distance, he would shout:

"Ol' Bill Possum, he's gone before!
Ol' Bill Possum, he is no more!"

It got so that Reddy never came down on the Green Meadows in the
daytime, and at night he avoided meeting any one if possible, even his
old friend, Bobby Coon. And of course Reddy Fox hated Unc' Billy
Possum more than ever.

But Unc' Billy didn't care, not he! He knew that all the rest of the
little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows thought him
the smartest of them all, because of the way in which he had fooled
Bowser the Hound and Farmer Brown's boy. He liked his neighbors, he
liked the Green Forest, and so he made up his mind that this was the
place for him to stay.

But in spite of all his friends, Unc' Billy was lonesome. The longer
he stayed, the more lonesome he grew, Unc' Billy wanted his family,
whom he had left way down in "Ol' Virginny." Finally he told Jimmy
Skunk all about it, and for once Unc' Billy had forgotten how to grin.
Yes, Sir, Unc' Billy had forgotten how to grin. Instead he just wept,
wept great big tears of lonesomeness.

"Ah reckon Ah'll have to go back to Ol' Virginny, Ah cert'nly do,"
said Unc' Billy Possum.

Jimmy Skunk grew very thoughtful. Since he and Unc' Billy Possum had
been in partnership, Jimmy had had more eggs to eat than ever before
in his whole life. Now Unc' Billy was talking about going away. Jimmy