became common talk in the
neighborhood. Brother Lion had come a long way to hunt Mr. Man, and as
soon as he got his hand out of the split in the log he started to go
home again. I went part of the way with him, and then it was that I
told him he'd find himself in a cage if he wasn't careful. I made a
burdock poultice for his hand the best I could--"

"And it's mighty good for bruises, I tell you now!" exclaimed Mrs.
Meadows.

"And then Brother Lion went on home, feeling better, but still very
mad. Crippled as he was, he was a quick traveler, and it was not long
before he came to his journey's end.

[Illustration: MR. RABBIT BANDAGING BROTHER LION'S PAW]

"Well, when his mother saw him she was very sorry. But when he told
her what the matter was she was vexed. 'Aha!' said she, 'how often
have I told you about meddling with somebody else's business! How
often have I told you about sticking your nose into things that don't
concern you! I'm not sorry for you one bit, because if you had obeyed
me you wouldn't be coming home now with your hand mashed all to
flinders. But, no! daddy-like, you've got to go and get yourself into
trouble with Mr. Man, and now you see what has come of it. I'm not
feeling at all well myself, but now I've got to go to work and make a
whole parcel of poultices and tie your hand up and nurse you--and I
declare somebody ought to be nursing me this very minute.'

"That was what Brother Lion's mother said," continued Mr. Rabbit, "but
Brother Lion didn't say anything. He just lay on the sheepskin pallet
she made him and studied how he would be revenged on Mr. Man. After a
while his hand got well, but still he said very little about the
matter. The more he thought about the way he had been treated, the
madder he got. He gnashed his teeth together and waved his long tail
about until it looked like a snake. Finally he sent word to all his
kin--his uncles and his cousins--to meet him somewhere in the woods
and hold a convention to consider how they should catch the great
monster, Mr. Man, who had caused a log of wood to mash Brother Lion's
hand.

"Well, it wasn't long before the uncles and cousins began to arrive.
They came from far and near, and they seemed to be very ferocious.
They shook their manes and showed their tushes. They went off in the
woods and held their convention, and Brother Lion laid his complaint
before them. He told them what kind of treatment he had received from
Mr. Man, and aske