that he must climb a tree at once. So he made for the nearest tree in
sight--a big, spreading oak, which stood all alone just beyond the
fence. And as Fatty crouched on a limb he felt safe enough, though the
dog barked and whined, and leaped against the tree, and made a great
fuss.

Fatty looked down at the dog and scolded a little. He was not afraid.
But it made him cross to be driven out of the cornfield. And he wished
the dog would go away. But the dog--it was Farmer Green's Spot--the dog
had no idea of leaving. He stayed right there and barked so loudly that
it was not long before Farmer Green and his hired man came in sight. And
with them was Johnnie Green and a little, young dog that had just been
given to him.

When Farmer Green saw Fatty he seemed disappointed. "He's too young to
bother with," he said. "His skin's not worth much. We'll go 'long and
see what we can find."

But Johnnie Green stayed behind. He wanted that young coon. And he
intended to have him, too. Leaving the young dog to watch Fatty Coon,
Johnnie went back to the farmhouse. After a while he appeared again with
an axe over his shoulder. And when he began to chop away at the big oak,
Fatty Coon felt very uneasy. Whenever Johnnie drove his axe into the
tree, both the tree and Fatty shivered together. And Fatty began to wish
he had stayed away from the cornfield. But not for long, because Johnnie
Green soon gave up the idea of chopping down the big oak. The wood was
so hard to cut, and the tree was so big, that Johnnie had not chopped
long before he saw that it would take him all night to cut through it.
He looked up longingly at Fatty Coon. And Johnnie started to climb the
tree himself. But the higher he climbed, the higher Fatty climbed. And