they made him
promise to spend the day with them and be there when the Robin and the
Squirrel and Mr. Turtle and Jack Rabbit came, which he did.

And it was snowing hard outside, which made it a nicer Christmas than if
it hadn't been, and when all the others came they brought presents, too.
And when they saw Mr. Dog dressed up as Santa Claus and heard how he'd
gone to sleep and been caught, they laughed and laughed. And it snowed
so hard that Mr. Dog had to stay for dinner, which he wanted to do more
than anything, because he knew that then they would all sit around and
tell stories.

MR. DOG AT THE CIRCUS

THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE LEARN SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT ABOUT SHOWS

THAT was a great Christmas in the Hollow Tree. The 'Coon and the 'Possum
and the Old Black Crow had been getting ready for it for a long time,
and brought in ever so many nice things to eat, which Mr. Crow had
cooked for them, for Mr. Crow is the best cook of anybody in the Big
Deep Woods. Then Mr. Dog had brought a lot of good things, too, which he
had borrowed from Mr. Man's house, so they had the finest Christmas
dinner that you can think of, and plenty for the next day, when it would
be even better, because chicken and turkey and dressing and such things
are always better the next day, and even the _third_ day, with gravy,
than they are when they are first cooked.

[Illustration: THE PANTRY IN THE HOLLOW TREE]

Then, when they were all through and were standing around, smoking their
new pipes and looking at each other's new neckties and other Christmas
things, Mr. Crow said that he and Mr. Squirrel would clear off the table
if the others would get in some wood and stir up the fire and set the
room to rights, so they could gather round and be comfortable by and by;
and then, he said it might snow as much as it liked as long as they had
plenty of wood and things to eat inside.

So then they all skurried around getting on their things to go out after
wood--all except Mr. Crow and Mr. Squirrel, who set about clearing off
the table and doing up the dishes. And pretty soon Mr. Dog and Mr. 'Coon
and the rest were hopping about where the snow was falling so soft and
silent among the big, leafless trees, gathering nice pieces of wood and
brushing the snow off of them and piling them into the first down
stairs of the Hollow Tree, which the 'Coon and 'Possum and Old Black
Crow use for their wood house and general store room. It was great fun,