rner and wait until he heard the high-pitched
voice of Mrs. Speckles proudly crying:

"Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut-aa-cut! I lay the finest eggs in the
world!"

Then Unc' Billy would chuckle to himself and wait a few minutes longer
for the voice of Mrs. Feathertoes, saying: "Cut, cut, cut, cut,
cut-aa-cut, cut, cut, cut! No one lays such splendid eggs as I do!"
Then, while Mrs. Speckles and Mrs. Feathertoes were disputing as to
which laid the best eggs, Unc' Billy would slip out and breakfast on
both those newly laid eggs.

So for almost a week Unc' Billy lived in Farmer Brown's hen-house and
ate the eggs of Mrs. Speckles and Mrs. Feathertoes and hid in the last
nest of the top row in the darkest corner and shivered as he heard
Farmer Brown's boy tell what would happen if he caught the one who was
stealing those eggs. Sometimes the door was left open during the day,
and Unc' Billy would peep out and wish that he dared to run. But he
didn't, for Bowser the Hound was always prowling around, and then
again he was almost sure to be seen by some one.

At last one day it began to snow. It snowed all day and it snowed all
night. Rough Brother North Wind piled it up in great drifts in front
of the hen-house door and all along one side of the hen-house. It
covered the traps so deep that they couldn't possibly catch any one.
As soon as the snow stopped falling, Unc' Billy began to dig his way
up to the top from the very hole by which he had entered the
hen-house. He didn't like it, for he doesn't like snow, but now was
his chance to get away, and he meant to make the most of it.

XX

UNC' BILLY POSSUM WISHES HE HAD SNOWSHOES

Unc' Billy Possum didn't know whether he liked the snow more than he
hated it or hated it more than he liked it, just now. Usually he
dislikes the snow very much, and doesn't go out in it any more than he
has to. But this time the snow had done Unc' Billy a good turn, a very
good turn, indeed. Once out of the hen-house, Unc' Billy lost no time
in starting for the Green Forest. But it was slow, hard work. You see,
the snow was newly fallen and very soft. Of course Unc' Billy sank
into it almost up to his middle at every step. He huffed and he puffed
and he grunted and groaned. You see Unc' Billy had slept so much
through the winter that he was not at all used to hard work of any
kind, and he wasn't half way to the Green Forest before he was so
tired it seemed to him that he could hardly move