Solomon Owl looked so wise that many of his neighbors fell into the habit
of going to him for advice. If two of the forest folk chanced to have a
dispute which they could not settle between them they frequently visited
Solomon and asked him to decide which was in the right. And in the course
of time Solomon became known far and wide for his ability to patch up a
quarrel.

At last Jimmy Rabbit stopped Solomon Owl one night and suggested that he
hang a sign outside his house, so that there shouldn’t be anybody in the
whole valley that wouldn’t know what to do in case he found himself in an
argument.

Solomon decided on the spot that Jimmy Rabbit’s idea was a good one. So he
hurried home and before morning he had his sign made, and put out where
everyone could see it. It looked like this:

DISPUTES SETTLED WITHIN

There was only one objection to the sign. As soon as Jimmy Rabbit saw it
he told Solomon that it should have said:

DISPUTES SETTLED WITHOUT

“Without what?” Solomon Owl inquired.

“Why, without going into your house!” said Jimmy Rabbit. “I can’t climb a
tree, you know. And neither can Tommy Fox. We might have a dispute
to-night; and how could you ever settle it?”