"N--no," Patty said. "But Freddie Bluejay told me they weren't good."

"He did, did he?" Mrs. Coon said nothing more. She stood up on her hind
legs and pulled one of the tall stalks down until she could reach that
long, green thing that grew there. In a jiffy she had torn it from its
stalk. And then she stripped the green covering off it. "Try that!" said
Mrs. Coon with a smile.

Of course it was Fatty who tasted it first. He took a good mouthful of
the white kernels, and he was overjoyed. Such sweetness! Such delicious,
milky juice! It was a moment that Fatty never forgot.

Fatty began tearing down the stalks for himself and he never said
another word until at last he simply had to stop eating just to catch
his breath.

"What's its name, Mother?" he inquired.

"Corn, my child."

"Well, why doesn't Freddie Bluejay like it?" Fatty asked.

"He's probably very fond of corn," said Mrs. Coon. "And I've no doubt he
was afraid that you would eat up this whole field, once you started."

"I'd like to," said Fatty, with a sigh. "I'd like to eat all the corn in
the world."