Washer the Raccoon

“My dear,” Sneaky began, scowling at his mate, “I took that jump just to show Loup what I could do. If he had followed me, I surely would have killed him.”

Mother Wolf laughed and cuddled up to one of her little ones. “I know, Sneaky, you’re very brave,” she said.

That was all, but the way she said it angered Sneaky. It was just as if she had said, “Oh, yes, you’re very brave when there’s no danger around.”

Sneaky switched his tail angrily, and bared his white teeth. Just then he might have done something courageous if there had been a chance, for he was very sore and disturbed that Mother Wolf should speak of his bravery in such a flippant way before his children.

Suddenly he caught sight of Washer, who had been looking and listening in silence. His eyes gleamed with a yellow light.

“Ah!” he said, stretching out a paw and grasping Washer. “Our Little Stranger is very fat. I think now I’ll kill him. Yes, he’s very fat,” he added, as he felt of Washer’s ribs.

Washer was so startled and frightened by this sudden attack that he began squealing and panting for breath. But the louder he cried the more it pleased Sneaky. The heavy paw pressing down upon his back threatened to break his spine.

Mother Wolf suddenly sprang to Washer’s rescue. Her own eyes showed baleful yellow, and her teeth, fully as white and long as Sneaky’s, were bared to the gums.

“Take your paw off!” she said sharply. “How dare you act like that? If you touch one of my children again you’ll go forth to hunt and never return.”

“One of your children!” exclaimed Sneaky. “You call this little brat one of your children!”

“Yes, I have adopted him, and I shall raise him to hunt with the pack. You cannot hurt him!”

Sneaky was too surprised at first to speak, but after a long pause he recovered and laid his head back on his shoulders while a most startling yowl escaped from his throat. It was such a blood-curdling yelp that Washer cringed and cowered in fear. But it was not a battle cry; it was simply Sneaky’s way of expressing his merriment. Mother Wolf watched him in silence until he stopped.

“I cannot hurt him!” Sneaky repeated. “My dear, you forget he belongs to me. I caught him, and to me he belongs. Isn’t that the law of the pack? Who shall deny me what belongs to me?”

“You forget another law of the pack,” snapped Mother Wolf. “Half of the hunt belongs to me and the children. Isn’t that the law?”

“Oh, yes, so it is,” smiled Sneaky. “Half belongs to my family, and I shall divide with them. Which half do you want, my dear?”

There was a sinister look in the yellow eyes. Mother Wolf read his intentions, and so did Washer. Sneaky intended to divide the Raccoon in two equal halves. How could he do that without killing him?

Mother Wolf seemed puzzled for an instant, for she could not break the law of the pack, not even to save Washer from death. But an idea came to her finally, and the light of hope returned to her eyes.

“You cannot divide him until I’m ready, Sneaky,” she added. “That also is a law of the pack. And I’m not a bit hungry now. I’ve really eaten more than is good for me. You must save the Little Stranger until I’m ready to eat my half.”

Sneaky was greatly chagrined and angered by Mother Wolf’s words, for he too had to obey the law of the pack, and he knew that what his mate had said was true. He could not kill Washer without the consent of Mother Wolf, and right down in his heart he knew that she would never give that consent. But if there was a law against killing Washer at once there was none against tormenting him. Sneaky was naturally cruel, and the thought that he could even in this way made his eyes light up suddenly.

“I’ll wait, my dear, until you are ready to eat your half,” he said in a fawning voice. “The fact is I’ve eaten rather heartily myself today, too, and we have this fox for our supper. I’ll keep the little brat until he’s needed. Now go back to your corner!”

With that he gave Washer a cuff with his paw that sent him spinning across the cave.

“Why did you do that?” snarled Mother Wolf, springing before Sneaky.

“I wanted to prepare him for what’s coming,” drawled Sneaky. “If we harden and toughen him he won’t mind so much being eaten.”

He grinned at this remark, and made another dive for Washer; but this time the little raccoon escaped and burrowed under the wolf cubs to hide.

“Come out of that!” snapped Sneaky.

He began pawing and scratching to get at Washer when something happened that startled every one in the cave. There was a swift thud and then a snapping of sharp teeth. A howl of pain escaped Sneaky’s throat, followed by a whimpering cry of fear.

