In the midst of the woods there was
a lake, and all along the lake shore
there rang out the alarm cries of
the water people as the Raccoon came
nearer and nearer.

First the Swan gave a scream of
warning. The Crane repeated the cry,
and from the very middle of the lake
the Loon, swimming low, took it up
and echoed it back over the still
water.

The Raccoon sped merrily on, and
finding no unwary bird that he could
seize he picked up a few mussel
shells from the beach, cracked
them neatly and ate the sweet meat.

A little further on, as he was
leaping hither and thither through
the long, tangled meadow grass, he
landed with all four feet on a
family of Skunks---father, mother
and twelve little ones, who were
curled up sound asleep in a soft
bed of broken dry grass.

"Huh!" exclaimed the father Skunk.
"What do you mean by this, eh?" And
he stood looking at him defiantly.

"Oh, excuse me, excuse me," begged
the Raccoon. "I am very sorry.
I did not mean to do it! I was just
running along and I did not see
you at all."

"Better be careful where you step
next time," grumbled the Skunk, and
the Raccoon was glad to hurry on.

Running up a tall tree he came upon
two red Squirrels in one nest, but
before he could get his paws upon
one of them they were scolding
angrily from the topmost branch.

"Come down, friends!" called the
Raccoon. "What are you doing up
there? Why, I wouldn't harm you for
anything!"

"Ugh, you can't fool us," chattered
the Squirrels, and the Raccoon
went on.

Deep in the woods, at last, he found
a great hollow tree which attracted
him by a peculiar sweet smell.
He sniffed and sniffed, and went
round and round till he saw something
trickling down a narrow crevice. He
tasted it and it was deliciously
sweet.

He ran up the tree and down again,
and at last found an opening into
which he could thrust his paw. He
brought it out covered with honey!
Now the Raccoon was happy. He ate
and scooped, and scooped and ate
the golden, trickling honey with both
forepaws till his pretty, pointed
face was daubed all over.

Suddenly he tried to get a paw into
his ear.

Something hurt him terribly just
then, and the next minute his
sensitive nose was frightfully stung.
He rubbed his face with both sticky
paws. The sharp stings came thicker
and faster, and he wildly clawed
the air. At last he forgot to hold
on to the branch any longer, and
with a screech he tumbled to the
ground.

There he rolled and rolled on the
dead leaves till he was covered with
leaves from head to foot, for they
stuck to his fine, sticky fur, and
most of all they covered his eyes
and his striped face. Mad with fright
and pain he dashed through the forest
calling to some one of his own kind
to come to his aid.

The moon was now bright, and many
of the woods people were abroad.
A second Raccoon heard the call and
went to meet it. But when he saw
a frightful object plastered with
dry leaves racing madly toward him he
turned and ran for his life, for he
did not know what this thing might be.

The Raccoon who had been stealing
the honey ran after him as fast as
he could, hoping to overtake and beg
the other to help him get rid of
his leaves. So they ran and they
ran out of the woods on to the
shining white beach around the lake.

Here a Fox met them, but after one
look at the queer object which was
chasing the frightened Raccoon he
too turned and ran at his best speed.

Presently a young Bear came loping
out of the wood and sat up on his
haunches to see them go by. But
when he got a good look at the
Raccoon who was plastered with dead
leaves, he scrambled up a tree to
be out of the way.

By this time the poor Raccoon was
so frantic that he scarcely knew
what he was doing. He ran up the
tree after the Bear and got hold
of his tail.