d after him, barking and yelping in a terrible manner.

Mr. Fox did not stop. He kept on running, and Mr. Dog, thinking of the
bones he did not finish, turned away from the window and began to eat.
While he was eating the guests for the housewarming began to arrive.
Mr. Coon did not need the ladder to help him, or Mr. Possum, either,
nor did Mr. Squirrel, but as it was there they felt it would not be
polite to enter any other way.

Mr. Possum started up first, and behind him Mr. Coon. Then came Mr.
Badger, and Mr. Rabbit behind him, while Mr. Squirrel ran up the side
of the ladder.

When they were about halfway up, Mr. Dog, hearing a noise outside, went
to the door, and of all the surprised creatures you ever saw, the
guests were the most surprised, unless it was Mr. Dog. He forgot to
bark for a second, he was so taken back.

Then he recovered and out of the door he went; but he was not used to
going down a ladder, and on the first round he slipped and down he went.

The guests started to jump just as Mr. Dog barked, but they were not
out of the way when Mr. Dog fell, and down they all tumbled, Mr. Dog,
Mr. Possum, Mr. Coon and Mr. Badger.

Mr. Squirrel jumped, too, but he jumped for a limb of the tree and was
not in the mix-up. He said it was the funniest sight he ever saw, and
he had a fine view from where he sat.

But Mr. Rabbit said he was sure his view of the affair was the best,
for, being nearest the bottom of the ladder when the tumble began, he
was up and out of the way when they all came down on the ground.

"You could not tell who was who or which from the other," said Mr.
Rabbit, later talking it over with Mr. Squirrel.

It was a long time before Mr. Fox could make the guests believe he had
not planned to have Mr. Dog at his house-warming, but when Mr. Squirrel
told them that he had seen the bones on the floor and the kettle in the
sink they finally forgave Mr. Fox.

He decided the ground floor was the safest for him, after all, and when
he was once again settled he gave a feast, and this time Mr. Dog was
not there.

LITTLE PITCHER-MAN

[Illustration: Little Pitcher-man]

On a pantry shelf there once lived a funny squatty-looking pitcher-man.
His cap was brown and that was the top of the pitcher. His coat was
yellow and his vest green.

He was round and fat, as well as squatty, and his legs were short. He
wore brown trousers (what there was of them) and white stockings and
black