Mother Wolf had sprang at him and caught him by the scruff of the neck with her powerful jaws, and was shaking him much as a dog would shake a rat. Her teeth were closed so tight that Sneaky couldn’t shake them loose. Across the den Mother Wolf jerked him, snapping and snarling and biting until poor Sneaky was terrified. Near the entrance she gave him an extra bite with her sharp teeth, and said:

“Now go out and hunt for the family, and don’t come home again until you can behave yourself. I won’t have you spoiling the tempers of my children. Away with you!”

And Sneaky cowed and frightened trotted away, while Mother Wolf returned to the den to calm the fears of her little ones. The next story will tell of how Washer was brought up by the Wolves.

STORY FIVE

SNEAKY VISITS BLACK WOLF

Washer was perfectly safe in the den of wolves after that. Sneaky did not return for a long time, and when he did appear he was so meek and crestfallen that he hardly dared to say a word. Mother Wolf lorded it over him, and made him obey her every wish. She even made him take Washer and the cubs outside to watch them play in front of the cave while she took a rest.

Washer was a little alarmed at first, but Sneaky never so much as raised a paw to hurt him. He was in deadly fear of Mother Wolf.

After a while Washer lost all of his natural fear of being killed, and life became very different to him in the den. It was a pleasant enough home after all, and he was so grateful to Mother Wolf that he couldn’t do enough to please her. She smiled at him when he ran to do little errands for her, and patted him on his back. He grew more attentive to her than were her own children.

The cubs were growing rapidly, and Washer soon saw they would be much bigger and stronger than he in time; but they looked upon him as one of the family, and always treated him in a friendly way. They began calling him Little Brother, and Mother Wolf in time adopted this name. It was much better than Little Stranger, for Washer was no longer a stranger, and it seemed absurd to call him that.

Sneaky at first refused to use that name, and when alone with the raccoon he would often call him “Brat” or “Scamp.” Washer didn’t mind this, for he knew Sneaky didn’t dare abuse him.

In time the cubs grew so strong and active that they had to spend most of their time out of doors. They trotted around in the bushes, exploring the woods further and further away from home. Sneaky and Mother Wolf watched them with admiring eyes, and encouraged them in this.

“They will have to learn to hunt for themselves some day,” Mother Wolf said, “and I hope they’ll be good hunters.”

“If they take after their father they certainly will be,” replied Sneaky, licking his chops with satisfaction.

Mother Wolf did not notice this remark, for she was looking at Washer. “I wonder what kind of a hunter Little Brother will be,” she added. “Will he hunt like a Wolf or—or like a Raccoon?”

“Like a Raccoon,” replied Sneaky. “Can a Wolf change his nature, or a Raccoon be other than a Raccoon?”

Mother Wolf could not deny the truth of Sneaky’s remarks, and she sighed. Somehow she had grown greatly attached to Little Brother, and she wanted him to grow up and be like her own children.

“He must be taught to hunt with the pack,” she said suddenly. “He will learn their ways, and do as they do. Yes, we must take him to the pack and introduce him.”

Now this seemed to be a good time for Sneaky to get even with Mother Wolf for thwarting him in bringing up Washer. What would the others of the pack say when she brought a Raccoon in place of a Wolf to be entered as a member? He smiled in his superior sort of way, and nodded his head.

“I think, my dear,” he said, grinning, “you’d better leave Little Brother home when we take our children to the pack. They’d laugh at you, and maybe kill Little Brother.”

Mother Wolf’s eyes looked a little troubled. She hadn’t foreseen this difficulty, and it might be true that the other wolves would refuse to receive Little Brother as a member. But she had grown so fond of Washer that she was ready to stand up for him to the end.

“If they won’t receive him,” she replied, “they’ll never get my children. I’ll not let them join the pack.”

Sneaky was immediately angered by this threat, and in spite of his fear of Mother Wolf he jumped to his feet and let out a growl. “You don’t dare do that!” he cried. “Our children must join the pack, and you can’t deny them. I’ll see that they join. I’ll take them myself.”

“Don’t get excited, Sneaky,” interrupted his mate. “You can’t take them unless I consent.”

This also was a law of the pack, and Sneaky was angrier than ever. “Why do you always want to oppose me?” he cried. “The children are as dear to me as they are to you, and I must have something to say about their bringing up. They cannot hunt alone in the woods. If you don’t let them join I’ll see Black Wolf, our leader. Yes, I’ll see him at once, and lay the whole matter before him.”

