the news that little joe otter told at the smiling pool,—how farmer brown's boy had run away from buster bear without even seeing him,—soon spread all over the green meadows and through the green forest, until every one who lives there knew about it. of course, peter rabbit helped spread it. trust peter for that! but everybody else helped too. you see, they had all been afraid of farmer brown's boy for so long that they were tickled almost to pieces at the very thought of having some one in the green forest who could make farmer brown's boy feel fear as they[pg 49] had felt it. and so it was that buster bear became a hero right away to most of them.

a few doubted little joe's story. one of them was blacky the crow. another was reddy fox. blacky doubted because he knew farmer brown's boy so well that he couldn't imagine him afraid. reddy doubted because he didn't want to believe. you see, he was jealous of buster bear, and at the same time he was afraid of him. so reddy pretended not to believe a word of what little joe otter had said, and he agreed with blacky that only by seeing farmer brown's boy afraid could he ever be made to believe it. but nearly everybody else believed it, and there was great rejoicing. most of them were afraid of buster, very much afraid of him, because he was so big and strong. but[pg 50] they were still more afraid of farmer brown's boy, because they didn't know him or understand him, and because in the past he had tried to catch some of them in traps and had hunted some of them with his terrible gun.

so now they were very proud to think that one of their own number actually had frightened him, and they began to look on buster bear as a real hero. they tried in ever so many ways to show him how friendly they felt and went quite out of their way to do him favors. whenever they met one another, all they could talk about was the smartness and the greatness of buster bear.

"now i guess farmer brown's boy will keep away from the green forest, and we won't have to be all the time watching out for him," said bobby[pg 51] coon, as he washed his dinner in the laughing brook, for you know he is very neat and particular.

"and he won't dare set any more traps for me," gloated billy mink.

"ah wish brer bear would go up to farmer brown's henhouse and scare farmer brown's boy so that he would keep away from there. it would be a favor to me which ah cert'nly would appreciate," said unc' billy possum when he heard the news.

"let's all go together and tell buster bear how much obliged we are for what he has done," proposed jerry muskrat.

"that's a splendid idea!" cried little joe otter. "we'll do it right away."

"caw, caw caw!" broke in blacky the crow. "i say, let's wait and see for ourselves if it is all true."

[pg 52]"of course it's true!" snapped little joe otter. "don't you believe i'm telling the truth?"

"certainly, certainly. of course no one doubts your word," replied blacky, with the utmost politeness. "but you say yourself that farmer brown's boy didn't see buster bear, but only his footprint. perhaps he didn't know whose it was, and if he had he wouldn't have been afraid. now i've got a plan by which we can see for ourselves if he really is afraid of buster bear."

"what is it?" asked sammy jay eagerly.

blacky the crow shook his head and winked. "that's telling," said he. "i want to think it over. if you meet me at the big hickory-tree at sun-up to-morrow morning, and get everybody else to come that you can, perhaps i will tell you."