chance to run. Unc' Billy wished with all his might that he
had never thought of eggs, and that he was safe back home in the dear
old hollow tree in the Green Forest. Oh, dear! oh, dear! Why hadn't he
gone right straight back there, after eating those eggs, instead of
taking a nap? But he hadn't. He had taken a nap and overslept, and
here he was, right in the hen-house, in broad daylight.

"It must have been a Skunk," said Farmer Brown's boy, "and if it was,
he must have left some tracks in the snow outside. I'll just look
around a bit."

Unc' Billy almost chuckled as he heard Farmer Brown's boy go out.

"He'll find Jimmy Skunk's tracks, but he won't find mine," thought
Unc' Billy. "Isn't it lucky that I thought to step right in Jimmy
Skunk's tracks when I came here?"

He lay still and listened to Farmer Brown's boy poking around outside.
He heard him exclaim: "Ah, I thought so!" and knew that he had found
the tracks Jimmy Skunk had made in the snow. Unc' Billy almost
chuckled again as he thought what a smart fellow he had been to step
in Jimmy Skunk's tracks. And right then he heard something that put an
end to all his fine thoughts about his own smartness, and sent little
cold shivers up and down his backbone.

"Hello!" said the voice of Farmer Brown's boy. "These are queer
tracks! That Skunk must have had a queer tail, for here are the marks
of it in the snow, and they look as if they might have been made by
the tail of a very big rat."

Unc' Billy remembered then for the first time that when he had thought
he was so smart, he had forgotten to hold his tail up. He had dragged
it in the snow, and of course it had left a mark.

"I guess that there was more than one visitor here last night,"
continued the voice of Farmer Brown's boy. "Here are the tracks of the
Skunk going away from the hen-house, but I don't see any of those
other queer tr