making Pal's life miserable. He would tag the dog around the clearing
until Pal, in desperation, would turn upon him with a savage growl. Then
his tormentor would take to a tree, or his pole, or even the roof of the
cabin, there to wait until the dog's anger had cooled.

Ringtail had, also, another habit which annoyed Pal greatly. In the
shade just outside the cabin door was the dog's drinking-pan which the
Hermit always kept filled with fresh water from the spring. This pan the
raccoon always used for washing his food. Poor Pal, coming up hot and
thirsty, was sure to find it full of leaves, twigs and earth. He bore
this affront for some time but at last his patience was exhausted.
There-after he did his drinking at the spring, approaching it always by
a round-about way lest the raccoon discover it and pollute its clear
water. The Hermit watched the two animals with amusement, but he did not
interfere. Gradually the feud was forgotten. Indeed, before many weeks
had passed, the two had become firm friends, though Ringtail still
delighted in teasing the dog.

In a surprisingly short space of time, too, the raccoon came to trust
the Hermit, even to the point of entering the cabin and eating from his
hand. This friendliness, however, led to trouble, as the man soon
discovered. Ringtail's curiosity was never satisfied and the cabin
furnished a rich field for exploration. Shining objects of all kinds
seemed to hold a fascination for him. One day when the Hermit missed
his watch, and found it eventually in the raccoon's house, he decided
that it was time to put a curb upon that animal's explorations.

Ringtail developed another habit which came to be very annoying to the
Hermit. On warm summer nights the man slept in a hammock swung between
two trees in front of his cabin. Ringtail, returning from his nocturnal
hunting, would run along the low branch of one of these trees until he
stood directly above the sleeper. Then he would let go and fall with a
thud, sometimes into the springy hammock, but more often upon the man.

Nothing that the Hermit could do would break Ringtail of this playful
habit. At length he was compelled to move his hammock, swinging it
between a corner of the cabin and a small spruce having no long,
horizontal branches. Here for a time he slept in peace, until Ringtail
discovered that he could take a few steps on the rope and so get into
the hammock, where he would sleep contentedly until morning. At lea