Mother Wolf was a little troubled at this, and she tried to dissuade him. “Wait until it’s time to take them to the pack, Sneaky,” she said in a friendly way. “I wouldn’t trouble Black Wolf now. He’s very busy, you know.”

“No,” growled Sneaky stubbornly, “I’ll see him at once. I’ve given in to you in everything, but now it’s my turn to rule, I’ll go to Black Wolf tonight.”

Sneaky could be very stubborn if he made up his mind, and Mother Wolf saw that he was determined now to appeal to the leader of the pack over her head. She sighed, but pretended not to care.

“All right, Sneaky,” she replied meekly, “but see that you tell the truth, and nothing but the truth.”

“Trust me for that,” was the grinning reply.

And that very night Sneaky trotted away through the dark woods to where Black Wolf lived in a den by himself. Black Wolf was not only the leader of the pack, but a big powerful creature with hair so long and shaggy that no animal who tried to kill him could bite through it to reach his flesh. He had eyes that could see through the blackest night, and muscles that were like steel.

He received Sneaky with a growl of discontent, for he had traveled far that day to settle another family dispute among his people, and he was very tired and drowsy.

“What do you want, Sneaky?” he demanded fiercely. “Can’t you see I’m tired and sleepy?”

“Yes, Black Wolf, I know you’ve earned a good night’s rest, but I bring a gift to you,” replied Sneaky, laying before the leader the leg of a lamb he had stolen from a farm-house on his way.

“Thanks,” replied Black Wolf, sniffing to see if it was fresh meat. “I’ll eat it in the morning.”

He closed his eyes, and soon would have been snoring if Sneaky hadn’t continued. “I came to see you for another reason,” he added. “I want to lay a question before you. Is it against the law of the pack to admit a Raccoon as a member?”

Black Wolf opened one eye, and said crossly: “Why do you want to bother me with such a foolish question, Sneaky! I’m in no mood for joking.”

“This is no joke, Black Wolf. It’s very serious. My mate has brought up a Raccoon as one of her children, and now she intends to bring him to the pack for admission. What message shall I carry back to her?”

Black Wolf snorted, and raised his head long enough to think. Then, in a loud voice he added: “Go back and tell her that if she brings a Raccoon to the pack we’ll pounce upon him and eat him alive. Go and tell her that I, Black Wolf, leader of the pack, has given his word.”

“Thank you,” replied Sneaky, bowing low, and crawling out of the den. He had obtained just the message he wanted, and he couldn’t hurry fast enough to deliver it to Mother Wolf. In the next story we will see what Mother Wolf thought of it.

STORY SIX

MOTHER WOLF DECIDES TO ADOPT WASHER

Sneaky returned home and entered the den with every appearance of being greatly pleased with himself. He licked his chops, smiled at the cubs, and said a pleasant word of of greeting to Mother Wolf. Indeed, he was so polite and agreeable that Washer wondered if something had happened to change his disposition for good; but Mother Wolf was not at all deceived. She understood that Sneaky had some important news on his mind that he was anxious to get off.

After a while, when the little ones were outside of the den playing, she humored him with a smile, and said: “Why don’t you tell me now, Sneaky? You’ve been dying to get it off your mind. Now’s a good time.”

“What do you mean my dear?” he asked, opening one eye, and looking as surprised and innocent as a baby.

“Don’t put on that innocent air,” protested his mate impatiently. “I’ve lived long enough with you to know when important news is bothering you. Now out with it!”

Sneaky yawned dreadfully long, and stretched his limbs in the most deliberate manner. He knew that Mother Wolf was as impatient to hear the news as he was to tell it. So he did not propose to humor her right away.

“You surprise me, my dear,” he said finally. “What news do you speak of? I’m not a carrier of tales like Grayback the Weasel or Mr. Fox. I wouldn’t stoop to such things.”

Mother Wolf laughed so hard that she had to hold her sides with both front paws. There was no way to tease Sneaky equal to that of laughing at his serious remarks. In a few minutes his face grew red and his ears lay back, and all the innocent expression vanished from his eyes.

“I don’t see anything to laugh at,” he growled. “Why don’t you tell me what it is, and I’ll join you if it’s worth a laugh. It’s very ill-mannered of any one to laugh alone in company!”

“Yes, I suppose it is,” replied Mother Wolf, wiping her eyes. “But”—regarding him slyly out of the corner of her eyes—“I didn’t know you were company, Sneaky. Are you?”

