IGHT ON
THE SUBJECT

This is the story told by Mr. 'Possum when he and Mr. 'Coon and Jack
Rabbit sat on the edge of the world and hung their feet over and looked
at the moon:--

"Well," said Mr. 'Possum, "a good many years ago, when there were a
great many more chickens than there are now, and Mr. Man took good care
of them for us and let them roost in trees instead of locking them up
every night in an unhealthy little pen, my folks used to go around
sometimes after Mr. Man had gone to bed, and look them over and pick out
what they wanted for the next day.

"I don't know why we ever began the custom of picking out our victuals
at night that way, when it was dark and dangerous, but somehow we always
did it, and have kept it up ever since."

"Humph!" said the 'Coon.

"Yes," continued Mr. 'Possum, "that was before there was any moon, and
the nights were always dark. It wasn't a good time to choose food, and
very often my folks made a mistake and got a seven-year-old bantam hen
instead of a spring pullet, which is about the same size.

"This happened so much that by and by a very wise 'Possum, named
Smoothe, said that if they would keep him in chickens of a youthful and
tender sort he would fix up a light, so they could see and know what
they were doing. They all agreed to do it, and that night Smoothe built
a big fire in the top of a tall tree and sat up there and 'tended to it
until nearly morning, and my folks brought home the finest lot of
chickens that Mr. Man had raised for them in a good many years."

[Illustration: USED TO FALL ASLEEP AND DREAM ABOUT IT.]

"Well, there was never any trouble after that to pick out young meat,
and Smoothe kept the fire going nights and ate a good deal and got
pretty fat, so that he didn't like to work, and kept planning some way
to make his job easier. He wanted to find a light that he wouldn't have
to 'tend to and keep piling wood on all night. He thought about this for
a long time, and used to fall asleep and dream about it, and once he let
the fire go out, and fell out of the tree and nearly gave up his job
altogether."

[Illustration: A TOP-KNOT CROW NAMED DUSK.]

"Well, while he was getting well he had a good deal of company, and one
day a top-knot crow named Dusk came to see him. Now, you know that our
friend Mr. Crow is a wise bird to-day, but in the old times a top-knot
crow was wiser than anything that now flies or walks, and Dusk was a
very old bird. He knew a