A trap! THAT was what Mrs. Coon saw right in front of her. And Farmer
Green, or his boy, or whoever it was that set the trap, had hung that
bright piece of TIN over the trap hoping that one of her family would
see it and play with it--and fall into the trap. Yes--it was a mercy
that Fatty hadn't begun knocking it about. For if he had he would have
stepped right into the trap and it would have shut--SNAP! Just like
that. And there he would have been, caught fast.

It was no wonder that Mrs. Coon hurried her family away from that spot.
And Fatty led them all home again. He couldn't get away from his moon
fast enough.




XVIII

THE LOGGERS COME


Fatty Coon was frightened; he had just waked up and he heard a sound
that was exactly like the noise Farmer Green and his hired man had made
when they cut down the tall chestnut tree where he was perched.

"Oh, Mother! What is it?" he cried.

"The loggers have come," Mrs. Coon said. "They are cutting down all the
big trees in the swamp."

"Then we'll have to move, won't we?" Fatty asked.