“Never mind such foolish questions!” was the quick retort. “What were you laughing at—me?”

“Why, no, Sneaky, not at you. I wouldn’t do such a thing. But I was laughing at what you had on your mind.”

“What had I on my mind?”

“The news that Black Wolf sent to me.”

Sneaky was a little taken back by this remark, for he hadn’t mentioned any message from Black Wolf.

“How do you know I’ve been to see Black Wolf?” he asked after a pause.

“You said you we’re going. Didn’t you expect me to believe you? Surely you haven’t begun fibbing to me at your time of life, have you, Sneaky?”

“No, of course not,” he stammered. “I didn’t mean that. Yes, I’ve been to see Black Wolf.”

“And he sent a message with you for me?”

“Well, now that you speak of it I remember he did,” replied Sneaky, squatting down on his haunches.

“Then why didn’t you say so at first?” snapped Mother Wolf. “Why did you pretend surprise, and try to look so innocent? I knew all the time you had a message for me, and it was because you were trying so hard to look innocent that made me laugh. Sneaky, you’re not a good actor. I wouldn’t try it again if I were you.”

His pride was wounded at this denial of all talent for acting, and Sneaky dropped his nose down between his paws and looked very crestfallen. “I suppose,” he grumbled, “you think you know so much you could tell me what Black Wolf’s message is.”

Mother Wolf paused before him and looked silently into his eyes before she spoke again. Then she nodded her head. “I think I could almost guess it.”

“Then it isn’t necessary for me to tell you,” replied Sneaky, thinking he had cornered her this time.

“Black Wolf was very much surprised and disgusted when you told him I was to bring Little Brother into the pack,” she went on, ignoring his remark, “and of course you didn’t help matters any by telling my side of the story. You didn’t tell Black Wolf how I had brought Little Brother up as my own child until I loved him as much as any of the cubs. You didn’t tell him that from the first you wanted to kill him, and that you were anxious to get rid of him, and turn him loose in the woods so the whole pack could hunt him. You didn’t tell him that he had been with us for so long that he was more Wolf than Raccoon, and that his own people would not accept him, and if we abandoned him he would be without any family or friends. Oh, no you didn’t explain any of these things to Black Wolf!”

“But, my dear, how could you expect me in a few minutes to tell all that?” protested Sneaky. “Black Wolf was very tired and surly, and he didn’t want to talk to me at all. If I hadn’t taken a present to him he would have turned me out without listening.”

Mother Wolf nodded. “I can quite understand that, Sneaky. He’s bothered to death by settling the quarrels of the pack. It’s not all pleasure in being a leader.”

“I should think not. It’s a terribly responsible position, and I know if I were leader I’d have my time well occupied.”

“Yes, I think you would. You wouldn’t have time to be interfering with home matters so much. It must be great to be the mate of the leader of the pack.”

Sneaky raised his head and flashed an angry glance at Mother Wolf, for her words recalled something unpleasant to the memory. When a young Wolf, with eyes always smiling and laughing, and hair long and curly as the silk of the corn tassel, Mother Wolf was the envy of every hunter of the pack, and Black Wolf had cast envious eyes upon her before he had been chosen leader. Sneaky recalled also that he had deceived Black Wolf by telling him one day that Mother Wolf had promised to be his mate, although no such promise had then been made. He wondered if Mother Wolf had ever found out his little deception, and if Black Wolf suspected anything. This doubt had given him many unpleasant moments.

His wandering thoughts were suddenly recalled to the present by Mother Wolf. “Black Wolf told you,” she said quietly, “that if I brought Little Brother to the pack council he’d refuse to receive him as a member. Isn’t that what he said?”

“Yes,” admited Sneaky, “and he said something more. If you bring Little Brother before him, he’ll order the whole pack to pounce on him and kill him.”

“He said that!” exclaimed Mother Wolf in alarm. “Black Wolf sent that message to me.”

“Yes,” replied Sneaky, smiling. “Now if you love Little Brother you will keep him away from the pack council. You’d better turn him loose and let him return to his own people.”

Mother Wolf was silent a moment. Then she raised her head, and said defiantly: “No, I’ll never do that. His own people would reject him. I’ve brought him up, and I’ll always be a mother to him unless he turns against me, and even then I shall continue to love him.”

She stopped before adding her final challenge. “And, listen, Sneaky, I shall take him before the pack council, and if Black Wolf orders the pack to pounce on him they’ll have to fight me first.”

