all, he was in such a hurry to get away from Solomon Owl, who—for all he
knew—might still be very hungry.

But Solomon Owl had caught so many mice that night that he didn’t feel
like chasing anybody. So he sat motionless in the tree, merely turning his
head to watch Benjamin sailing away through the dusky woods. He noticed
that Benjamin didn’t dodge at all—except when there was a tree in his way.
And he wondered what the reason was.

“Perhaps he’s not so crazy as I supposed,” said Solomon Owl to himself.
And ever afterward, when he happened to awake and feel hungry, Solomon Owl
used to look up at the ceiling above him and wish that Benjamin Bat was
there.

But Benjamin Bat never cared to have anything more to do with Solomon Owl.

He said he had a good reason for avoiding him.

And ever afterward he passed for a very brave person among his friends.
They often pointed him out to strangers, saying, “There’s Benjamin Bat!
_He_ doesn’t know what fear is. Why, once he even spent a whole day asleep
in Solomon Owl’s house! And if you don’t think _that_ was a bold thing to
do, then I guess you don’t know Solomon Owl.”





XV
DISPUTES SETTLED