So Unc' Billy crept along in the black shadows until he got where he could
look up and see his own doorway. Then he sat down and watched a while. All
was still. There wasn't a sound in the great hollow tree.

"Perhaps mah ol' woman am out calling, and Ah can slip in and go to bed
before she gets back," said Unc' Billy hopefully to himself, as he started
to climb the great hollow tree.

But at the first scratch of his toe-nails on the bark the sharp face of old
Mrs. Possum appeared in the doorway.

"Good evening, mah dear," said Unc' Billy, in the mildest kind of a voice.

Old Mrs. Possum said nothing, but Unc' Billy felt as if her sharp black
eyes were looking right through him.

Unc' Billy grinned a sickly kind of grin as he said:

"Ah hopes yo'alls are feeling good tonight."

"Where's that dinner Ah sent yo' fo'?" demanded old Mrs. Possum sharply.

Unc' Billy fidgeted uneasily. "Ah done brought yo' two eggs from Farmer
Brown's hen-house," he replied meekly.

"Two eggs! Two eggs! How do yo' think Ah am going to feed eight hungry
mouths on two eggs?" snapped old Mrs. Possum.

Unc' Billy hung his head. He hadn't a word to say. He just couldn't tell