Sneaky was so troubled by this that he had nothing to say. In the next story Washer shows the cubs a trick.

STORY SEVEN

WASHER LEARNS HE IS NOT A WOLF

Washer the Raccoon had been hunting with his Wolf brothers in the woods around their cave den. This was a part of their education. Mother Wolf would take them for a walk some distance from the cave, and teach them to pick up the scent of other animals on the wind. Sometimes it would be Browny the Muskrat or Sleepy the Opossum and again that of White Tail the Deer or Puma the Mountain Lion who had wandered away from their natural haunts.

Whatever animal it was they scented, Mother Wolf would caution them to follow it carefully, sneaking through the bushes with padded feet so as not to break a twig. She herself would remain behind so that all the responsibility of the hunt would be on her children.

In the early days of these lessons, Washer was the quickest to learn, and the quickest to follow the scent. He was older than his Wolf Brothers, and this accounted for his quickness. He could run faster than any of them, although his legs were shorter, and could climb up embankments and rocks without losing his foothold.

“Well done, Little Brother,” Mother Wolf would say proudly when he had out-distanced all his brothers. “Some day you will be a mighty hunter. Who knows but you may be leader of the pack yet.”

Now Mother Wolf loved the stray little orphan so much that she was blind to many things that she should have thought of. For one thing no raccoon was ever as large as a wolf, as strong, nor as fleet of foot. It was because Washer had the start in life that he seemed bigger and quicker of mind than her own children.

As the days and weeks passed, the Wolf cubs grew amazingly. They caught up to Washer, and then surpassed him in size. Their legs grew long and slender, and one day in a race Washer was left behind in spite of all that he could do. It was the first race with the cubs he had ever lost.

“Hi! What’s the matter, Little Brother?” the cubs called to him. “You’re lazy today!”

“Yes, maybe I am,” replied Washer, but he had an uneasy feeling that it was something more than laziness. His shorter legs could go as fast as his brother’s, but they could not cover so much ground.

The next day it was the same. They had all started on a scamper for the brook, with Washer in the lead at the beginning, but long before they reached the water the raccoon was behind.

“Lazy again, Little Brother!” they laughed when he came up to them.

“No, I couldn’t run any faster,” Washer replied truthfully. “You’ve got longer legs than mine, and I can’t keep up with you.”

“So they are longer,” replied the cubs, looking at their own long legs.

“And you have stronger teeth and jaws than I have,” continued Washer. “You grow much faster. I don’t seem to grow at all any more.”

“Oh, your time will come,” they answered, not wishing to offend him.

They continued to play together as formerly, but Washer always had to be given a head start in a race. Then one day another thing surprised them. They were tearing at their food when Washer found that he could no longer hold his own in this battle. The cubs had more powerful jaws than he, and they jerked the food away from him and gobbled it up.

“I didn’t get half my share,” Washer grumbled.

“Why not? Can’t you help yourself?”

Washer was silent. The truth was beginning to dawn upon him that he was different from his brothers. They were fleeter of foot and stronger of jaws. They could also jump longer distances, taking gullies and ravines in leaps that carried them clear across. Washer had to run around or climb down and then up the ravines.

“Little Brother, you can’t keep up with us any more,” the cubs said one day more in sadness than in boastfulness. “How’ll you join the hunt with us when we become members of the pack?”

“Listen, brothers,” Washer said, “I cannot run as fast as you, nor fight as fiercely for my food, but there is one thing I can do that will surprise you. I can go where none of you can follow.”

They laughed at this challenge, and told him to show them the trick. “We’ll follow you,” they said. “You can’t lose us.”

“All right! Follow me!”

Washer had found out that his sharp little claws were perfectly adapted to tree climbing, and that his Wolf brothers could not get up a tree higher than the lowest branches which they might reach by jumping. He had tried climbing trees and found that it came as easy to him as running.

There was a big cedar tree near the brook, and after looking up it he started to climb the trunk. It was so easy for him that he went up it almost as quickly as Bobby Gray Squirrel could. His Wolf brothers sat down on their haunches in a circle around the tree and watched him in amazement.

Washer reached the first branches, and ran out on one big one. “Look out, Little Brother, or you’ll fall!” they shouted. “Be careful!”

Washer smiled and showed his teeth. “Oh, this is nothing! I’ll climb to the top!”