The Tale of Fatty Coon

Sleepy-Time Tales: The Tale of Fatty Coon

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Title: Sleepy-Time Tales: The Tale of Fatty Coon
Author: Arthur Scott Bailey
Release Date: May, 2004 [EBook #5701] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on August 12, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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SLEEPY-TIME TALES
THE TALE OF FATTY COON
BY ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY L. SMITH

NEW YORK
1915

CONTENTS
I FATTY COON AT HOME
II FATTY LEARNS SOMETHING ABOUT EGGS
III FATTY DISCOVERS MRS. TURTLE'S SECRET
IV FATTY COON'S MISTAKE
V FATTY COON GOES FISHING
VI FATTY AND THE GREEN CORN
VII JOHNNIE GREEN IS DISAPPOINTED
VIII A TERRIBLE FRIGHT
IX JOHNNIE GREEN LOSES HIS PET
X FATTY COON AND THE MONSTER
XI JASPER JAY TELLS SOME NEWS
XII FORTY FAT TURKEYS
XIII FATTY MEETS JIMMY RABBIT
XIV THE BARBER-SHOP AGAIN
XV FATTY VISITS THE SMOKEHOUSE
XVI FATTY COON PLAYS ROBBER
XVII FATTY FINDS THE MOON
XVIII THE LOGGERS COME
XIX FATTY GROWS EVEN FATTER
XX THE TRACKS IN THE SNOW

ILLUSTRATIONS
FATTY SAW MRS. TURTLE DIGGING IN THE SAND Frontispiece
FATTY COON CROUCHED CLOSE TO THE WATER'S EDGE
FATTY WISHED THE DOG WOULD GO AWAY
FATTY STOPPED RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD
"PLEASE, MR. BEAR, LET GO OF MY TAIL!" FATTY CRIED
IT HUNG UNDER A TREE, JUST OVER FATTY'S HEAD

I
FATTY COON AT HOME
Fatty Coon was so fat and round that he looked like a ball of fur, with a plumelike tail for a handle. But if you looked at him closely you would have seen a pair of very bright eyes watching you.
Fatty loved to eat. Yes--he loved eating better than anything else in the world. That was what made him so fat. And that, too, was what led him into many adventures.
Close by a swamp, which lay down in the valley, between Blue Mountain and Swift River, Fatty Coon lived with his mother and his brother and his two sisters. Among them all there was what grown people call "a strong family resemblance," which is the same thing as saying that they all looked very much alike. The tail of each one of them--mother and children too--had six black rings around it. Each of them had a dark brown patch of fur across the face, like a mask. And--what do you think?--each of them, even Fatty and his brother and his sisters, had a stiff, white moustache!
Of course, though they all looked so much alike, you would have known which was Mrs. Coon, for she was so much bigger than her children. And you would have known which was Fatty--he was so much rounder than his brother and his sisters.
Mrs. Coon's home was in the hollow branch of an old tree. It was a giant of a tree--a poplar close by a brook which ran into the swamp--and the branch which was Mrs. Coon's home was as big as most tree-trunks are.
Blackie was Fatty's brother--for the mask on his face was just a little darker than the others'. Fluffy was one of Fatty's sisters, because her fur was just a little fluffier than the other children's. And Cutey was the other sister's name, because she was so quaint.
Now, Fatty Coon was forever looking around for something to eat. He was never satisfied with what his mother brought home for him. No matter how big a dinner Mrs. Coon set before her family, as soon as he had finished eating his share Fatty would wipe his white moustache carefully--for all the world like some old gentleman--and hurry off in search of something more.
Sometimes he went to the edge of the brook and tried to catch fish by hooking them out of the water with his sharp claws. Sometimes he went over to the swamp and hunted for duck among the tall reeds. And though he did not yet know how to catch a duck, he could always capture a frog or two; and Fatty ate them as if